Some Thoughts On The 2008 Conventions
I love the political conventions. I get a kick out of the nominating speeches- "... The great Prairie State, the Land of Lincoln... the Home of the Puffer Kite... Illinois casts its votes for...." I believe that 2008 will give the United States of America something that it hasn't seen in a while.
There is still a long Primary season ahead of us, but it is looking more and more like the Republican Convention will actually be a convention. Mitt Romney is all but conceding South Carolina and Florida by pulling his ads from those States and dropping all of his eggs into his Michigan basket. If he doesn't win there, then it becomes very feasible that the 5 top contenders will split up the delegates, so that there will not be a clear winner by the time the delegates meet in St. Paul, Minnesota. Even Duncan Hunter (Anne Coulter's first choice) already has a delegate from Wyoming. If an apparent also-ran is pulling delegates, it is not a stretch of the imagination that the others will take their share. A candidate needs 1,191 delegates to win the nomination. That will be a hard number to reach, if there are 4 or 5 others grabbing them up too.
If John Edwards' campaign can pick up any traction, you might even see it at the Democratic Convention. If that is the case, then I think that he will throw his lot in with Barack Obama, as the candidates for change. Hillary will have to win it straight up.
On a practical level, what does that really mean to the 'man on the street'? That he pays attention to not only which person he wants to be the next President of the United States, but also to be sure to go down the ballot and vote for their delegates. The delegates have an obligation to vote the way their State has dictated at first. I am not sure of all of the Convention rules, but if there is not a winner, at some point the delegates are released from that obligation and can vote their own mind. That will make for an interesting Convention.
There is still a long Primary season ahead of us, but it is looking more and more like the Republican Convention will actually be a convention. Mitt Romney is all but conceding South Carolina and Florida by pulling his ads from those States and dropping all of his eggs into his Michigan basket. If he doesn't win there, then it becomes very feasible that the 5 top contenders will split up the delegates, so that there will not be a clear winner by the time the delegates meet in St. Paul, Minnesota. Even Duncan Hunter (Anne Coulter's first choice) already has a delegate from Wyoming. If an apparent also-ran is pulling delegates, it is not a stretch of the imagination that the others will take their share. A candidate needs 1,191 delegates to win the nomination. That will be a hard number to reach, if there are 4 or 5 others grabbing them up too.
If John Edwards' campaign can pick up any traction, you might even see it at the Democratic Convention. If that is the case, then I think that he will throw his lot in with Barack Obama, as the candidates for change. Hillary will have to win it straight up.
On a practical level, what does that really mean to the 'man on the street'? That he pays attention to not only which person he wants to be the next President of the United States, but also to be sure to go down the ballot and vote for their delegates. The delegates have an obligation to vote the way their State has dictated at first. I am not sure of all of the Convention rules, but if there is not a winner, at some point the delegates are released from that obligation and can vote their own mind. That will make for an interesting Convention.
Labels: political
posted by Carl at 8:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home