Can We Vote Already?

[babylonsister]

Can We Vote Already?
By Scott Galindez
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Thursday 20 December 2007

Is it just me, or are others so fatigued by this presidential election that, in the final days of the campaign, you just wish it was over? Don't get me wrong; this is a very important election - an election that will have major impacts on all our lives. But did it have to start so long ago? Usually, voters start paying attention around Labor Day. But this time around, I think the voters were already burned out months before.

Do we need dozens of debates to learn where candidates stand? O.K., Mike Huckabee seems to have won voters over in his debate performances, but did we need ten Republican debates since August? Wasn't it the Youtube debate that put Huckabee on the map? I think five debates between Labor Day and the Iowa Caucus are plenty.

Can anyone tell me three things they learned about a candidate they didn't already know about them before these debates? And what makes Iowans and New Hampshirites so important anyway? Let's have five debates between Labor Day and a three-day national primary in mid-January. Or, better yet, kick off the campaign for the nominations in January, have one big primary in May. O.K., I have vented enough, and am ready to spend the next two months or so helping you to sort out what is going on.

Lets start out with the Democrats. The polls in Iowa only tell us it is going to be a long night. With three candidates polling above 20 percent, and no one pulling away, the question will be where the second-tier candidates' supporters will move in the closing days, and after the first round.

Gov. Bill Richardson could emerge as the king- or queen-maker. He could throw his support to one of the top three after the first round of voting. Remember, Iowa is a caucus: Voters meet by precincts and publicly declare their support for a candidate. They then regroup throughout the night until one candidate has 50 percent of the vote in that precinct. Four years ago, Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt were leading in the polls going in, but they finished third and fourth, with John Kerry and John Edwards surging past them.

One thing I noticed was the Gephardt camp moving to Kerry. One has to wonder if John Edwards and Barak Obama will make a "Stop Hillary deal."

more...

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122007R.shtml

[onehandle]

1. No, Edwards needs a few more days to fully sweep Iowa. nt