The
powers…”are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people”
By
de Andréa,
Opinion Editorialist for
‘THE BOTTOM LINE’
‘THE BOTTOM LINE’
Stop complaining about the Primary Process if you haven’t done anything in
‘your state’ to change it.
When Sen. Berny
Sanders won New Hampshire and Hillary Clinton walked
away with the majority of delegates, some people were shocked others made some wisecracks
about “spreading the wealth around.”
When Sen. Ted Cruz started winning delegates at conventions in
Colorado and Wyoming, the cries of foul play and shouts of unfairness shook the
rafters. People are beside themselves because they believe it is a crooked
system. Well of course it is, but then so is 97 % of the entire Federal and
State Governments.
Even though it is up
to each state as to how they choose their presidential nominee, it is the
parties that manipulate the system. And the parties are Washington insiders,
the good ole boys. But when one is traveling down the rapids headed for a
waterfall, then is not the time to change boats. The boat has already sailed as
they say.
“WE THE PEOPLE” which are supposed to actually be the
government, have sat by, asleep, voting in the same state and Federal Congressmen
and Senators for decades, without doing any homework on our own. But just because we recognize their names on
the ballot, we complain, moan and whine about the establishment running
everything but what have we really done to stop or change it?
Nothing!
Read
the 10th Amendment and then you will recognize that for nearly 200
years we have allowed our Federal and state governments to violate that law
literally more than a thousand times. Or
better yet read the entire constitution and then wonder how the BLM can for
example get away with owning 2/3rds of the land in America! Not because it’s legal, it’s not, but ‘We The People’ let them get away with
it. And we can’t change boats in the
middle of the rapids.
If we
were honestly paying attention and doing our duty, as we should have been, then
this year’s unusually high primary voter turnout should not be so unusual.
Primaries are the time when “We the People” make the real
choices. By November, the RNC and the DNC have already won the battle, and
they did it while we sat home complaining about the politicians. Then in
November, we go to the voting booths with our chests puffed out declaring, “We’re
going to stick it to the man this year,” only to discover the same old
politician is the only one on the ballot. We then hold our noses, grumbling
that there aren’t any choices, and begrudgingly check the box because he’s at
least better than the other guy.
No one
is arguing the establishment has set up a system designed to keep outsiders
out. This has been the focus of the entire primary in both parties for better
than a hundred years. Which is why the only way to defeat them is to win by
their own rules. Beat them at their own game.
So
what are the rules? Well, that depends on the state one happens to live in. Because the U.S Constitution says nothing about how
political parties nominate their candidates, according to the 10th Amendment that means the states decide.
In
this case, the party leaders in each state decide who picks their delegates and
how. They could have the governor or state legislature pick the delegates if
they really wanted to. It is up to the people in the independent states. If the
citizens don’t like it, then it is up to them to work within the state system
to change it and it takes more than just complaining. Sorry, people, that’s
called liberty and freedom in the Republic.
I
personally believe it is insane to have open primaries. That’s how John McCain got a second life in 2008 in New
Hampshire. Democrats came out in droves to vote for him, which gave him enough
momentum to garner the nomination. How well did that work out? On the other
hand, this has been Donald Trump’s biggest benefit and he won at their game.
Whining and crying about it, sending out tweets calling it unfair and demanding
a change does no good. If the system is broken, the citizens of each state have
the responsibility to work to change it before the next election occurs. If
they are apathetic and they don’t care, then it’s not going to get fixed.
As far
as delegates, if you truly believe whoever is closest to 1,237 without actually
achieving that number is the winner, then you must be furious that Abraham
Lincoln became president. The first
Republican president went to the Convention, like the other candidates, with
less than the required delegates. In fact, Lincoln wasn’t even in the lead but
he did have a powerful ground game and the convention was in his home state.
This is why John Kasich thinks he has a shot. After several votes, the
delegates united behind Lincoln and gave him
the nomination. Those are the rules. If you don’t like them, then change them.
The
Establishment has intentionally manipulated the delegate system to prevent
candidates like Cruz, Trump, and Sanders from receiving their party’s
nomination. Trump expected to just win enough delegates outright that it would
not be an issue. Usually, that’s all it takes, but this is not a usual election
year. Cruz was hoping to do that too but he developed a backup plan just in
case. He studied each state’s delegate rules and then got to work. Sanders is
just being swindled by Super Delegates.
With
few exceptions, the overwhelming majority of delegates in the Republican
primary are bound on the first ballot to vote for the candidate the voters
elected. If no candidate receives 1,237, and no delegate could change their
vote after the first ballot, then no candidate would ever reach the required
amount. That is why most are then released to vote as they see fit. It is up to
the candidates to make sure their supporters are sent as delegates, as the
Lincoln campaign did, to ensure victory after the first ballot.
No
matter what happens, I think both parties are seriously damaged. Many are
already exploring new ones… Good! We need to be adhering to principles, ideas, and the Constitution, not
parties.
President George Washington warned Americans in
1796 about the dangers of allowing ourselves to get too enveloped in parties.
His remarks are summarized by
Heritage.org:
“Washington also warned of “the
baneful effects of the Spirit of Party”—one of the two most famous
recommendations of the Farewell Address (along with a warning about permanent
alliances). By party, Washington meant factious groups that sought their own
good, to the detriment of the common good and the rights of others. The
proliferation of faction or party in this sense was a dominant question of his
presidency. He spoke of designing men, who would divide sections of the country
as a means to their own political power. The factions of the 1790s foreshadowed
those of the Civil War.”
This is a mess we the American
people have created because we have not headed the warning of our Founders. Instead
we have become indifferent and lazy. The Establishment is not going to roll
over and let an outsider in without a fight. It’s time to stop whining about
fairness and rules. They are what they are. If we are going to succeed we have
to stop killing ourselves in little battles and focus on winning the war.
Thanks
for listening - de Andréa
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Copyright © 2014 by Bottom
Line Publishing, All Rights Reserved - Permission to reprint in whole or
in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.
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