I never got a chance to vote for a democratic candidate I could support....

[mike_c]

The primary system is broken. People in four states-- Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida trimmed the field of democratic candidates and removed my first and second choice for president before I, and the majority of the rest of the country, even got a chance to express our opinions. I'm left with a candidate that I can't support under any circumstances and another candidate who I have no faith in or passion for whatsoever. A candidate I would happily work to defeat and one that I can't whip myself into any enthusiasm for no matter how hard I try. A candidate who represents corporations instead of real people and one that seems more interested in being "historic" than changing the direction of a flailing government in crisis.

I don't get to vote for any of the candidates who might have actually represented my interests. I don't blame this on the people of Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan, South Carolina, and Florida. I blame it on the democratic party, on the entrenched political interests who put their own success before the best interests of the national constituency, and most of all, I blame the corporations who are the real beneficiaries of my disenfranchisement. Especially the media, whose endless mediocrity and punditry turned the most important presidential election in my lifetime into a horserace. The media that has consistently refused to give real issues of public and global consequence anywhere near as much consideration as who's got the best haircut or who said what about whom. The media that steadfastly refused to cover the candidates with the greatest potential to make significant changes in the trainwreck this nation has become.

I never got to vote for a candidate who represents me, or the ideals that are meaningful to me. America does not need a Hillery Clinton or a Barack Obama-- hell, it probably doesn't need a John Edwards or a Dennis Kucinich, although they would have been a step in the right direction. America needs a George Washington, a Thomas Jefferson, another Tom Paine or an Alexander Hamilton. It needs leadership committed to throwing out the rotten garbage wherever they find it. It needs revolutionary change, not a different flavor of the same ol' corporate rule. It needs someone who will heed Eisenhower's warning and toss the MIC into the gutter of political and economic history, along with its Pentagon toadies and its captains of industry. I never got to vote for someone who might work for me, instead of for CNN, Fox News, General Electric, Haliburton, Blackwater, and MacDonald Douglas.

I'm left with someone else's choices-- choices who are not even majority choices yet, but who have been annointed as the ONLY democratic party choices available to me even though the process of "majority decision" has barely begun. The system has allowed a tiny minority to decide for us all, and we will undoubtely be told that the eventual democratic party nominee has "majority" support. "Get over it, dude-- you're just all sour grapes because your candidate didn't win." No, I'm all sour grapes because I didn't even get a chance to vote for "my candidate." This is NOT democracy.

[eleny]

1. Thanks Mike..... K&R

[Theres-a]

2. Same here.

K & R

[Zodiak]

3. K&R

Mark my words, if it is Hillary, I am not voting. There is no way I will affix my vote onto a DLC candidate who will only set progressives back another generation and do nothing about the coming crisis to the point that it will become a Democratic problem.

So who is the anti-war candidate now?

Who advocates for the poor now?

Who is for universal health care now?

nobody...

[mike_c]

8. exactly-- nobody....

Every progressive issue that matters to me has effectively been dropped out of the democratic presidential race.

[Atman]

23. Please re-think that. A democratic sweep gives us the courts, too.

I abhor the idea of another Clinton presidency. But I won't walk away from it all and help hand any sort of victory to the evil bastards who stole our country. This is about more than our personal egos or personal wishes, it is about our country. If we give the GOP even a toe-hold, they'll exploit it to the detriment of us all.

Why would you be willing to do that?

.

[Zodiak]

39. But we have seen this played out before.

The DLC in the bully pulpit will continue to crank out judges that are for big business and against the little guy. There will be no progressive appointments, only appointments that the DLC think Republicans will like. That is how they operate.

The Supreme Court is gone....bringing up that spectre only reminds me that it was the DLC that hampered efforts to filibuster Alito and it was the DLC that happily voted for Roberts along with the pukes. I expect nothing different from the DLC because I haven't seen anything different. And they still despise progressives more than they do Republicans.

