I'm both perplexed and infuriated by the numerous layers that distance me from my presidential candidate of choice. I'm referring to delegates, super delegates, and the Electoral College.

I paid attention in Civics and Social Studies, and I don't remember hearing about all of these mechanisms that diminish the value of my hard-won vote. Are we surprised that we don't have a more engaged electorate when millions of people cast their votes around this country, yet the decision of who the Democrat party's nominee will be now rests in the hands of a small group of party officials?

I'm curious about the origin of this system (and the Electoral College), and I want to hear the argument for why it's a good idea...

Sent by Dele Lowman | 7:41 PM ET | 02-08-2008

This very well could be a good thing for Democrats. While watching C-Span this morning, I heard may republicans say they could NEVER vote for McCain and would rather vote Democrat than for him.

Sent by Jan Illinois | 12:16 PM ET | 02-09-2008

I agree with Dele Lowman. I voted, but now I'm wondering, why bother if 796 "Super" delegates control who becomes the Democratic Party's nominee? It's ironic that the Democratic Party's process is anything but democtatic. If the super delegates go against the ordinary (not "super") people's choice, as indicated by the primaries and caucases, and select a different candidate, I'll not vote for a Democrat in the General Election as a protest.

Dele, according to Wikipedia "...the superdelegate rule was instituted after the 1980 election. Its purpose was to accord a greater role to active politicians.[1]" Here is a link that might interest you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Democratic_Party_Superdelegates.

Sent by Laura in AZ | 4:14 PM ET | 02-09-2008

I heard may republicans say they could NEVER vote for McCain and would rather vote Democrat than for him.....Sent by Jan Illinois

When the time comes for Republicans to enter the voting booth, and their choice is either McCain or Hillary, bet you about a million and one dollars who they will vote.

All the same, this illusion some still harbor that Barack Obama will take the nomination still persists to some degree.

So, okay. When the time comes for Republicans to walk into the voting booth, and the choice is between McCain and Barack, bet you another million and one dollars who they will vote.

Disgruntled Republicans have plenty of time to smooth their ruffled feathers that their conservative favorite Mitt Romney is no longer in the race.

Hillary and Barack will create more than enough fear based voting choices to meliorate the temporary discontent.

Americans like to say they want change. But when push comes to shove, Americans will continue to pump Saudi oil into their gas tanks, and purchase Chinese made goods from Wal-Mart, rather than institute real change.

fred camorra call

Sent by fred camorra call | 6:26 AM ET | 02-10-2008

I agree with Fred's conclusion, by not all of his reasoning.

First, the democratic party is going to split over this nomination. Either because of the "superdelegates", or because of the candidates themselves. It's just going to happen. For Hillary Clinton, this campaign is about her (Bill is slowly learning that). She won't play take a backseat for ANYONE. That's not her nature.
For Barack Obama, we ALL know there are "certain people" who would NEVER vote for a "mixed race" candidate. Sad, but true. Since those people WILL vote, (compared to the new generation voters who MIGHT vote). Even though Barack MIGHT accept the V.P. position, it's NOT likely. We all know if Hillary got elected, Bill would be the (unofficial)V.P., Barack would be 2nd V.P. (at best).

As for the Republicans, the TRUE (hardcore) Republicans are pragmatic! Regardless of their statments and opinions to the contrary, they will back their parties nominee. McCain will unify his party (slowly, with grumbling, but it will).

This election WILL come down to the Independent voters (finally!). Those who have no strong affiliation to either the Dems. OR the Repubs.
40% of voters claim to be Dem.
30% claim to be Repub.

That leaves 30% (Green, Libertarians, and others including the non-affliated).
How that 30% splits is going to be the key. And they are fickle!

As Fred said, "when push comes to shove, Americans will continue to pump Saudi oil into their gas tanks, and purchase Chinese made goods from Wal-Mart, rather than institute real change".
The people I've talked to want a new face. (That's easy.) But, do they want fiscal change? Do they want policy change? What will the next president bring (and how soon will they get tired of them?).
There is still going to be a lot of "hurt feelings" after this election.

I, personally, can only hope that there is a clear winner! 55+%

Sent by Harold | 5:03 PM ET | 02-10-2008

Sent by Harold: For Hillary Clinton, this campaign is about her (Bill is slowly learning that). She won't play take a backseat for ANYONE. That's not her nature.

Which could cost Hillary votes in the final analysis.

I've spoken to more than a few potential Hillary voters who've been very candid that they'd vote Hillary cause they want Bill back. If the picture becomes clouded like the Mr. and Mrs. Smith movie with Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, where the husband and wife are trying to shoot each other, Hillary could end up losing those who want to surreptitiously vote Bill back in.

Cause Bill had this country's budget in the black. Which was relatively easy in Bill's time. Cause when Bill was president and Hillary was senior V.P. in front of junior V.P. Gore, the Cold War had ended and the military budget was slashed.

Not so anymore. This is wartime and the military budget has moved up some closer to the Cold War years, and it's quite possible not even Bill could get the budget back in the black.

And, Hillary could well cause a schism between the White House and the Pentagon. Bill didn't get along famously with the generals in his day.

I spent the weekend in North Carolina, and I came away with two perspectives I'd like to share.

One, I looked and looked and looked for any automobile with a combination North Carolina license plate and a Hillary bumper sticker. I even offered a reward to anyone in the mini-van who was the first to spot such a combo. The reward went unpaid.

And North Carolinians said to me that Huckabee ain't religious enough. Geesh! I guess Moses and Abraham would be considered amateurs in Raleigh-Durham.

Okay, a third perspective if I might. This is for any of you young men and women who are considering joining the military, and are debating between Army or Marines.

On the elevator in the Airport Marriott I met a bunch of Marines in khaki on their way up to their rooms. I thought it was nice that these Marines had suites for their bivouac. Not a bad gig, I thought.

I didn't ask too much about what jobs they were performing in the area, cause soldiers are pretty much trained not to answer those kind of questions.

But I did dare to ask if they'd been to Iraq. Which they had. Then I asked for how long. They replied for seven months.

I was amazed, and said so, being that I'd heard of soldiers spending years in Iraq.

One Marine said to me, "Naw, that's the Army."

Given my experiences in the Army versus Marine arena during Vietnam, that cracked me up to no end. They thought it was a little strange I couldn't stop laughing. But, as the elevator door opened to my floor, I wished the boys well with their future endeavors. I'm sure they could still hear me laughing while going down the hall as the elevator took them up another flight to their floor.

So, not that I'm specifically endorsing the Marines over the Army to anyone reading this. I just pass along a tidbit of information that anyone might take with a grain of salt while contemplating which branch of the military to enlist.

fred camorra call

PS...Tomorrow I'm back to Roswell where, I suspect, I'll be observing the insantiy of the election from the relative safety of the farm. What I saw in Florida showed me more than I needed to further know about the Hillary Machine. Time to sit back and observe like a Marine Sniper.

Sent by fred camorra call | 3:10 PM ET | 02-11-2008