I’ve commented before that the 2008 presidential election was at serious risk of being a matter of getting to choose between a small handful of candidates chosen for us by the news media. California bumping our primary date to February 5th, the first day of the official primary season, was supposed to give us some say in who the nominees of the major parties were going to be, but it looks like we’ve been cheated again. A list of the fallen:
- Joe Biden
- Sam Brownback
- Chris Dodd
- Jim Gilmore
- Duncan Hunter
- Dennis Kucinich
- Bill Richardson
- Tom Tancredo
- Tommy Thompson
- Fred Thompson
Each of these candidates had their problems, but chief among them was lack of face-time at the national level. Without Anna Nicole Smith or Natalee Holloway drama to clamp onto, most news outlets simply latched onto every little thing that Hillary Clinton or Michelle Obama said and did, with so-called pundits bickering for hours about their subset of darling candidates (Clinton, Obama, McCain, Romney) for every minute of coverage any other candidate received.
Now it looks like Giuliani and Edwards are dropping out. Being registered “undeclared,” the Republicans wouldn’t let me vote for Rudy, but I had four choices left on the Democratic side of things until today: Clinton, Edwards, Gravel, and Obama. Maybe I didn’t want Clinton or Obama to walk into the convention this year with a majority of delegates. Maybe I wanted a real convention for once. Maybe I wanted Edwards to hang in there and play king-maker. Yeah, a big part of me really did. The conventions for both parties have been a joke since 1980. No question as to the nominee. No question as to the platform. No question as to the running-mate. Just a balloon-drop and a bunch of cheerleader speeches.
So the Democrats have let me down. Hopefully Huckabee, McCain, and Romney can split up enough of the February 5th delegates to keep things interesting on that side of things.
note: the Edwards campaign site still has its “contribute” link accessible, so maybe I’m jumping the gun here.
*Update: yep, he’s out.
Even though I’m an Obama-fan, I do wish Edwards hung in there. Especially since a couple of days ago he was shouting about how he’ll be in the race till the end. Quitter!
According to the Associated Press, Edwards will be waving his little white flag today.
Obama rules, and that is all there is nothing else to talk about.
You are correct though, the political process here in the US, and I think all over the world is flawed. There is no real discussion anymore, just presenting ideas… I would love to have a convention that is more about coming up with a consensus than just a coronation.
“Obama rules” is truly a cogent political argument worthy of an REO Speedwagon fan. I don’t so much have a problem with the remaining choices available as with the fact that so many of my other options have been removed. One of these days California’s just going to fire up a couple desalination plants and leave the rest of you turkeys behind.