I fight for progressives, not Democrats. Democrat has little meaning to me when it includes the likes of Ben Nelson, Steny Hoyer, Rahm Emanuel, Mary Landrieu, and Ken Salazer (far from an inclusive list). The only thing that attracts my vote after all of the compromising the progressive community has done over the last 4 elections is a true departure from the way things have been done...no more "free trade" and ignoring the huge swaths of poor, disabled, etc. Hillary will not bring that...she will bring the same tired DLC crap and this country will go to hell with a Democratic label.

If it is going to hell anyways, the blame should go where it belongs. Americans, apparently, are not sophisticated enough to understand that the Democratic party has factions, and the faction in power isn't "left" at all.

I predict that if Hillary wins the nomination, there is going to be a lot of Pelosi-style buyer's remorse.

[zonmoy]

113. supreme court isn't the only thing gone.

how soon after the election will we be holding the funeral services for our democracy.

[DrDan]

4. uh . . . pardon me, but I live in Florida and my vote did not count either

In the true tradition of the republican party, a power-play between two party factions disenfranchised all D voters from Florida.

[mike_c]

5. I understand-- but Florida voters did seem to put the last nail...

...into the coffin of John Edwards' candidacy, and Rudy Ghuliani's on the repug side, before the rest of the nation got to vote one way or the other. These primaries are not helping us choose the best candidates, even when the field contains a variety of leadership approaches initially. If the primary system were working, most viable candidates should make it to the convention with delegates committed to their candidacy-- and by "viable candidate" I mean anyone who is not unqualified and who can attract voter support during the campaign.

I feel your pain about the way the Florida primary was conducted. Still, I think you were at least luckier than I and the voters from most of the nation. You got to vote for at least one more candidate than the rest of us.

[physioex]

6. I don't live in Florida....

But I share your frustration. Although my vote will "count" it seems like I am on the sidelines while others make the decisions....

[Chisox08]

71. All primaries should be on one day.

If the primaries was held on one day and it was made into a national holiday our votes would count. I live in Illinois and I'm tired of voting for the "lesser of two evils" instead of the person that I support. Iowa and New Hampshire does not speak for the entire country.
Our election system needs a complete overhaul. All caniidates should be allowed to debate and they should have equal time during the debates. Also the news should cover each canidate equally, but that is not likely to happen because the M$M wants their canidate.
Finally to the person who said that we need a Thomas Jefferson, or a George Washington they would never get elected with the current political structure. They would get written off just like Denis Kucinich did.

[harmonicon]

83. maybe not one day

maybe it should all be done by mail, or with one open polling place in each precinct (a town hall or something) open for voting for a month or so, so there wouldn't be all of this pressure built up on one day - just announce the count from every state on the same day.

[Chisox08]

72. All primaries should be on one day.

If the primaries was held on one day and it was made into a national holiday our votes would count. I live in Illinois and I'm tired of voting for the "lesser of two evils" instead of the person that I support. Iowa and New Hampshire does not speak for the entire country.
Our election system needs a complete overhaul. All caniidates should be allowed to debate and they should have equal time during the debates. Also the news should cover each canidate equally, but that is not likely to happen because the M$M wants their canidate.
Finally to the person who said that we need a Thomas Jefferson, or a George Washington they would never get elected with the current political structure. They would get written off just like Denis Kucinich did.

[DrDan]

18. I hear you . . .

Edwards got my vote yesterday, for what it is worth.

And we in Florida got to go through the actions of marking a ballot. I would hardly call it "voting" as it meant nothing.

[demo dutch]

110. Nah, it was over after New Hampshire! The media determined the outcome!

[sandnsea]

7. Barack Obama is not a corporate candidate

He is the one that has thrown out garbage wherever he saw it and has proposals to throw out the rest of it. He is the one that went to work for the voiceless, directly, without any financial gain. He is the one who has passed real benefits in health care and tax refunds and education.

Obama has made more real change for this country than Kucinich has, and done it in less time.

People need to open their eyes and stop believing the crap peddled out of campaigns.

[MadHound]

11. LOLOLOL!

:rofl:

Have you checked out his campaign donors? Have you then correlated them with his platform? Looks pretty much like another corporate candidate to me.

