Published by Jane Devin on 15 Feb 2008 at 05:53 am
Whose Votes Count?
I hate politics. Yes, I know I write about the subject frequently, but it’s out of desperation, not love. Truly, I was happier back in the Bill Clinton years, when I had health insurance, the cost of living was decent, housing was affordable, jobs were plentiful, and I gave much less thought to what was going on in Washington. Even the evils of professional scandal makers like Ken Starr and Karl Rove didn’t get under my skin — much. I felt confident that there was enough common sense and judicial integrity left in Washington to absorb even the most cunning and strategic shock of dirty politics.
That confidence has gone the way of gas that cost $1.05/gallon and mortgages that averaged 25% of a family’s income. Moreover, I’ve become convinced that common sense is a rarity, and that judicial integrity has been irretrievably pitted by loopholes.
I doubt I’ll ever get over the fact that the United States Supreme Court forced George W. Bush on America, despite a contrary popular vote. It was more than a slap in the face to voters — it was, and has been, a brutal, long-term assault.
However, we’re now in a new election season, and supposedly this time around, Americans are clamoring for justice. They want their voices heard, and they want their votes to count. They want a turn-around for a country that’s been led as if it were a dictatorship rather than a democratic republic.
Yet the 2.4 million voters of primary elections in Florida and Michigan may not have their votes counted at all based on the timing of their votes, which was something State officials, and not the voters, controlled. Clinton won Florida handily, but Obama’s name wasn’t even on the ballot in Michigan. 366 delegates hang in the balance, and at this point neither state seems willing to hold another primary. Florida and Michigan officials not only subverted their process, knowing that early elections were against DNC rules, they rendered their voters mute and powerless in one of the most important elections in history.
Then we’ve got the superdelegates. The whole delegate system has been called into question before, and rightly so, but this year the stakes are really staggering and the process needs to be revisited. Is the role of a superdelegate to vote with their state’s majority, or is it to choose the candidate they believe is best suited to the role of President? Are they to act as followers or as more objective jurists? If they are merely to follow, then what is the need for delegates at all? Why not just cut out the middle man and count the popular vote?
If, instead, they are to be conscientious and objective in their decisions, then what guarantees does the public have that they arrived at their decision cleanly, intelligently, and without undue influence?
I was a little shocked to read an interview with Christine “Roz” Samuels, a superdelegate from New Jersey, who says that she doesn’t have to answer to anybody but God and her own conscience for her vote. She also, according to the interview, “explained that her adult children (all Obama supporters) influenced her decision to join the Obama delegate count column.” Samuels, who seemed distressed that she had not been courted by the Clinton camp after declaring her support last year, is now mimicking the quickly tiring, vacuous screed of “hope” that is part and parcel of the Obama campaign.
“He energizes the younger people and gives them hope,” Samuels says. Substance, experience, and plans be damned, Samuels has hopped on the glory train. Sure, the train might not have enough steam to actually go anywhere — and it’s chief engineer might be better at giving inspirational speeches than navigating the twisted tracks of politics — but that won’t stop Samuels, or others from jumping on the train. Especially when there’s ego involved. Or the opinions of adult children. Or popularity. Or whatever other reason or excuse, convenient or elusive, that a delegate or superdelegate may use — because quite simply there are no enforceable standards under which they operate. They can choose to go by God and their conscience, the will of everyday voters, or whatever candidate best strokes their ego.
The system is broken, and there are no perfect solutions. Just as superdelegates may choose the flimsiest of criteria in making their decisions, so may many voters. The principle of “the majority is always wrong” exists for a reason. No, of course that principle is not always true, but it does speak to the disenchanting fact that people are easily swayed by rhetoric — proven not just by by the rise of historically tragic figures like Adolph Hitler and Ayatollah Khomeini — but by lesser things, such as the heavy proliferation of right-wing media in 1990’s America.
Lest we take too much pride in the savvy intelligence of the American public, we might also remember the thousands of Americans who supported Jim & Tammy Faye as they paved their bathrooms with gold, or the thousands more who heeded Oral Roberts’ request to send him millions of dollars to stave off God’s impending thunderbolt. Of course, these readily obedient and believing patrons of television religion are not the majority, but add in those who strongly adhere to other belief-informing creeds — like neocons, far left liberals, and single-issue voters — or those who vote based solely on name recognition or celebrity status, or those who vote strictly along party lines, regardless of what they know about a candidate, and the picture becomes more dangerous, at least among those who feel that logic, and not blind adherence to a dogma, should be the standard by which decisions are made.
What do you think? Do you believe delegates should follow the lead of voters in their area, apply their own reasoning, or use some other objective criteria? Is it time to let the delegate system go in favor of the popular vote?
Are the majority of voters in this election truly informed, or are they jumping on the most popular bandwagon crafted by the media? Will the end results reflect the will of the majority, the choice of the delegates, or both?
Will there be integrity in the 2008 elections, or is it already too late?
Patty G. on 15 Feb 2008 at 8:10 am #
I am so confused over this entire election process that right now living in Florida I am not even sure if my vote in November will even matter. Now that I write that statement, it is obvious based on the last two elections my vote didn’t matter.
The only way for the entire election process to work is to drop the delegates from the system and let the popular vote count. So many other countries have a simple process of voting and that is by the people and their votes count.
I don’t like the fact that delegates and super delegates are chosen to represent ME, and my thought process. I want to represent myself and let my “one stroke of the handle” on the voting machine to mean something.
