The Big "E"
Jan. 26th, 2004 09:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluegargantuaSo, I've been hearing a lot recently among democratic candidates about "electability" -- the idea that there's this magic something that makes you appeal to voters and will get you the votes you need to win.
And I realized this weekend that it's a complete non-issue.
Why? Because, technically speaking, Democrats won the election -- the popular vote anyway. This time around there's no Green Party spoiler and the people who voted for Nader are unlikely to vote for Bush. Further, I think that the Florida debacle followed by these past four years have really polarized the electorate (I mean, even more so). There's a hell of a lot of people who'd rather see a Yellow Dog in office than see Bush re-elected. "Electability" isn't really a factor here -- just try not to be a complete drooling idiot and you've probably got at least 50% of the populace lined up to vote for you.
True, it's not a popular vote, it's an electorial dealie so there's some merit in saying that you need to attract voters from all states because you can't just count on California to carry you to victory, but still -- the four leading Democratic candidates are all viable enough. I don't much care for Kerry, but if he's the opposition, he's probably getting my vote because he's the lesser of two evils. Which, I admit, sucks as far as voting policy goes, but it's a case of political triage.
Tom
[EDIT: I could not, in good conscience, vote for Lieberman if he were the Democratic Candidate -- have you seen him? The guy is Senator Palpatine! Even in this time of peril for our republic, I can't vote for Palpatine.]
And I realized this weekend that it's a complete non-issue.
Why? Because, technically speaking, Democrats won the election -- the popular vote anyway. This time around there's no Green Party spoiler and the people who voted for Nader are unlikely to vote for Bush. Further, I think that the Florida debacle followed by these past four years have really polarized the electorate (I mean, even more so). There's a hell of a lot of people who'd rather see a Yellow Dog in office than see Bush re-elected. "Electability" isn't really a factor here -- just try not to be a complete drooling idiot and you've probably got at least 50% of the populace lined up to vote for you.
True, it's not a popular vote, it's an electorial dealie so there's some merit in saying that you need to attract voters from all states because you can't just count on California to carry you to victory, but still -- the four leading Democratic candidates are all viable enough. I don't much care for Kerry, but if he's the opposition, he's probably getting my vote because he's the lesser of two evils. Which, I admit, sucks as far as voting policy goes, but it's a case of political triage.
Tom
[EDIT: I could not, in good conscience, vote for Lieberman if he were the Democratic Candidate -- have you seen him? The guy is Senator Palpatine! Even in this time of peril for our republic, I can't vote for Palpatine.]
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no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 07:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 08:13 am (UTC)I believe it's winner-take-all. So you win California, you get all the Electorial votes, not just a portion of them. Yeah, they do need some appeal, but honestly, it's not quite the huge deal they make it out to be.
Tom
no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 08:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 09:38 am (UTC)I don't think he'll carry California. Arnold's election doesn't mean the state's gone GOP. Mass. consistently votes Democrat even though our Govenor is Republican.
Tom
no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 10:37 am (UTC)I can't stand the waiting. I want it to be November. If bush wins I expect I'll be locked in my bathroom crying and puking at the same time, and possibly clawing out my eyeballs. I can't stand this amount of anxiety being built up for so many months - let's just get it over with!