[killbotfactory]

106. He's gotten over $20 million from sub-$200 donations

and people call him the corporate candidate with a straight face.

What a bunch of bullshit.

[mike_c]

12. that's not the point, is it...?

What I think or don't think about Barack Obama-- or Hillary Clinton-- is not really the point. It doesn't really matter because now most of America doesn't have any other choices, at least not in this party. And no one can seriously suggest that is a "majority decision" by any means. Those of us who've lost our choices never had a voice.

[sandnsea]

14. Hey, the campaign started months ago

Anybody who was paying attention should have known that. Then there are the idiots who want all the elections on one day. If we weren't having a Super Tuesday, more candidates could afford to go on longer and target specific states and build a coalition that way. People wanted this one day of mega voting, well they've got it. A lot of us said this is exactly what would happen. Blame yourselves.

[mike_c]

33. say WHAT?

Are you genuinely suggesting that Richardson, Kucinich, and Edwards-- not to mention a number of republican candidates-- were forced out of the race BEFORE much of the country gets to vote next week BECAUSE much of the country gets to vote next week? That doesn't make any sense at all!

[sandnsea]

34. It's a national campaign now

And national campaigns can only be run with brazillions of dollars. Are you actually saying with all your education that you can't do the damn math.

[mike_c]

36. so you think a better solution is to string primaries out even longer...?

:shrug:

[sandnsea]

38. Absolutely

I don't know that you could, but if you could, I'd say no campaigning at all until a year before the Presidency. Then I'd put all primaries in a 3 month window, 5 a week. Anybody can get through 3 months, we could even move it back further. So they could start campaigning in Nov, have the first primary in March, end in June and have the convention in September.

[reclinerhead]

69. Incorrect

No, this is not our fault. This primary was decided by the corporations and media, who used those early states as pawns, and utilized every tool at their disposal to execute their plan.

[flyarm]

103. oh please i just had to run to the loo laughing so hard!!..oh pleaseeeee

save it..no one here is buying the bullshit about corporate obama..

he is a corp whore.

fly

[JDPriestly]

9. Kicked and recommended.

I am voting for Edwards on February 5.

He is the only candidate I can, in good conscience, vote for.

[coco77]

10. Isn't that Howard Dean's fault...

[sandnsea]

15. It's the people who wanted to move everything up

and now that they see that the only way to win in that scenario is with buckets of money, they want to cry 'not fair'. I don't blame anybody in the leadership for this. And then there are the people who were complaining about the primary last year, when they should have known the time to fight was then. They were warned that this would go very quickly once the voting started.

[DrDan]

19. bull crap

What "people".

It was nothing but a power-play between the DNC and the state party. Screw the "people", grab power.

[sandnsea]

25. 22 states on one crammed day

This has been pushed by McAuliffe and the DLC types for years. I can't believe the numbers of rank and file Dems who want even more elections on one day and still won't see that it will lead to even more money choosing our candidates.

[MadHound]

13. You're not alone

I'm probably going to write in Kucinich on the primary ballot next Tuesday. As far as the fall goes,:shrug: Whoopee, we'll get to choose between Corporate Candidate D and Corporate Candidate R :eyes:

[Midlodemocrat]

16. I didn't either. I think this is a great post.

K & R.

[Emillereid]

17. Know how you feel. It was important for Edwards to stay in the race if

only to goad both Clinton and Obama to the left. I will not vote for Clinton, but I think I can wrap my mind around Obama. He has been saying some strong things against corporate lobbyists and he also often talks about empowering the people. He talks of WE, not me. I also trust his community activist background to steer him in the right direction especially if we hold his feet to the fire. And I think Kennedy is right he could be the transformative leader we need right now.

Hillary on the other hand represent the politics of the past.

