How did we get here?
Like a lot of Americans, I followed this year's presidential campaign with interest -- even enthusiasm -- for months.
Then it changed. The politicians have taken us into the same sewer they always do.
To be more specific I think Hillary and her campaign have brought us here.
In fairness, John Edwards was my first choice when he was in the race. I've been an Obama supporter ever since it became clear Edwards wasn't getting any traction.
Maybe I'm putting the blame on the Clintons because I'm pulling for the other candidate. But I don't think so.
Like a lot of Democrats, I was overjoyed by the strong field of candidates we had this time around. I could gladly have voted for a half dozen of them, including Hillary.
But, after watching the Clinton campaign for the past month or so, I have a dilemma. I want a Democrat in the White House. George W. Bush has done an unbelievable amount of damage during his time in office. And while John McCain would be an improvement, we will get a third Bush term in many respects if he wins the election.
Discouraged and Saddened
But the more I see of the Clinton campaign, the more discouraged and saddened I become. I'll probably vote for her if she gets the nomination. But I won't take any joy in it. And, if she wins, I think we'll be in for another four years of the shrill, partisan, gotcha politics that has poisoned our national debate and prevented us from solving the many serious problems we face for far too long.
Obama's not a magician. He doesn't walk on water. But one of the things he's brought to this year's campaign is a genuine aura of hope and reasonableness. He can't restore decorum to our national politics by himself. But a strong mandate for him in November might help the rest of the politicians in Washington begin getting the message that they need to turn down the rhetoric and start actually working together to find solutions that work for all of us. Or at least most of us across the vast middle of the Blue-Red political divide.
The Clintons haven't gotten the message. It's the same old do whatever it takes to "win" regardless of the cost to our country or our party. This fall's campaign probably will be ugly no matter who the candidates are. But a Clinton on the ballot will make it uglier. And a Clinton in the White House will assure another ugly four years.
We Need To Get Smarter About How We Pick Our Candidates
The ugliness that has made its way into the Democratic race in the past month or so is only one of my concerns. We Democrats need to get smarter about how we pick our candidates.
The purists won't agree with me, but we need to get rid of the proportional voting. Life is not fair. Sometimes trying to be too fair is counterproductive. The complicated formula for allocating delegates for each state on a proportional basis is just plain silly. And counterproductive. Ditto for the decision to exclude the delegates from Florida and Michigan. I found the way the states all kept trying to elbow their way to the front of the line disgusting. And unnecessary, as it turns out.
New Hampshire has voted first for as long as I can remember. The Iowa caucuses got added to the front of the line at some point. I wasn't paying close enough attention at the time to remember exactly when. But I'm not sure why the political parties should dictate to the states when they hold their elections. The intervention by the national party was politically stupid. Florida and Michigan were counting on that when decided to thumb their noses at the rules.
Excluding the delegates from Florida and Michigan and telling our candidates not to campaign there was a bad decision. Moronic, in fact. But Howard Dean's right. To change the rules this late in the game will give an unfair advantage of one of the candidates -- and split our party so badly that John McCain would most likely become President McCain. We can't let this happen again. Ever.
That said, I'm thoroughly disgusted with Hillary's approach to this issue. The fact is she has a very good shot at winning both of these states if there is some kind of "redo." So, why couldn't her campaign take the high road and advocate a revote instead of the divisive tack of claiming she should win two contests where no one campaigned and her main opponent wasn't even on the ballot in one state. Shame on you, Hillary Clinton.
Win or lose in November, we Democrats need to take a long, hard look at how choose our candidates once the campaign dust settles. The proportional delegate system is so complicated that only a few wonky math wizards understand it. The networks all have different delegates totals for the candidates. That alone says the system is too complex to work. That's just stupid. And we should be collectively ashamed that the mess in Florida and Michigan was allowed to get this far. We seem to be trying to do everything we can to lose an election in a year when I should have been able to win the White House if I were the Democratic nominee.
We need to find a way out of the sewer. Quickly.
That's my two cents' worth. What's yours? -- Jerreigh@contemplayshuns.com
A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."
