I have been very distracted the last several weeks and seem to have missed quite a lot of interesting doings on the political front. At the time it didn’t bother me – now I feel totally out of the loop! Therefore, this is likely to ramble a bit as I try to get my bearings. Perhaps some WUers will enlighten me.
Where does one begin when trying to catch up? I could go to the candidate’s websites. I could check the news (ugh). I could go through the political WU blogs that I am aware of. I could actually read my cousin’s numerous pro-BO emails. There is no dearth of information on the web, from the sensational to the mundane.
Since I was supporting Hillary during most of the primaries, I decided to start with PUMA – those nutty Hillary supporters that no one saw coming. PUMA has raised over $25,000 to go to Denver and set up shop and raise some... eyebrows. They have done a good job of that, so far. When I first found them they were a small group of bloggers who were ticked at the way Hillary was being treated by the media and, mostly, by the fact that the Democratic Party allowed it to go on – even seemed to encourage it. Yes, sexism is alive and well in the USA, unlike anywhere else in the Western World, and we Americans seem to be okay with that and even to enjoy participating in it. Except the PUMAs, who are not only angry about sexism but, also, are fed up with the whole selection process that the Dems use that has cost them the election time and again. PUMAs have been actively engaged in a campaign to ensure that Hillary’s name is read on the floor and that her delegates are counted at the convention and it has worked. Hillary will be named and there will be a floor count unless she gives up her delegates before the count takes place. She won’t win the nomination, of course, although (according to PUMA) fifteen of BO’s delegates switched to Hillary during the month of July. She would still need 160 more and that won’t happen. Still, it might actually be worth watching it all on TV - just in case.
I am no happier with BO than I was 2 months ago or 6 months ago – if anything, he is even less appealing as a presidential candidate. I wonder why the Dems selected him?
One theory, which makes good sense to me, is that the Democratic leadership couldn’t care less who is in the White House next year. Their main objective is to have a front man who will garner Dem votes for congressional seats. It is what the Republicans were doing when they put Bush out there over McCain in 2000 (whoops). Call it “trickle-down politics” and, hey, it works. Except when it doesn’t and there is a backlash. In any case, the theory is that the Dems are actually better off with BO losing in the polls because voters will be more likely to vote for Democratic representatives and senators if they think the Reps will hold onto the big job.
For the record, I do know that the man who crosses the finish line will be either McCain or Obama. Nevertheless, I am still likely to vote for an Independent candidate this year and need to get back up to speed on what they have been up to. Anyone got a few C&P’s for me?
In the meantime, I’ll just follow along with the convention to see how many different guns the Dems use to shoot themselves in the foot – and each other, in the back.