[Atman]

20. I got to vote for DK in the 04 primary. I just voted for JE yesterday by absentee.

At least I got to cast a vote I believed in. I feel for you, and I'm glad you're still feeling hopeful. I'm not worried. I think we'll do fine, even if (choke choke) Hillary Clinton is our candidate. The media and the larger concerns who manipulate this whole charade need McCain and Clinton in the race so that they can call it a horse race and keep the viewers' interest piqued. But in the end, they'll hand it over to Clinton so that they GOP can get on with blaming everything Bush did on those evil Clintons.

.

[OneMoreDemocrat]

21. Outstanding.....

K&R


:thumbsup:

[Cleita]

22. Me either. I have spent a lifetime voting for someone I was never

that enthused about. I will probably be gone before the 2012 election, so I will never have voted for someone I really wanted as President in my whole lifetime when I die.

[mike_c]

54. this response is heartbreaking....

:cry:

[balantz]

24. K&R brother.

:thumbsup:

[Meshuga]

26. My candidate is still running (Obama) but I agree with you

This system is wrong and the whole country should have the opportunity to pick from the same batch of candidates.

[sandnsea]

27. 3 month primaries, 5 per week

From each part of the country. That way it has to come from the people and there's still a chance for candidates to catch fire if they put in the work.

[redqueen]

28. No, it's not democracy. We need proportional representation.

I'm still voting for Edwards in the primary.

[sandnsea]

29. Primaries are proportional

within each state, and people are denying that reality by saying states' delegates don't count.

[redqueen]

30. Is that a joke?

Proportional representation means if greens get so many votes, they get that proportion of seats in the legislature.

[sandnsea]

31. You didn't direct it to party representation

Proportional representation also means that if you get so many voters in a county, you get proportional delegates. People are saying it isn't fair, it should be one person one vote, winner take all.

[redqueen]

32. Oh sorry yeah... I was talking about general elections, not primaries...

As for winner take all, fuck that noise.

[mike_c]

35. well, my state's primary is next week and three of the five dem candidates...

...have already been forced out of the race, including the only two I could have supported. If that's your view of "proportionality," I suspect Diebold has some career options open for you....

[barb162]

52. Write in your candidate if you can

[harmonicon]

87. I think the country is far too large for proportional representation to work

there are really large differences between Montana, Alaska, Florida and Ohio. I don't like the two party system, but I don't think people living in such disparate places could just vote for a party and hope to have their interests represented in congress. In some states it might work for their house members, but in other states that wouldn't even make sense - there's way too big of a difference between the urban and agricultural areas of California, for instance.

[Tennessee Gal]

37. Brilliantly stated.

I have been in such a funk today since hearing that John had dropped out. I have hardly been able to even think about why I feel so down. But you put it into words for me. You expressed it exactly and I thank you for that.

The American electoral process has become dysfunctional not because of "we the people," but because of corporate interests and candidates put in the forefront by the media.

I am truly sad.

[susanr516]

40. absolutely nt

[KoKo]

41. No...this is not Democracy....We are just finding out about that, though.

Hopefully, more folks will wake up and realize the same thing. I've been hoping since Clinton Impeachment and Stolen Election 2000...but it seems many Americans and even some here on this DU Board still don't get it.

[Faux pas]

42. To me this is voter suppression of the maximum kind.

Both my first and second choices have been beaten down and tossed away. Another sad chapter in Amerikan history.

[shanti]

44. the corporations will never

ever ever ever allow ANYONE into the game who doesn't play the game. that's clearly obvious :mad:

[Faux pas]

58. Obvious and beyond disgusting. Too bad there can't be a

grassroots barter system. We quit buying, they start dying.

[avaistheone1]

59. Sounds good. Many of the corporations in this country are a pox upon the people.

[Faux pas]

60. When the buck is more important than a human, things have

fallen off the cliff straight into hell. I'll never understand this or the so-called people who think this is a good thing.

[avaistheone1]

94. I think there are some people who expect that the big benevolent corporatons are going to step in

and save their sorry asses.

What could be further from the truth? lol

[avaistheone1]

95. I think there are some people who expect that the big benevolent corporatons are going to step in

and save their sorry asses.

What could be further from the truth? lol

[shanti]

43. amen, brother, amen!

