I'll Say It Again

I have said this before and I will say it again. The primary election process in the US is broke and needs fixing.

Now we have members of both the Clinton and Obama campaigns, including a former president, trying to get the so called "super delegates" to commit to their respective candidates. From all indications it appears that these uncommitted super delegates are going to be the ones to decide which candidate will represent the Democrat party in November.

Now what really bothers me about this entire mess is how the party in question has claimed that President Bush stole the election in 2000. How voters were disenfranchised. How Gore won the popular vote and yet lost due to the electoral college.

Now we have the same process taking place in the democrat primary. Currently Obama is in the led both in delegate count and popular vote. Yet it is the party elite that will decide who the candidate will be. Not the people...the party. Yet I have not seen one article or one news story from those that slammed the process in 2000 saying a damned thing about what could happen here. I have seen articles saying that if the super delegates tap Hilliary that it will cause a split in the party. But I haven't heard a single peep from all these folks about how voters are being rendered meaningless.

Where are the Jessie Jackson's claiming that the process is flawed and how the voters don't matter. May be they are waiting until the process ends and the results known before they speak out about all of this. That of course remains to be seen. Just remember that no one waited for the entire outcome in 2000 to start blasting the process so why wait now. Hell, there were groups of people that were speaking out about the ballots and how things were run before the polls even closed.

Just so you know, let me state my position.

1. We should do away with the electoral college. The person who wins the office of president should be the one that wins the popular vote. I am even in favor of taking a step back. The first place finisher in popular vote wins the office of president. The runner-up get the Veep slot. That means each party would probably have voice in that each party would have a person high in the executive branch. Would make for some great White House meetings that we could put on pay-per-view.
2. The primary process should be taken away from the parties and returned to the people. This means that we hold a nation wide primary just like we do the general election in November. The winner of the popular vote is the nominee. If you really want to through some crap into it, let the runner-up be the Veep. Let the people decide the ticket.
3. Let's get back to holding mock elections in schools. This government we have like to throw money at education, lets make it pay off. All high schools will hold an election just like the real thing with the actual voting equipment that is used in their area. It's high time we start teaching people how all this new fangled touch screen stuff works so they are ready when they turn 18 and it really counts.
4. Have the polling place setup and do a dry run of the process before the real election. This gives the common people the chance to preview the ballot and the voting machines that will be used. This coupled with the signs that are already posted that offer help to those that need it when voting should put to rest all the comments at the end of an election about the confusing ballots and voting equipment used. If they don't want to take the opportunity to preview what things are going to look like and then they screw it up...oh well. Some times you just can't fix stupid.

So all you folks that are really engaged in the process, come up with your own ideas about how to fix the current election process. You can bet your ass that neither party will take to kindly to my suggestions above. If both sides don't like it, then there must be something good about it.

The one thing I will tell you...VOTE IN NOVEMBER OR SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!!