| Laws about playing tag affect no one outside the children playing while laws about sanctuary may determine where the most wanted man in the world is hiding. Currently the private law of the Democratic and Republican Party Presidential Primaries are shaping the future of the nation and maybe the globe. We must always remember these are private groups whose members also run for public office. Laws on who can vote in a primary or caucus, which can exclude whose affiliated with another party or only include member f their own party, when the registration deadline is, and how their delegates must be allocated affect the entire nation’s choice for President this November.
Although all these private laws created by the country’s premier political parties affect our democracy in far-reaching ways. However, since Super Tuesday (2/5/2008), the public is slowly becoming aware of the implications of how delegates are allocated after a primary vote, a law decided by each part privately. For the most part, Republican result in the winner receiving every delegate even if they don’t receive a majority of the votes (i.e John McCain? wins all of Washington’s delegates with only 34% of the votes). This winner-take-all system has resulted in McCain? receiving the vast majority of delegates. Due to this choice of private law, McCain? will now be one of two realistic choices for President despite receiving less than a majority of the votes from his own private group. Had the Republicans used the Democratic Party system, other Republican contenders like Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee could continue to run with a realistic chance of winning the nomination (Romney has opted to step out while Huckabee continues to tilt at windmills to make a point).
The majority of Democratic primaries allocate delegates proportionally which results in primary losers receiving some delegates. This private law allows losers to “live to fight another day” and continue to run in later primaries with a reasonable chance of catching a previous winner. Currently, this system has assured neither Barack Obama nor Hillary Clinton can win decisively and gain a comfortable lead in delegates over the other. For now, McCain? ’s opponent remains unclear.
But why is this important? Does it really make a difference how the Presidential nominees are chosen? It does if one believes the election for the President of the United States is meaningful. A direct result of the Republican Party law allocating delegates in a winner-take-all system is Romney and Huckabee losing the Republican nomination and McCain? winning (at least this early). This affects who will be the next President of the United States, and all the power that position wields. Even those who believe the Democratic Party nominee is assured a victory in November admit those choosing between Obama and Clinton will take McCain? into account. McCain? appeals to Independent voters and will make national security the forefront of his campaign in a way no other candidate can. His nomination also means a debate moderator will not ask if either candidate supports the torture of terrorists since he agrees with both Clinton and Obama on the issue.
This is all the result of Republicans and Democrats making a choice about what how to allocate delegates, a matter of private law. No publicly elected body has had a say on the issue, yet this choice of what law to impose on their parties internally now has drastic affects on the country and its policies. |