:thumbsup: that is EXACTLY how i feel now too! i had my absentee ballot all filled out for edwards but never sent it in. i was still planning to vote for him tho, but now...:shrug: what's the freakin use anymore...:(

[Gormy Cuss]

97. The only point is to show how strong support and perhaps influence the platform

of the eventual candidate, or provide leverage for Edwards in brokering some attention to his platform issues.

I'm still voting my conscience next week -- I want to vote on the rest of the ballot and while I'm there I'll cast my primary vote for one of former candidates. I'll vote for the nominee in the fall.

[FlyingSquirrel]

45. THANK YOU.

I will not even attend my caucus on Feb. 9 now in Washington state. Why bother? I know Edwards will probably not gain 15% now and I'm not enthusiastic about the other two. Why should I show up to try to convince people to vote AGAINST someone I don't think can win the GE? (Naming no names) Screw it!

[harmonicon]

88. Don't forget that there is still a third candidate

Mike Gravel. I don't agree with him on everything, but he sure has a hell of a lot more experience and a more honorable record in the senate than the other two - he just got shut out for refusing to use talking points and calling shit like he sees it. If I could still vote or caucus, I'd go with Gravel.

[abq e streeter]

46. I wish I could say you're wrong,

but it pretty much breaks my heart that you're not. It sucks, it just really sucks...

[ooga booga]

47. Hey, children, what's that sound? Everybody look what's goin' down

I love this thread.

On a personal note, I have become very annoyed at our incredibly long and grueling electoral process. Name another democracy on this planet that draws out the selection of the head of state like this. I don't think that ANY country has anything remotely as long, drawn out and expensive as what we have. I think that it contributes to the "democracy deficit" that Noam Chomsky speaks about. The process selects for money, media coverage and connections and factors out quality cnadidates like John Edwards and advances people like George W. Bush.

I just turned 55, and I feel that the system has failed us over and over again for 40 years at least. In my life, I've seen very little of this presidential election process that I felt good about. I'm ready to ditch all of the primaries and go back to wide open conventions. It might not be better, but, in my opinion, it could hardly be worse that what we have now.

I feel that we also need to move beyond "the two party system" somehow some day. The real spectrum of political thought is not well represented by a thin band of red and a thin band of blue.

[bagrman]

48. I'm sorry did you think that the elections would be fair, remember "00" and "04" .

[Darth Lenore]

49. K&R - This is bullshit

Yeah, I feel your pain, man. Fuck Obama and Clinton. I'll still vote Dem in November (I mean, what other choice do I have?), but it won't be a vote <I>for</I> whoever gets the nom, it'll be a vote <I>against</I> the republicans. Which isn't how it's supposed to be.

[provis99]

50. uh, thats not how it works

You don't get to vote "against" the Republicans, and quite frankly, every politician sees a vote in their column as a vote for them and their agenda, not a "vote against" their opponent. I won't be voting for a President in this general election, or Congresspeople in my district (in a red state like Mississippi, choosing Democratic or Republican congresspeople is like choosing between two bowls of shit); I will vote for lower office Democratic candidates (hope my sheriff is a Democrat), but its sad it comes to that point.:cry: :cry:

[krabigirl]

51. I totally agree. We need a national primary.

[AllyCat]

57. Problem with a national primary is that the one with the most $$$ wins

See my post below about another strategy I've heard proffered. I'd love to hear what people think about it.

[harmonicon]

89. not if there was election finance reform

the candidates should all get the same slice from available federal funds, and that should be minimal. Anyone can read the different candidates platform statements, look through their records, and watch them in debates.

[JAbuchan08]

53. kicked and Recommended

[Seabiscuit]

55. Neither have I, and I'm 62.

When I was young you had to be 21 to vote. I didn't turn 21 until 1966. So the 1968 election was my first opportunity, and they murdered my candidate, RFK. I held my nose when I voted for Humphrey.