I am totally “uneducated” with what happened in Michigan and Florida, who agreed to it, why it was allowed and so on. I just don’t understand how two states within the United States of America are completely powerless.
During the 2000 Presidential election, after voting, I went to Sweden to visit some friends. The people in Sweden were following the happenings here in the USA and there were in totally amazement of what was happening with regards to the votes, ballots, courts and so on. I was actually embarrassed when they would ask me “why is this happening?” I couldn’t even answer them because I was shocked myself. They told me about their voting system, so simple, and straight-forward.
If “he” gets in, I am really afraid we will be in turmoil in so many ways. You can’t run this country like a “revival” meeting with speeches, hip and a hop, and mumbled words. It’s just not going to work!
I remember when I went to a good “ole” down to earth Baptist Church and felt the energy, and stamina from the people “praising, shouting and singing”. It is an energy I never felt before. I actually enjoyed it while I was there, and a few days after. But then life set back in and the energy was gone unless I decided to go back for another “uplift”.
This is how I feel about “him”, it’s a great energy, lots of chanting and stamina, until the day ends and life and problems are still facing you.
allison on 15 Feb 2008 at 10:37 am #
Jane,
Although you would never know it by the way I rant these days, I too hate politics. I just want the system to work the best it can for all of the people, not just the wealthy.
Count me in the older people who remember how sweet life was as an American during the Clinton years.
This delegate thing is going to kill this election.
To keep it at all, I think they should have to vote the will of their state popular vote.
But really we need one vote per person period.
and we really need those votes to be counted entirely.
Patty G, your analagy about the good ole baptist revival meeting made me smile. I have had the same thoughts.
checquoline on 15 Feb 2008 at 11:06 am #
I want my vote to count. The only way that is going to happen is for the popular vote to decide an election. I don’t understand why the people who knew voting machines were malfunctioning and used them anyway are not in jail. I don’t understand why some people think it is O.K. for people to stand in line eight hours in the rain to vote. I want a new supreme court. I want every congress person and senator replaced. I think a lot of people need to be in jail. Why hasn’t Bill Frist been indicted? Why is Tom DeLay still walking the streets? Why aren’t Chenney and Bush impeached? Why does our congress keep bringing people in and charging them then taking it no further? How can we change things? Delegates are supposed to vote the way the majority of their people vote. My opinion on how some of this got so bad is that they no longer teach Civics in high school. In civics class students learn that it is the duty of the people to see that our government runs the way it was set up to run. Many people don’t know how it is suppose to run.
LBJ on 15 Feb 2008 at 4:10 pm #
Jane, I love this article. Yes, those votes in Michigan and Flordia need to count!
Yes, a majority can be wrong, but in a democracy they should rule.
Yes, I want an end to the delegate system!!! There’s way too much room for corruption and backdoor politics there!
No, I don’t think we’ll ever see the day when the MAJORITY of the populace is well-informed on all the issues in an election. People choose, I think, what’s most important to them personally, and kind of go from there. And they tend to take the advice of people they respect who might/might not know more. Which is why I agree with you that newspapers and tv stations should not play favorites.
I still have not made up my mind who to vote for. I want to get it right this time!
I think it’s going to be a long time before America finds integrity again. Maybe we need to find justice first. I agree with all three of the bloggers who went before me. There are things that need to be punished, things that need to be in place, and actions that have to happen before people like me feel integrity coming from DC again.
Thanks for letting me vent!
jimi on 16 Feb 2008 at 6:49 pm #
JANE, I FOUND YOUR SITE!! HOW HAPPY I AM. GOOD GIRL… WRITING ABOUT THE SHANNANIGANS IN FLORIDA AND MICHIGAN. I LIVE IN PENSACOLA. VERY FEW DEMOCRATS HERE. I VOTED FOR SENATOR CLINTON ON 1/29/08. EDWARDS AND OBAMA WERE ON THE BALLOT. I HOPE WE DON’T HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE SAME BS WE DID IN 2000. THE MEDIA AND THE PUNDENTS DON’T WANT HILLARY IN. THEY ARE ATTACKING HER AT EVERY ANGLE. IT IS OBIVIOUS THAT GENDER PREJUDICE IS ALIVE AND WELL. IT IS NOT JUST ISOLATED TO MALES AGAINST FEMALES. IT GOES MUCH DEEPER THAN THAT. A LOT OF FEMALES HATE HER. SHE HAS A LOT TO OVER COME…[JUST LIKE THE REST OF US] I REALLY LIKE HER AND FORMER PRESIDENT CLINTON. THINGS WERE BETTER FOR ME WHEN HE WAS OUR PRESIDENT. PLEASE CALL OR WRITE THE DNC AND SPEAK TO SENATOR NELSON. OUR VOICES NEED TO BE HEARD. JUST REMEMBER WHAT OUR MOTHERS AND GRANDMOTHERS WENT THROUGH TO BE ABLE TO VOTE..OOPS, I’M TELLING MY AGE.
I WILL LOOK FOR THE I-800 # AND POST LATER. LOL, JIMI
becky on 23 Feb 2008 at 8:47 pm #
I am from Michigan. I am not happy at all about this. How can the popular vote not count? What is going on? I come here often I think this is the first time I have ever commented. I feel like it’s 2000 all over again. I saw Christine Samuels say that on tv and I was floored. I thought they were supposed to vote with the states majority. I am so confused.