The Problem with Our Current Primary System
A common argument by Centrist Dems on this board is that, if progressives want more representation, then progressives need run for office. Sounds logical on paper but in practice, the decks are stacked against anyone other than who the Party Bosses have already pre-selected.
My first clue to how all this works was in the 2003/2004 Presidential primaries in California. At the time, I was an enthusiastic and active supporter of Howard Dean. I also live in a purple section of California which is relevant to the subject. Let’s just say the state and national Democratic Parties can only find us using Google Maps. They certainly don’t EVER come to our neck of the woods. When Dean was getting HUGE, and I mean HUGE support all over the state (I know, I was all over the state campaigning) and Kerry was getting almost none, all of a sudden the Party Bosses, State and National, descended upon us. They wanted to know WHY Dean was so popular, what could “we” do to get more people to support Kerry (who had just voted “yes” on the IWR), etc. Iow, they were INTERVENING in what should have been a party-neutral activity. Later on, there was an ad in the early primary states comparing Dean with Osama bin Laden that did NOT come from the Republican party. Then, miraculously, there was a uni-directional mike on Dean which picked up ONLY Dean and NOT the audience, then played it on a loop over and over and over again and labeled it the “Dean Scream.” Wonder how that happened?
The other problem, of course, is that primaries are held in such as way as to give disproportional representation to the early primary states and often establishing candidates before the rest of the country even gets a chance to vote. The system was purposely set up so the parties could establish a candidate early on in order to prepare for the General Election. In other words, the system was set up for expediency sake and not for the sake of the electorate and a true Democratic process.
IF the primary process were to run UNIMPEEDED by the Democratic Party, AND, all primaries were held on the same day, all other things being equal, the primaries would absolutely be a legitimate solution to get more progressives elected. As it stands though, the deck is stacked against any candidate who chooses to run outside of the Party ideology leaving us with the milquetoast “centrists” candidates/representatives who will go along with the Party, no matter how badly the poor and middle class are decimated.
If we want change, I believe we need to start by changing the current primary process.
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and their beloved 1% masters are going to fight progressive change every step of the way. The Democratic party primary system is one way that the conservative flying monkeys of the Military Industrial Complex establishment keep the 1% safe from democracy.
Information, communication, and the internet are our best weapons for negating the lies, propaganda, stupidity, corruption, and authoritarian needs of conservatives and conservatism. We have just recently killed off Reaganism with information and truth.
Before we had widespread internet, conservatives could use TV media and AM radio as a means of propaganda to brainwash enough of the population to maintain the status quo of the Military Industrial Complex. Now, the internet is our means of countering their disinformation program.
We see conservatives on this board (and everywhere else) repeatedly using the most awful and transparent bullshit propaganda to discourage the proliferation of progressive Democrats, progressive activism, progressive activists, and support of progressive activist groups, such as Occupy and Anonymous. The thing is, most people can see through their disingenuous bullshit, because now we have the ability to immediately and directly expose it for what it is. Not to mention that they make such shameless fools of themselves that it is embarrassing to watch.
Conservatives and conservatism get totally exposed as fraudulent when exposed in the light of information.
Their only option for survival now is to find a way to control the flow of information on the internet, and then institute it. And this is one reason why they hate Anonymous, wikileaks, Julian Assange, etc and are smearing Julian Assange, etc., on a daily basis. As long as we have independent citizen's watchdog individuals and collectives on the net, we will have a means of exposing the lies of the conservatives, and a means to struggle to keep the internet open and free, in order that it may continue to provide us with a free flow of information and communication that is not controlled and altered by wealthy private interests and their conservative flying monkeys.
This is one huge reason that, IMO, Anonymous is so very important at this time history.
I really like this quote from one of H20 Man's DU essays ~
"Keep on fighting the Good Fight, my forum friends. This is a unique period in our history. And no state or federal official or agency is going to “save” the United States. But we will. Believe it."
“Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” ~ Jefferson
