The Last Days are Ugly May 30, 2008
Posted by Conrad Hubbard in : The Chip , add a commentThe last of the Democratic primaries occur on June 3rd. If things run the way they have been, then that fact won’t actually bring an end to the Democratic primary race. Hopefully, Obama will continue his current path, and seize an even greater majority of the delegates apportioned by popular primary votes. Even if he does, though, it seems that Hillary is unlikely to give up any time soon — apparently if your name begins with an “H” this election, then you aren’t allowed to gracefully retire. (Huckabee anyone?)
Sunday, June 1st is the Puerto Rico primary, even though the territory is not allowed to vote in the general election. I suppose that is truly an interesting compromise. They are allowed to affect the Presidential primaries but not the final general election choice. Then, Montana and South Dakota hold the very last 2008 Democratic primaries on June 3rd.
Ultimately, though, it looks like Obama will continue to lead in delegate count, but may not hold the required majority to take the nomination. If the parties (Republican and Democratic) didn’t have these superdelegate (or equivalent) positions, this would not be the case. Superdelegates occupy a somewhat “undemocratic” position. They are given the power, by the parties, to override regular delegates, regardless of popular vote. Theoretically this was done to prevent deadlocked conventions. Ironically, this year it seems predestined to create a Democratic Party deadlock. Even as the leading candidate, with the largest number of Democratic delegates, Obama will likely stand or fall on the word of antidemocratic approval.
Meanwhile, the final days of the campaign are pretty ugly. The conservative media has decided to give new and national focus to old stories about old issues without even the vague pretense of new information. The right-yanked media has followed suit.
Hopefully, all of this will pass without ruining our future. Hopefully, Obama will prevail as candidate and President, and prove to be the agent of hope and positive change that he purports to be.