4 years later they destroyed McGovern by trashing his running mate, Thomas Eagleton, then trashing McGovern for defending him. By the time the election came around he was the only one in the country speaking publicly about Watergate, but the press had buried him long before then so I basically voted for a dead man. 30+ years later and the Repukes love raising his name just to ridicule him.

There hasn't been a candidate I've been able to vote for that I've ever really supported since then. They destroyed Howard Dean 4 years ago with their "scream speech" tape rewinds. He was the only guy I had enthusiastically supported since RFK. I had to hold my nose when I voted for Kerry.

Now something's happened to Edwards, the only other guy I've ever wholeheartedly supported. I'm voting for him next Tuesday anyway because he's still on the ballot here and he hasn't "quit", he's merely "suspended" the campaign so he's going to pick up a lot of delegates on Super Tuesday, to be used later. And I have a strong feeling I'll be writing in Edwards for the GE because my nose is just too damned sore from holding it for the past 39 years.

[Pyrzqxgl]

101. You Know, I'm 68 and I haven't either. I'm afraid Edwards was my last hope.

[AllyCat]

56. Me neither. I always get the dregs in my state. How about this plan:

There was a column in our newspaper a couple Sundays ago where the author thought the best way to reform the primary system was to have 4 primaries that ran once a month, March through June. This was better than ONE national primary which he felt would only favor the candidate who had raised the most money.

The 12 or 13 least populous states would vote in March, followed by the next most populous, until the states with the most delegates ran in June. This would keep more candidates in the race early in the game and give everyone a chance to at least have a few candidates among which to choose.

What do you think?

[mike_c]

81. it's still hard to see how that plan wouldn't lead to candidates...

...being eliminated during the early voting so that the majority of the country-- those populous states who would vote last-- doesn't get the same slate of candidates the early voting states gets.

[AllyCat]

107. No doubt the slate would be different from March to June, but

don't you think that given eight or so candidates running, each might have some reasonable chance of taking a state or two. Maybe a couple wouldn't win anything and drop out. But the media would have a harder time trying to pick the winner for everybody (doesn't mean they won't try). Then maybe six or so would be left for the next round of voting.

Personally, I would love to see public financing of campaigns as a first step, but I doubt it will happen any time soon. The corporations just aren't going to allow it.

[Yael]

82. I like this idea a lot!!

[Connonym]

61. yup, me too

every single fucking primary my choice is gone by the WI primary. Sick of it.

[Auggie]

62. Same here. Now I'm voting against someone rather than voting for someone.

And the pundits wonder why voter turnout is so low.

[SeanQ]

63. I share your pain

[Pacifist Patriot]

64. Six. Don't forget NV and MI. But I agree with you. I've voted since...

1988 and I've yet to vote for a candidate that went the distance. As a matter of fact, before this year I had to vote absentee and my votes were mailed typically two to three days before my candidate withdrew. So this year I'm in Florida. Cool, an early state. Except my vote doesn't count. And the guy I wanted to vote for dropped out after two states. Okay, I've got a backup. Whoops, he withdrew after three states. So I vote for my third choice. Who drops out the day after I vote for him.

Can't agree with you more. The process of selecting a party candidate is NOT democratic. Then again, I'm not sure it was ever meant to be. Our civics books need a bit of revision on that count. They create an expectation for something that isn't delivered.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

65. You said it, brother

and far better than I could have put it into words.

I'm not even going to bother to vote in the primary. I have pneumonia and my husband is seriously ill with a chronic disease that is getting worse. There is as much chance there will be real change in this country as there is of me getting well by this afternoon and my husband miraculously being about to move without pain. My concern now is that, amongst regular folk, there is a decidedly negative view of the remaining top two candidates. So far, in my wanderings into non-political boards that sometimes touch on politics, there has been one positive poster-and she's an Obama delegate. I fear we're being set up to lose yet another election.

[Prefer]

66. Working just as planned

it's really about the illusion of representation and feel good words.

[Girlieman]

67. My thoughts exactly -- K&R

[tom_paine]

68. K & R for the sad truth

[mnhtnbb]

70. It hasn't been democracy for a very long time; the government is being used to advance

the interests of corporations. Hello, fascism.

