After the scream that sobered my Deaniac Buzz in 2004, you're obviously no stranger to the absurdity of the primary electoral process. I'm writing now because in the drag-out-kick-down aftermath of the Texas/Ohio showdown, I find myself frequently in conversation with your former enthusiastic supporters wondering what exactly you're going to do about it now that you're in a position to propose a better vision for our future.
Fortunately, after your loss I woke up at noon, inhaled some scrambled eggs and a couple Bloody Maries, and I've been able to stomach another clusterf*** election along with my fellow Civic Generation 2.0 pals. We took the inspirational-fire-under-our-ass message to heart and we've voted for HRC or Barackstar in record numbers, but now we're getting very grumpy about the prospect of superdelegates orchestrating a Florida 2000 Redux in Denver this summer. In fact, many of us are already descending upon Staples for markers and posterboard so that we'll be ready to cower in the designated protest zone two miles away from the convention center. Although, I can't promise we'll stay there if some shady undemocratic deals go down.
Every four years we crack bitter hanging chad jokes and criticize this obviously archaic, unnecessarily confusing process and we achieve unspectacular, incremental results. (Well, if you consider Florida and Michigan's bold acts of protest to be yielding results.) We complain about the inherent representative nature of Iowa and the bias of Diebold. And now we're stuck in the thick of a logistical nightmare trying to make sure that votes in remaining states are counted fairly.
These are all important conversations, but the troubling thing is that our national discourse is operating too much on the micro-level when we need to be having a solution-oriented macro conversation. What drastic changes are we going to make to prevent this inequity and convoluted process from perpetuating itself? What does the future of elections look like in America, given changes in technology, globalization and the emergence of a new generation?
You've always championed engaging this generation, but many of us are not convinced that we should be Democrats in this kind of system. I will not vote for a candidate in the general election who is selected by party insiders with disregard for the popular vote, and I will immediately become a registered Independent if this happens.
I implore you to do everything you can to prevent such a scenario from playing out this summer, and I ask you to take the leadership necessary to start a critical conversation about the evolution of this primary process.
Please do not make me vote for Ralph Nader.