A helpful guide.
Writing by Tim on Thursday, 14 of February , 2008 at 6:58 pm
I’ve been approached a few times now with people asking me, “Just how does this primary thing work?” In light of that, I figured I’d stave off the analysis slash angry ranting and give a quick explanation as to just how Democracy goes down.
The purpose of the primary is for each party to pick its nominee. Think of it like a quarter-final or a qualifying round. Each candidate campaigns in each state, trying to win delegates. This is where most people end up confused, and don’t feel bad; it took me a few tries to fully grasp this process.
A delegate is anyone who is selected to pledge their support for a given candidate, and there are a certain number for each state, depending on population. Hence, states like California and New York have huge numbers of delegates, and a state like New Jersey has a moderate number. In simple terms, when a given state has its primary, each candidate wins a percentage of the vote and gets a proportion of the delegates, and whoever gets the most delegates in said primary goes on to the general election.
But like everything in this whacky life, it is not that simple.
Delegates can pledge their support to a candidate. This means that they agree to support Candidate A no matter what. A given voting district can have all of their delegates support one candidate, so voting for Candidate B in that area would not matter anyway. Another way the votes get skewed is jerrymandering. This is when a concentration of one ethnic group or voters who always vote to one side is jammed into one voting district. For example, Obama can claim he won 80% of the black vote in Alabama, but that otherwise crushing lead amounts to only two or three districts, meaning he only gets a few delegates for a massive portion of the vote.
The Republicans do things different. Their party has a winner-take-all primary system, so whoever wins a given state, regardless of his percentage of the vote, gets everything. The media generally does not report this, so the fact that McCain is being crowned the leader of the pack is not necessarily accurate. While Romney was in the race McCain barely slipped by him, yet because if wins by half a percentage point, he gets all the delegates, it gives him a false image.
The final portion, and the most confusing one, is super-delegates. A super-delegate is someone in a political office, generally mayors or governors, who pledge their support to a candidate. There is lots of talk about the super-delegates being all for one candidate or easily bought off, supporting that richest-take-all philosophy, but that is not exactly the case. Yes, lots of closed-door dealings go on, but in the end, super-delegates have two prerogatives: endorse a candidate who is good for the party and endorse a candidate who is good for the nation. Of course, that in and of itself makes that a difficult decision for the super-delegates.
And that is a good, broad overview of how this system works.
Happy Valentines Day.
Category: Politics
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Comment by Shannon
Made Friday, 15 of February , 2008 at 2:06 am
It makes me absolutely livid! We live in a country where democracy is nothing but an illusion. But who cares anyway? As long as we don’t have to leave the confines of our perfect little bubble.
Sorry for my rant, makes me angry : )
Comment by sharpster
Made Friday, 15 of February , 2008 at 9:06 am
It always cracks me up that the Democrats and the Republicans can’t even agree on a type of primary system.
Comment by Victoria
Made Saturday, 16 of February , 2008 at 2:26 am
I feel sorry for the voters in states who lost their delegates because the government moved the primaries earlier.
