And, apparently, those same selected victors are already writing it for 2012:
The Democratic Party is launching a review of the nominating process that served Barack Obama so well last year, and given that those leading the process are all Obama loyalists, any revisions for 2012 almost certainly won't stand in the way of his renomination.
“This commission will focus on reform that improves the presidential nominating process to put voters first and ensure that as many people as possible can participate,” Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia, Obama's pick to lead the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement.
The commission will look at changing when primaries and caucuses can be held, reducing the number of superdelegates, and improving the caucus system. It is to issue its recommendations by Jan. 1.
Representative Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri will lead the panel, which includes 35 DNC members, elected officials, state party officials, and representatives of academia, labor, and business, grassroots activists and other party leaders.
Part of the resolution for the commission:
b. the use of a caucus/convention system for any stage of the delegate selection process should be organized in a manner that will ensure the maximum ability of Democratic voters to feasibly participate in the first-tier caucuses, including consideration of absentee voting in caucuses to benefit those who cannot attend a scheduled caucus due to military service, work, health conditions, family obligations and other similar reasons that prevent attendance in person.
Apparently, not only is justice not blind, but she's got an absolutely wicked sense of humor. I mean, James and Claire guarding the caucus gates and all, right? I feel safer already, with them at the helm.
And, up here in Michigan, every one of our DNC members was re-elected to, again, unanimously. No a one even so much as mentioned our primary; it's as if it never happened. I guess Corporate America isn't the only institution that doles out bonuses for rank incompetence, right?
To the victor goes the spoils and so forth and so on. But, really, Congrats, guys. Here's to James & Claire making the Democratic Party more democratic, one attempt at a major state caucus success at a time.
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There's a solution
to this that they might not like: voters simply sitting out the next few elections. So far I see no reason to reelect Obama. The GOP would have to put up a monster for me to show up to vote.
You did see who's in charge of nominating procedures?
James Clyburn.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
"ensure that as many people as possible can participate"
If that's the goal, nixing the undemocratic caucuses is a must. But will they do it?
Actually, maybe they would, if they are afraid that a challenger might similarly game that system, to Obama's disadvantage.
gaming the system
Yes, nixing caucuses, altogether, is something I'd love to see. I have no reason to believe that they'd do that, though, and I don't see how could possibly game the caucuses better than the Obama team. That was a gaming for the ages.
I honestly don't know what to do, anymore. I wrote my DNC members before, during, and after the primaries about caucuses. I only got a reply back from one of my Senators. It was a prepackaged message, of course. Between seeing how's being given the 'keys to the kingdom' here, and seeing not so much as anyone in my state mention our fiasco of a primary, I've lost all kinds of faith in the process.
A caucus isn't even a fair enough reflection of a population of a city, let alone for an entire state, particularly when you've got an even more representative option that can be used (a primary).
Call me crazy, but I like getting democracy right the first time. Caucuses can't ever do that for such large populations, primaries at least provide a realistic attempt at getting democracy right the first time.
But, we've always been at war with Eastasia...
Absentee voting for caucuses is bogus
1. Most have multi-stage voting. How is that to be done with an absentee ballot?
2. The point of the stages is to have caucus goers persuade each other to move from one candidate to another. How is that to be done with an absentee ballot?
Answer: It can't. What the party formerly known as Democratic is about to do is embed a two-class system of voting into its Presidential selection process, one which discriminates especially against the poor and the working class. Quelle surprise.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
I welcome sitting out 2012. But I predict by then we'll be so
deeply entrenched in the shitter that an election will seem as meaningless, as, well...an election.
I love this job!