CNN.com has declared Hillary Clinton the winner of the crucial Pennsylvania primary. This marks a monumental turnaround for the Clinton campaign and gives new hope to a candidate that looked to have run out of steam. With this win Clinton looks to pick up the majority of the delegates and inches closer to opponent, Brock Obama.
The news of Clinton’s win comes as a bit of a shock. For weeks the news coming out of all the major media outlets seemed to hint, or outright say, that Obama had seized the momentum and was going for the jugular in Pennsylvania.
At this point it appears that it is anyone’s campaign for the Democratic nomination. More than likely this fight will have to be determined when the Democratic delegates meet to cast their votes in June. This brings to mind the question, “Does the system we have in place to nominate candidates actually work?”
Many Americans are not aware that the delegates “won” by a candidate following a primary are free to cast their vote any way that they deem to be appropriate. As was the case in the 2000 election, unique circumstances shine light on the obscure nuances of our election process. Unfortunately, these nuances tend to have the negative characteristic of appearing to exclude the masses from the election process.
I am as patriotic as the next guy, assuming the next guy is not a five star general, but I have a problem with the paralyzing stratification that is inherent to government. The prospect of having a few thousand individuals decide who will be running for president leaves a bad taste in my mouth. This taste is the same taste that we can all remember following the debacle with the Bush/Gore 2000 election. That being said, I am a man of historical context, and I will not let the anomalies of the election process sour me on a system that has been around for hundreds of years.
I believe that the system we have in place, despite its problems, is a rather good one, and I will continue to put my faith in every vote that I cast.
The great part about America is that we are all allowed to have an opinion. I have let mine be heard, and now it is your chance. Please leave a comment and let us all know what you think of the system the United States has in place for nominating candidates.
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April 23, 2008 at 8:31 pm
I wish this was a national Primary system. My reason being that I lthink that these Primarie do not actually count the true America in the Voting. Just my opinion.
April 23, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Everyone keeps saying Hillary won by 10 Points – or by double digits – WRONG. Hillary won by 9.375 points. This still, according to real mathematics rounds to 9 POINTS – not double digits. This may not seem like a big deal, but trust me – IT IS!
April 23, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Sorry, dear, but this race is OVER unless Her Highness in a Pantsuit convinces the Superdelegates to disenfranchise the majority of the voters of their own party. For the good of the Democratic Party, Hillary needs to bow out gracefully.
Alas, there’s not a speck o’ grace in her!
April 23, 2008 at 11:12 pm
It seems like the system we have to elect the nominees for president is not working. It is taking way to long. Get rid of the super delegates, count the Michigan and Florida delegates and keep going until someone gets all of the required delegates. The required number of delegates seems a little high, too.
No one should “bow out” until we have a nominee.