[Magdalen] Fwd: Re: Election

[Jim Guthrie]

On 2/10/16 11:37 AM, Ann Markle wrote:

 >> This is not true. Hillary did get one less. And, as Eleanor pointed 
 >> out,
 >> this is the way the political system works. The pundits, which I enjoy
 >> watching, have been saying for a long time that it's the delegates 
that >> count, and that's what candidates need to pay attention to. 
That's >> part of >> how Obama got it from Clinton in 2008. It pays to 
fact-check your
 >> sources,

Keep in mind that Superdelegate came about in the 1980s in response to 
both the Nixon landslide against McGovern and Carter's loss to Reagan.

It should be remembered that after the 1968 debacle in Chicago, McGovern 
spearheaded a committee that rewrote the rules so as to have the 
convention delegates all chosen by primaries, caucuses etc., rather than 
dictated by party leaders (like Mayor Daley, Tammany Hall, 
Segregationist holdouts in Mississippi and the like). But in an effort 
to regain power for the "grown-ups" -- superdelegates were added -- 
pstate party leaders, members of congress and the like so that a 
"runaway" like McGovern (or now Sanders) could not happen again.

If one wanted to reform the election system, New York and California and 
Illinois would have February Primaries. But the fix is in -- the 
conservative South gets to pick the candidates for President and the 
legislators in those three states are perfectly happy to let that 
happen. It's one reason there's no such thing as a moderate Republican 
going to even try to run -- no Rockefellers or Scrantons allowed. And 
for Democrats, no McGoverns, Wellstones or even a Sanders -- need apply 
either.

The big blow-up is going to happen when a Presidential candidate wins 
the popular vote by an overwhelming margin, but loses the Presidency 
because of the Electoral College. I'm not making any predictions, but 
one can easily see Trump or Cruz winning 55-60% of the popular vote 
because of 70-80% margins in the South and the few other states where 
fundamentalist Christians hold sway, but get trounced in the Electoral 
College because  of Democrats eke out wins elsewhere.

You think things are divisive in America?  You ain't seen nuthin yet!

Cheers,
Jim