Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Off the Map

This seems like a good source to keep track of results and info on the primaries. A nice rollover map that breaks everything down by state and candidate.

I'm a bit confused on the totals for delegates (pledged v. unpledged, etc) Obama leads by only one "pledged" delegate over Hillary (they both recieved 9 in the close N.H. finish, and Obama had 16 to HRC's 15 in Iowa. Somehow coming in second only netted Edwards 14.)

The graph that includes "unpledged" delegates, who are seemingly not bound by results (!), show Hillary with a wide lead. That's not good. And not encouraging in terms of actual democracy...

Rolling your mouse over the map shows just how important February 5 will be. It also reminds me just how fucking stupid the politicians and party flacks in Michigan are— Primary date: January 15. Delegates: 0.

Great job, you stupid jackasses. Trying to make us important has rendered us irrelevant, and the ONLY Democrat who is campaigning here is Kucinich. he struggling economy thanks you for the loss of revenue as well.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

And reminds me just how fucking stupid the politicians and party flacks in Michigan are— Primary date: January 15. Delegates: 0.


We in Florida are right there with you.

But even without having delegates, our primaries are definitely not useless. Florida has too many electoral votes (getting ahead of myself, I know) to just ignore the stated opinions of a sizeable population. I would think that whichever candidate takes Florida will be the one that is most likely to be nominated.

Mr Furious said...

Yeah, but does you ballot at least have a full slate of candidates? My choice next week is:

Hillary Clinton
Chris Dodd
Mike Gravell
Dennis Kucinich
Uncommitted

Fan-fucking-tastic. Can't tell you how motivating that is.

Anonymous said...

Evidently we are going to have a full ballot. Here's one of the FAQ Q/A.

Can a presidential candidate remove their name from the ballot in Florida?
Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Thurman, Senator Geller and Representative Gelber submitted to Florida’s Secretary of State the names of our Party’s presidential candidates for placement on the January 29, 2008 Democratic Presidential Preference Primary ballot. State law allows candidates who wish to withdraw from the Florida primary to do so by filing an affidavit stating that he or she is not a candidate for President of the United States of America. In other words: to get off the ballot in Florida, a candidate has to swear that he or she isn’t running for President.

Mr Furious said...

I understand there was some window that opened and closed last week to apply/qualify as a write-in candidate, and none of the others (Obama, Edwards, Richardson) did.

So, there is a slot for write-in on the sample ballot I see online, but I'm not sure anybody who writes in "Obama" or "Edwards" will even get that vote counted. Supporters of non-Hillary need to vote "uncommitted."

What a fucking fiasco.

This is pissing me off enough to warrant another post.

Mr Furious said...

Confirmation from the Michigan Democratic Party's FAQs:

8. Q: What are the choices on the ballot?

A: The Democratic ballot will have 6 choices:
Hillary Clinton
Christopher Dodd
Mike Gravel
Dennis Kucinich
Uncommitted
Write-in

9. Q: What is “uncommitted”?

A: A vote for “uncommitted” is a vote to send delegates to the Democratic National Convention who are not committed or pledged to any candidate. Those delegates can vote for any candidate they choose at the Convention.

10. Q: If my candidate’s name is not on the ballot, should I write it in?

A: No. Supporters of Joe Biden, John Edwards, Barack Obama and Bill Richardson are urged to vote “uncommitted” instead of writing in their candidates’ names because write-in votes for those candidates will not be counted under state law.

Noah said...

Mark Brewer, the Michign Dem Party chair, was on the radio this morning urging all voters, even Hillary voters, to vote "uncommitted." Do it.

There is actually an end game here. I'm having lunch next week with Brewer and some other politicos who are allegedly going to explain just ow the fuck this plays into said end game. Something to do with a new primary structure at the national level, revolving regional primaries, and having high voter turnout despite a monumentally stupid move.

The Dems are not the only ones to blame. This does NOT violate RNC rules. All the Republicans are coming here, and McCain is polling ahead of the pack right now. It's actually saul Anuzis (the MI Repub party chair) that wanted the change, and Brewer agreed to go along at Carl Levin's urging for no other reason than to break-up the ridiulous monopoly that Iowa and New Hampshire have on the election. Nothing to do with making Michiagn more relevant and everything to do with "making a statement." Some statement... The "side benefit" was the two party chairs working together on an issue for once in history. Instead, the Republicans got everything they wanted and the Dems got their asses handed to them by their own party. Nice.

Anonymous said...

Amen, Mr. Furious. If only the powers that be would listen to the vocal minority screaming THIS IS A BAD IDEA.

The MI Repubs were penalized by their party by losing 1/2 their delegates for national convention. big deal.