The "Elephant" in the Room

[tavalon]

No, I'm not talking about the Rethugs, I'm talking about the thing none of us seems to want to talk about here. The thing that is so obviously there, making a big messy pile in the corner and stinking up the joint.

That being that this whole primary thing is clearly a dog and pony show for...............us! I suppose I should be glad that they feel a need to keep up pretenses, though the fact that they are such flimsy pretenses bothers me. And the fact that they aren't trying that hard also pisses me off. Pisses me off more than I can express.

Does anyone else here see this? Are you okay with this? Does it make it easier to take if it's your candidate who's the anointed one? I don't really think it would make it any better for me but not being in that situation, I don't know. My candidate appears to have decided not to run. So, not having a horse in the race, I've been sitting back watching, and all I can say is "What the fuck?". Yeah, don't worry, I'll do my civic duty, come that Tuesday next year, but it's really hard to see what's happening right here, right now. Not the "who" of it, but the "what" of it. Ya know?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

1. Would you prefer to go back to the old system...

...where the party apparatus controlled everything?

[tavalon]

2. Um, that's my point

It hasn't changed. There is a bit of window dressing now and frankly, it's the window dressing that pisses me off. I don't want to be lied to and I am being lied to, by my own party.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

6. Yes it has changed.

One of the things that came out of the '68 convention was that the influence of the party bosses over the nomination was decreased in favor of increased reliance on primaries, and thus popular support. The system we have now, while far from perfect, is far more democratic than the system it replaced.

[tavalon]

7. If the "nominee" has already been chosen,

before a single primary has been held, how does that make it "far more democratic"?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

8. The nominee *hasn't* been chosen.

Not a single vote has been cast. At this point in 2004, Dean was the front runner. Nobody can say with any certainty who the nominee will be.

[tavalon]

9. And I say different

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

12. Can you give some evidence to support this assertion?

I've given you a concrete example to demonstrate that the primary process is not some monolithic monster designed to shove a particular candidate down your throat.

What would you suggest as being the proper process? What is it specifically about the current primary process that you don't like?

[cali]

3. Yes, it's a dog and pony show. It's long been a dog and pony show

but that's not all it is. If you look at things in a simplistic way, you'll see them simplistically.

[tavalon]

5. If the "nominee" has already been chosen,

what else is it, besides a dog and pony show?

[cali]

10. the nominee hasn't been chosen. Anything can happen. n/t

[JTFrog]

4. Yes, if it's their candidate it's easier to take.

It's called cognitive dissonance. It happened with Bush. It's happening again. It doesn't confine itself to party affiliation.

PROFIT TRUMPS HEALTH CARE
PROFIT TRUMPS DOMESTIC JOBS
POWER TRUMPS PEACE.

I would argue that less than five percent of all democrats can actually consciously accept these stances as acceptable platforms from which to run for POTUS. But that is the platform being touted. So many will rely more on faith than reason. Unfortunately the only cure is time. Something that this country, and this world, may soon find lacking.

[Perry Logan]

11. I'm more optimistic. I think we're moving to the left. But we're having growing pains.