"I told them you lived in the Village and smoked pot and everything, and I said one thing about Frank Serpico is that he's no troublemaker. With Frank Serpico, it's live and let live.
Serpico stared straight ahead, sipping his tea.
__________
From Serpico by Peter Maas, copyright 1973, Viking Press.
I don't know 5 more people, although Frank Serpico does have his own blog at frankserpico.blogspot.com, although he's a little more liberal than I am.
Friday, May 09, 2008
I Want to be a Superdelegate when I grow up
What is a Superdelegate?
The way I understand it is, superdelegates are those that are big ballers in the Democatic party and whose primary vote, or endorsement, has more leverage than you or I.
Hillary Clinton is behind Barak Obama in the delegate race - and I'm not counting superdelegates. She is enough behind that she would have to win every delegate of every primary left to squeak out a victory.
OR....
She could be close enough in the final delegate count she could court enough SD's (superdelegates from here on) that she could theoretically overtake Obama for the nomination.
So, here is Mrs. Clinton, trying to be the people's choice, when she is actually discounting our vote by hoping that the SD's will put her over the top. So much for democracy. I understand that even some people don't like the electoral college anyway, but it's the system we have. Even though Al Gore pretty much got screwed by the electoral college in 2000, I still think it is a better option than simple majority vote. I believe if we were to use the majority vote outcome, we would end up with a system similar to third world countries where results are disputed for weeks, and with no candidate winning a majority, a runoff is needed, and the election process is dragged on some more.
Quite simply, the SD system needs to be trashed. Voters expect their vote to count for something and the SD option takes that away. Here's a good example. The democratic voters of eastern North Carolina vote overwhelmingly for Barak Obama during the primary. Then, our state level and national reps, who are SDs, turncoat and give their vote to Clinton. Those SDs will have told their constituents that their votes don't matter because I am going to vote this way, whether you like it or not.
With so much complaining after the 2000 national election about voter disenfranchisment, you would think their would be more vocal opposition to the SD system.
But when we let the media make the news, unfortunately, I don't think that will happen. Right now, the media has a lot invested in seeing this particular battle drawn out to the bitter end. May the person with the most SDs win!
The way I understand it is, superdelegates are those that are big ballers in the Democatic party and whose primary vote, or endorsement, has more leverage than you or I.
Hillary Clinton is behind Barak Obama in the delegate race - and I'm not counting superdelegates. She is enough behind that she would have to win every delegate of every primary left to squeak out a victory.
OR....
She could be close enough in the final delegate count she could court enough SD's (superdelegates from here on) that she could theoretically overtake Obama for the nomination.
So, here is Mrs. Clinton, trying to be the people's choice, when she is actually discounting our vote by hoping that the SD's will put her over the top. So much for democracy. I understand that even some people don't like the electoral college anyway, but it's the system we have. Even though Al Gore pretty much got screwed by the electoral college in 2000, I still think it is a better option than simple majority vote. I believe if we were to use the majority vote outcome, we would end up with a system similar to third world countries where results are disputed for weeks, and with no candidate winning a majority, a runoff is needed, and the election process is dragged on some more.
Quite simply, the SD system needs to be trashed. Voters expect their vote to count for something and the SD option takes that away. Here's a good example. The democratic voters of eastern North Carolina vote overwhelmingly for Barak Obama during the primary. Then, our state level and national reps, who are SDs, turncoat and give their vote to Clinton. Those SDs will have told their constituents that their votes don't matter because I am going to vote this way, whether you like it or not.
With so much complaining after the 2000 national election about voter disenfranchisment, you would think their would be more vocal opposition to the SD system.
But when we let the media make the news, unfortunately, I don't think that will happen. Right now, the media has a lot invested in seeing this particular battle drawn out to the bitter end. May the person with the most SDs win!
second verse....
New job with Embarq in Greenville, NC.
Still living in the same town.
Sarah is almost 3. Jacob is the positive side of 2 months old.
Still living in the same town.
Sarah is almost 3. Jacob is the positive side of 2 months old.
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