Hubby and I bought property in Panama in mid-2005 as an escape hatch from Bushco. It is now looking more and more likely that we will choose to retire there by 2009. We already have our permanent resident visas and bank accounts.

It just makes me so very sad to see what is happening to this country. The sun always sets on empires and the shadows are lengthening across America.

[stubtoe]

73. Thanks, mike_c. I live in Oregon and our primary is not until MAY.

Talk about disenfranchisement. All we'll get to do by then is be a rubber stamp.

[frog92969]

74. K&R

This needs to be fixed, as in repaired.

[happygoluckytoyou]

75. THANK YOU FOR QUITTING......LOVE, THE GOP

WE KNEW YOU WOULD DIVIDE BEFORE THE ELECTION...
...AND CRYBABY YOU WOULD RATHER GIVE UP THAN UNITE BEHIND THE "NEXT BEST CHOICE"

W00H00!!!!! GOTTA LOVE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU TREE-HUGGING MORONS FOR PROPELLING US INTO 8 YEARS OF MCCAIN....

BOMB BOMB BOMB...BOMB BOMB IRAN....

[Yael]

84. Tree hugging morons?

Who pissed in your wheaties this morning?

Some of us are standing for people with no voice.

Your voice now has no voice.

Welcome to the list!

[KoKo]

86. sheesh.....one of our new "converts?"

:eyes:

[demo dutch]

109. I am with you! but a National Primary is the only fair way for all states!

[Stargazer09]

76. I agree!

I've been ranting and raving about this for years now, since I didn't really want John Kerry to be my candidate, either. But as an Oregonian, I don't get to vote in the primary process until May, and well, it's all over by then.

The current system might have worked before television and the internet allowed the candidates to get their message to everyone at once. It doesn't work now, and it's time to move into the 21st century.

[Freddie Stubbs]

77. Edwards, Dodd, Clinton, Biden, Obama, Richardson, Kucinich and Gravel are still on the CA ballot

Unless you are supporting Lee Mercer, you can still vote for your preferred candidate.

[pipoman]

78. Real reform isn't on the horizon

IMHO the only really fair way to hold primaries is all on one day. Limit spending by the candidates to a specific, relatively low dollar amount, require media to give equal time to all candidates (which may limit their droning day after day endorsements), hold as many true debates (not the vetted campaign commercials we get now) sponsored and ran by as many organizations as possible in the 4-6 months leading to the primary. I am no lawyer nor do I proclaim to be smart enough to write these changes but it could be done, there just isn't a will to return the power to the people.

And to all those who whine that if the primaries were held on one day there wouldn't be enough campaign funds to handle it, I say there already isn't so enact some real campaign finance reform. Second for those who say only the large states would get attention, the way it is now only the same 6 tiny states are getting attention every election cycle, what's your point?

F the DNC and their friends the RNC, F the media, take back our elections.

[emald]

79. "get over it...."

yes, I will get over it, after my country has been flushed down the drain by corporations and their selections for my vote. I guess our choices have been made for us. I guess there is little reason for me to vote after all. The choices have been made and a large portion of the electorate has been relegated to second tier voters. Since my vote means less than those of the first few states to do the primary dance I simply have no reason to continue participating. Why vote when those I might support are thrown under the bus before my state even gets a chance to have it's say? No, democracy doesn't exist in this country anymore. Corporations are the enemy of the people. The two political parties are enemies of the people. I'm sick of this system we call democracy because it isn't, not anymore. I quit in protest.

[SallyMander]

80. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Yael]

85. I don't get to vote until April

I am voting for John Edwards. The rest of the country can pick Candidate A or Candidate B because I simply don't care which one of them we run.

Fuck them and their preselected coronations (a year!!! before the first primary ever took place).

[stimbox]

90. K&R I know how you feel.

Mike, you should vote for Mike.

http://www.gravel2008.us

[southerncrone]

91. I feel EXACTLY the same! I HAVE BEEN DISENFRANCIZED!!!

Done by the Democratic Party in colusion w/MSM.

