Why the Caucus system has to go... [View All]

In Idaho, for example, a delegate to the convention is tied to about 585 caucus participants...

But in Georgia, each delegate is representing by 10,495 voters....

In Idaho, when they had a primary instead of a caucus, each delegate spoke for about 1,750 democrats...

And let's take a look at Washington....

In this caucus, the democrats attracted 31,621 participants for the Caucus...

That amounts to roughly one delegate for each 405 people, less than Idaho...

But in 2004 primary, the last statewide democratic primary that is available, the 2008 results have not been certified, there were 793,015 democrats who took the time to get out for a non-binding primary...

If that had been a primary, there would have been one delegate for each 14,963 democrats from Washington...

I just took a few states that were won by Obama, Georgia and Washington, to show the discrepancy in representative votes...

Look at those numbers...

Tell me that is anything more than opening the smoke filled backrooms to a few more people than in the days when the so-called party hacks and backroom wheeler and dealers decided for the rest of us...

I'm not sorry to point this out...

In fact, I am angry that we select our candidates via a willynilly collection of primaries and caucuses...

But I do believe, strongly, that if we are truly going to be a representative democratic party, we should demand that all states hold a binding primary...

Let all the people decide, not just those willing to spend a couple of hours at a meeting on one night or one afternoon...

Let's allow those people who work and can't get off and vote by absentee have a voice...

Let's let those people who couldn't get a baby sitter have a voice...

Let's let those folks too sick to trudge to a meeting in the middle of winter have a voice by voting absentee...

Let's get the party out of the smoke-free living rooms and high school auditoriums and give the vote back to all the democrats who wish to vote but can't commit the time and the energy of a select few party zealots...

And while we are at it, let's get rid of all the super delegates as well...

If we are truly going to be the party of the people, a party that represents all the people who call themselves democrats, then we should conduct ourselves accordingly...

To all the people who think this is a swipe at Obama, take a chill pill 'cause I'm not talking about being retroactive, I am talking being proactive for the 2012 primary season...

And this means Iowa...

Hold a freakin' primary...