Quote:
Originally Posted by Joana
Well- as much as I want to see Steves reaction to the pic, esp. given my link glitch earlier....... I need to go to bed.
Nighty night and hugs to all!!
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Sorry, lost you there. The pic in the article, you mean? Saw that -- that was what tipped me off right away that the link might be in error, you know.
But hey, you know, I was just thinking:
IF there did come to pass a situation in which Obama won the pledged delegates but the superdelegates went with Clinton and gave her the nomination (or some other such move that did it and was also seen as similarl trickery, such as a FL/MI reversal), well, isn't it a bit hard to imagine a more favorable scenario for a real independent run at the Presidency, or one via the quick formation of a third party?
Now you may be laughing already (I'm sure you are, Roni!), but don't laugh, because first, it's just a fun hypothetical to think of (and which could serve as a virtual test of the various drives for independents or third party candidates, for that matter), and also because the more you think of it, the more the conditions would seem favorable. I mean, Obama might take as many as half the Democrats' votes with him more or less right off the bat, and that's before he would be seen as a martyr to the system, which would at that point, remember, have featured an establishment woman who also happens to be white benefiting from maneuvering at the expense of a black man who "really" won the thing, fair and square. So that would only increase his share of the black vote and probably help bring in a lot of other minorities in the bargain, at least to take a closer look at him, out of a general sense of solidarity. Youth would probably turn out for him in more force for similar reasons, just based on age instead of ethnicity. And so might a lot of others, out of the general tendency to want to see justice done.
And then of course he's got the money, as everyone knows, now, and this completely set up and running source of fundraising via the Internet, which depends on people rather than on business or lobbyists or other political groups who might be scared off by anyone not (still) officially with one of the 2 big parties. On the contrary, that would be precisely another selling point for him, in the eyes of many: imagine their delight as they realized they really had a chance to deliver a message to both parties in Washington by putting an independent in the White House, stuffing it to their attempt with system trickery to keep him down! And an independent who nicely appeals not just to one side of the spectrum but to many on the other side, as well, and who is charismatic and inspiring.
Maybe the only things that would make this questionable would be (1) Obama's own reluctance to do so, as it could well mean the end of the Democratic Party as we know it (though it would just really mean continued existence in a different form, and possibly under a different name), and/or (2) a split in the vote such that no one got the necessary majority and the outcome was thrown to the House of Representatives to decide, in which case it might just be a duplication of the essentially the same scenario that exists now with the Democratic Party with respect to the superdelegates, as the House might equally favor the establishment candidate with the most connections in the old boy network. But even that latter point is interesting to consider: perhaps Republicans in the House, knowing they couldn't win, would then side with Obama and against Clinton, figuring they could have their cake (get him instead of her) and eat it, too (help destroy the Democratic Party as it currently exists). And maybe even if (1) factored in and he didn't want to do such a thing, this realization about (2) and that worst of all possible outcomes for the Dems might hand sufficiently over the heads of Dean and his cohorts and push them to avoid at all costs whatever maneuvering might trigger such a scenario in the first place.
There's LOTS of interesting, entertaining, "what if" possibilities to think about, even if that's all they are!
Steve