 Feb 27, 2008
I Can Vote Myself: No Need for Super Tom Daschle
Posted by: Todd Epp - 02/27/2008 10:48 PM (2008 Election, Democracy, Diversity, Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, RSS Feed, SD History, Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. George McGovern, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Tom Daschle, Nic Nemec) Imagine my surprise the other day that I learned that former U.S. Senator Tom Daschle—now truly a DC resident—is one of “my” Super Delegates from South Dakota.
 I hadn’t elected Tom to the position. He got the position because of who he used to be—Senate Majority Leader. It’s not that I don’t trust Tom to do the right thing should the National Democratic Convention need actually pick my party’s nominee for President. I do. He’s proven himself as a leader to me. Tom even supports my guy—that dreamy young Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama. Another Super, Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, also supports my man crush. No, the problem is that Tom is even a Super Delegate and can vote any damn way he wants. And I’ve even been hunting with one of our other Super Delegates—National Committeeman Nic Nemec. He’s a wonderful, down to earth person and ex-Marine who I’d trust with my life. But I also don’t want him deciding who our party’s nominee will be either. You see, in America, I thought, these little things called ELECTIONS were supposed to decide who represents us. And by the time the convention rolls around, even tiny South Dakota will have voted and expressed who its residents want to be the next Democratic nominee. Same with all the other states through their primaries and caucuses. The Super Delegates like Tom and Nic—both good men—are a renunciation of the Party’s past—actually of South Dakota’s once great influence through favorite son, U.S. Senator George McGovern. McGovern played a major role in the 1960s and 70s in doing away with the influence of party “bosses” (sorry, Nic, sorry, Tom) and democratizing and broadening representation of many more groups of people in the Democratic Party. But of course, diversity is messy. “Those” people discover they actually have power and don’t always do what the party apparachniks want. So, the McGovern reforms have been rolled back and we get stuck—not with bad people—but with a bad system. People who have achieved their position—not through an election to be a delegate for the rest of us schmucks in the party—but simply through their past or present position. They then get to make the most important decision in our democracy—who gets to run for President. I hope like hell that Obama has the nomination sewn up or that Hillary Clinton has the good graces to get out and release her delegates should she fall short in the remaining primaries. It would be contrary to the principles of the modern Democratic Party to select a nominee on the basis of insiders (no matter how well intentioned they may be) via a brokered convention while the Republicans—the party of privilege—can claim the moral high ground through actually practicing participatory democracy. If Obama wants a boost out of the convention on the basis of “change,” let’s hope that it’s change for the future, and not a change back to the bad old ways of conducting smoke-filled room party politics. Photo: Let’s hope the Democratic Presidential nominee really is selected in a way that truly is “Change we can believe in.” Democratic Senator andPresidential Candidate Barack Obama addresses a capacity crowd at St.Peters College during the “Rally for Change” Campaign Event on January9, 2008 in Jersey City, New Jersey. (wireimage.com photo) READ MY OTHER BLOGS AND TWITTERS! Technorati Tags: McGovern reforms, Barack Obama, Tom Daschle, Nic Nemec, Hillary Clinton, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, 2008 Presidential Election, conventions Post a Comment
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