I once interned at an organization that does high-profile work promoting democracies around the world. To this day, people always ask me why it doesn't monitor elections back home in the U.S. The short answer: because our system is so f--ed up, they wouldn't even know where to start. It's simply not possible to verify an election in a country whose system doesn't meet the minimum standards of fairness and standardization required of other countries (by international institutions and governments, including our own).
Embarrassing, isn't it?
The idea that caucus-goers in Iowa or primary voters in New Hampshire somehow matter more than I do... or that I and the nearly 40% of Texas residents who voted for Kerry in 2004 might as well have stayed home... or that the 2000 election hinged on a few stray chits in Florida and the abdication of the Supreme Court to Shrub & Co... Well, you get the picture. Don't even get me started on the voting machines.
And now this: a group of Republican lawyers wants to allocate electoral college votes in proportion to the popular vote -- BUT ONLY IN CALIFORNIA. See, California usually goes blue, but the actual vote tallies tell a more nuanced story. Just like Texas is only part-red, and Ohio doesn't really know what it is, and on and on.
Don't get me wrong; I think the electoral college is as ridiculous as the next person. But while they're talking fairness, what they really mean is 'more votes for Republicans!' That's not reform, it's a shameless power grab. (And if the Democrats did it, I'd say the exact same thing.)
Does the electoral system in this country need a major overhaul? Absolutely. On February 5, 2008, let's have the Super-duper-est Tuesday of them all. Let's invite everyone to the party. Forget about blue states and red states; let's color outside the lines.
But don't you dare try to steal my crayon.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
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7 comments:
I should proofread my comments before I hit 'publish.' Sorry.
OK, I won't steal your crayon, but at least let me borrow it, no?
Who are you leaning towards anyway?
Definitely a shameless power grab. And there are definitely deep-red pockets in California. And they seem to be increasing. Not sure why. Perhaps b/c the only folks who can afford to live here comfortably have higher incomes than average. Or that the Dems haven't gained traction in immigrant and other communities, as they should ...
Quinto Sol - You can borrow my crayon if you ask nicely :-)
As for your question, I've actually half-composed a blog post in my mind on this subject a couple of times... I may still do it yet.
For now I'll just say that I'm not 100% decided, but I do have my leanings. I also made my first-ever political donation to one of the candidates this season already.
One thing is for sure: I am really heartened by the current field of Democratic candidates and would be happy to support (as in really support, not just vote for them 'cause they're less bad than the other guy) any one of them in the general. AND I also don't buy conventional wisdom about who is ultimately the most "electable"... for what it's worth :-)
Bex -- I'm sure there's some explanation, but I confess to not knowing what it is, either. Higher incomes do push some people right, but higher education pushes them left, so who knows? And immigrant communities are definitely still up for grabs, I think, especially now that the Republican candidates are ignoring them outright.
Ahh spoken like a natural born polititian :-) Seriously, if you ever decide to run for office, I'll be happy to volunteer my services to your campaign.
If you get a chance, get to know Congressman McNerney. His twin brother is a member of the dead runners society and he chronicled his brother's quest for Congress, not having ever held any political office before. You would like him.
Were you talking about not stealing your vote when you made the crayon reference, or am I reading too much into your writing?
I just hope you're not leaning towards BR... :-]
One last thing, thank you for your kind comments on my blog.
Some how, France manages to hold an honest election using paper ballots and gets the results posted within 12 hours. But that would be too complicated for us.
The world is far too complex to have just one crayon.
I think I need a whole box.
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