To understand the complexities, and moral and political issues in seating and counting the delegates from the DNC disapproved primaries in Florida and Michigan, people have sought all kinds of analogies.
Usually these are sports analogies: Bob Johnson, lately lamented, wrote a great diary using baseball teams. Others have sought metaphors in basketball or football, and the useful analogy usually revolves around changing the rules midway through a contest or at the far extreme shooting the referee.
I'd love more and better analogies. But in the meantime, how about this one?
Imagine a blog site, dedicated to progressive causes, that encourages democracy and participation. One of the basic tenets this 'primary election' blogsite - let's call it MYPE - is that it is a community. People become users or 'voters' merely by turning up. There are some 'trusted users' - perhaps registered democrats - who have slightly more access to this democracy than others, but by an large it works by one person one vote.
Now, just as voters are asked to vote for candidates during an election, so too can users of this website rec diaries. It's not winner take all, but there's always one diary at the top of the rec list, even though another one might be marginally below. Everyone accepts the rules as they enter: they know that while it may not be their favorite diary, the one at the top reflects the popular will.
Now what if, unbeknown to you as a voter or user of this imaginary website, your powers to rec diaries or vote had suddenly disappeared. You're told that it's a technical error or something. The recc'ing ability doesn't work. Some rules have been broken; you can't vote for your favorite diary for that day. You're told the tally won't be changed, so you no longer visit MYPE for the next twenty four hours. You don't turn up for the primary.
But then, a few days later, the truth emerges. Some people kept their rec'ing powers after all, and they were voting overwhelmingly for one diary or candidate. When you discover this, and complain about it, you're accused of breaking the guidelines yourself by even making the criticism. Besides, all those people who kept their rec'ccing powers are happy. Would you want to selectively disenfranchise them?
So there we have the problem, and it's clear to me, using this analogy for (or of) MI and FL, that the rules have been twisted, and it amounts to a form of vote rigging. The more subtle ramifications of this analogy might be missed by some people, but others will understand the consequences
And there's always the danger that even someone pointing out this problem who actually be banned from the MYPE for good (i.e. not seated at the convention).
But just as that would be a disastrous day for a democratic blog, such an outcome would be terrible for the democratic party.
I hope a lot of people can, in the light of this analogy, sign up for a fairer system, more representative of the will of the people.
For obvious reasons - to some - this may be my last diary
|
|
|
Permalink :: 27 Comments :: Post a Comment
|
In order to post a comment, you must be logged in. If you have a member account, please log in to comment.
If not, you can make an account right here. It's quick and free.
