The DNC and the Will of the People
Apr 23, 2008 Political
For the past several months we have heard the leadership of the Democratic Party say that the will of the people should not be undone. We have heard that super delegates should vote for the person that the people selected and that those super delegates who are in elected positions should follow the will of their constituents. I believe that the super delegates should select whomever they personally want regardless of the will of the people but only because that is how the rules are written for the super delegates.
However, If the Democrats decide that the will of the people must be obeyed then they need to come up with a way of looking at the people as a group of subsets. Just because a state voted for Obama does not mean that every elected super delegate from that state has to go for him as well. Suppose a state has 10 Congressional districts and 2 of them are in heavily populated areas and the population of the 2 is greater than the population of the other 8 combined. Now, suppose Obama wins the 2 heavily populated ones and Hillary wins the other 8. Obama would have enough votes to “win” the state but in reality he only won two Congressional districts out of 10.
If the DNC wants the elected super delegates to follow the will of their people then, in the above case, Obama would get 2 of them and Hillary 8. I wonder how many states are actually like this? Barack Obama won a few of the southern states because heavily populated areas of black voters voted for him. I have a suspicion that if they go back and look at all the states to see how the Congressional districts played out they will find that Clinton won more of them than Obama. This would mean that she would have more super delegates from among the elected ones.
If they truely want to have elected officials represent their constituents then they need to ensure that they look at each Congressional district to ensure the will of the people of those districts is followed. By playing this will of the people per state outcome, many people will get shortchanged.
I also want to see how John Kerry and Ted Kennedy handle this idea that the will of the people should be heard. Hillary Clinton won their state handily so, given the whole will of the people mantra, those two should be casting super delegate votes for her. They both endorsed Obama. I bet they both will say that the will of the people must be followed and they will cast votes for Obama anyway and they will justify it by saying he won the national number. Kerry and Kennedy do not represent the nation, they represent the people of their hjome state and that is the only will that these two should be ensuring gets followed.
The Democrats are crafty and no one has ever challenged them on these things. I would like to see the MSM actually look into this and show the numbers if the elected leaders are forced to follow the will of their constituents (and only their constituents). I am surprised the Clinton camp has not pursued this route.
For political masters they sure do make a lot of mindless mistakes.
Tags: Clinton, congressional district, Obama, super delegate
The Problem with Politicians
Feb 14, 2008 Political
There is a battle brewing with regard to the Super Delegates in the Democratic Party. Hillary’s folks think they should select who they want and remain committed to those who they pledged up front. Obama’s people think the vote should go to the candidate who won the district represented by the SD. I really don’t care how they do it because they set this up under the assumption that the SDs knew better and could make the tough choices and now they are all praying the primary process takes care of it so they will not have to. Super Delegates are not specifically representatives of the people. They were given the power to select who they wanted and there were no stipulations placed on them in that regard. As far as I am concerned they can pick who they want because the rules say they can. My problem is with a statement made by a politician.
One black supporter of Clinton, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, said he remains committed to her. “There’s nothing going on right now that would cause me to” change, he said.
He said any suggestion that elected leaders should follow their voters “raises the age old political question. Are we elected to monitor where our constituents are … or are we to use our best judgment to do what’s in the best interests of our constituents.” My Way News
If he was speaking solely about the SDs I would agree that he should do it according to what he wants because there are no conditions on them. However, he is saying it is the age old question of do they do what their constituents want or what they [the politicians] think is in the best interests of the constituents. He is a Representative which means he represents a group of people. He should be voting based upon what the majority of his constituents want. The collective of his district know what is best for them and they do not need to be second guessed by a politician. Let me put it another way for Representative Cleaver and all other politicians who have this attitude and who think they need to question the judgment of their constituency:
Don’t question the judgment of your constituency, look who they voted into office.
This is the problem with politicians. They believe that being elected to office makes them smarter than everyone else and that they know what is best. How dare we peons tell them how we want them to vote? Remember when more than 80% of the country wanted the amnesty bill shot down they still voted for it and called us racists. They do not listen because they think they know more than we do or that they know what is best for us. The amazing thing is they won’t trust our judgment during their term until they run for office and then they trust us to put them back and they pander to us. Liberals act more liberal, conservatives act more conservative and when they go back they screw us.
Wayne Gilchrest of the 1st Congressional District in Maryland found out what happens when he votes his conscience and not the will of his constituents. He will be watching the general election from home this year. We need to vote all these people out of office. If they go against the majority of the people they represent then we need to get rid of them.
Anyone who says what Cleaver did should be out of office. The last thing I will ever need is a dim witted politician deciding for me. They can’t get their own stuff in order so I will be damned if I need them trying to get mine in order for me.
No thanks…
Tags: Clinton, constituents, convention, Democrats, ignoring, Obama, politicians, super delegate