Thoughts on Politics

This is always a fascinating time for me, when the world pays attention to our (as in these United States of America) process of electing our officials, and specifically, the race to elect the next "Most Powerful Man in the World". The reason that this election in particular is so fascinating is that there is the possibility that the next "Most Powerful Man in the World" won't actually be a man.

Yes, we are witnessing history in the making, as the Democratic Nominee for President of the United States will for the first time ever on either side of the political aisle, either be a woman (Hillary Clinton) or a black man (Barack Obama).

Would anyone have believed this possible just a few short years ago?

Meanwhile, John McCain appears to be the presumptive Republican nominee, but many Republicans who consider themselves especially "Conservative" aren't very fond of him, propelling Mike Huckabee, a former Southern Baptist minister, into a few big primary wins and a few other surprisingly close races.

Therefore, the Republican race is staying interesting as well. Sure it doesn't have history backing it the way that the Democratic race does, but it certainly has its fair share of drama.

McCain is going to win the nomination on the Republican side, it would take a miracle for him not to. (Although I did enjoy the Huckabee quote, "I didn't major in math in college, I majored in miracles.") The question becomes, when he does win the nomination does he add on a very conservative running mate to appease the Republican base, change his stance on the issues that bother the conservatives the most, or decide that he doesn't need the conservatives at all (which would either fracture the Republican party or cause them to run a super conservative third party canidate)? These questions make the Republican situation fun to watch.

Besides history on the Democratic side, there is the question of Super Delegates. In order to win the Democratic nomination, you need a total of 2,025 delagates, won primarily by the votes cast in Caucases and Primaries. However, there are also 796 Super Delegates (generally Democratic members of Congress, Governers, National Comittee Members, and Party Leaders) who are free to back whomever they choose. Due to how close the race is (at this posting, Obama leads Clinton 1,096 to 977 not counting the Super Delegates) it is unlikely that either canidate will win the requisite number of delagates through the primary process, meaning that ultimately it will be the Super Delagates that decide this election. If Obama continues to hold on to his lead based on the voting public, but the Super Delagates propell Clinton to victory, the Democrats could be faced with a party fracturing possibility as well.

I'll especially be watching the results March 4th in Ohio and Texas (where I am a registered voter and will be exercising my political right). If Hillary Clinton doesn't win both of those states, it will be very hard for her to continue her campaign. If she does win them both, we very likely could be looking at a situation where the Super Delagates decide the election.

Whether you normally follow politics or not, whether you think that they are all a bunch of overpayed publicity hounds or whether you think that they actually care about the people they represent, you can't deny that this is some high drama, much better then the reality shows that are so prevalent across the television landscape. At least it is in my opinion.