Our party has been hijacked.

The diversity that once made us strong, has now been used against us.

• New Party? OR


• Drink the Kool-Aid they force on you.

Those are our choices.

[demo dutch]

111. New primary system and law to force the media to give equal coverage

[southerncrone]

116. Would be excellent starts.

[Bennyboy]

92. I voted absentee in CA

Three weeks ago. For Kucinich. I would have waited and voted for Edwards if I had known but now he is gone and I am like you....I am very dissatisfied with what's left. Someone I can't stand and someone that is not even close to what I want in my President.

[cojoel]

93. I have never had the chance to vote in a competitive primary

I've been voting since 1976 (didn't turn 18 until after the primary season that year) and by the time the wave hit my state it was already done. And I've lived in several states.

Right now I live in a caucus state that used to have primaries but reverted to caucuses "to save money". I was going to figure out how to get to the Caucus next Tuesday and be there for John, but now I'm going to save the child sitting fees and just stay home. Why bother? If it was a primary I would have voted anyway, and voted for John.

I'll vote for our candidate in November, whoever it is, but once again, it will not be the one I wanted, and one who would have a great chance of actually winning. Maybe I should sell "election clothespins" to help us progressives hold our noses when we vote.

[bobbolink]

96. Mike, when is the last time we WERE able to vote for a candidate we could support?

For me, it's been about 30 years!

I've "hung in there".

I've worked my ass off for the Dems.

I've been loyal.

Many of us said in '04 it's done..... it was the last time we sold our collective souls.

So, here it is, and the people *I* know feel as left out as you, are not voting for either "winner", and are casting about for where to put their (considerable) energies.

Yet, the Dem party sails along as if nothing is wrong, as if there is no CRISIS, either in our democracy, or in our country, and we are told our votes aren't even wanted.

Here at DU, where this crisis of the party was brought up in '04, we aren't even allowed to discuss it. We will be discarded as so much rif-raf.

When it becomes apparent to even the most partisan that the party is broken, it will be too late. It won't be any joy for any of us to say "we told you so, but you wouldn't listen."

They wouldn't hear it anyway.... they are as much into name-calling as the RW.

So be it.

Let it sink.

:nuke:

[Chovexani]

98. You speak for me, bro.

"Super" Tuesday, I'm staying home.

I support neither Itchy, nor Scratchy.

[OzarkDem]

99. If it makes you feel any better

the votes don't count in this primary anyway. The winner has already been determined by the people who fund the campaigns. All we can do is wait for their decision.

Someone will be out shortly after Super Tuesday and it won't be the voters who decide.

[BrklynLiberal]

100. The system is broken, but those who can change it, never will, since it is the tool that serves them

best.
We may never have it any better than we do right now....how sad for us, for our children, and our grandchildren...and for the entire planet.

[robbedvoter]

102. I voted for Clark in 2004 - but he was already out - I agree.

[AllyCat]

115. Me too Robbed. He pulled double digits here in WI if I remember

and he wasn't even in the race anymore. All we had left by the time the voting came to us was Kerry, Edwards, and Kucinich...right now, I'd happily take either of the latter in '08, but alas, we are down to the last two on the Dem side I would have chosen.

[Javaman]

104. Join the club. nt

[pauldp]

105. I wanted Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice, but I can only get Sunny Delight.

But I should be happy because at least it tastes sort of like OJ and has some vitamin C, even if it is owned by a big corporate beverage conglomerate as opposed to the small organic farmer I wanted to support. I should just stop complaining and shut the fuck up- because hey, some people drink Jolt Cola for breakfast. That organic, fresh squeezed juice is too hippy-dippy anyway, only freaks and commies drink that shit.

[kath]

108. BWAH!

great analogy!

[mike_c]

112. LOL-- more like Tang....

:rofl:

[pauldp]

114. Right. Now the choices are Tang or Sunny D.

[LWolf]

117. There's nothing "democratic" about it.

I don't know why anyone would expect my vote, when I'm disenfranchised months before I get my primary ballot.