I am. Very much so. Why, you ask, when nothing was really decided in the Democratic race to be the nominee? My satisfaction is derived from the fact that all of the states who wanted to play kingmaker in this year's quadrennial spectacle now get to wait on the sidelines while the states later in the primary calendar get to have their say. Follow me below the fold so that I may explain myself...
I do have a quite dry sense of humor, so please bear with me as I lay out the rationale for my satisfaction with yesterday's events. Super Duper Tuesday (or Tsunami Tuesday) did not do anything to clarify who would be the Democratic nominee (and eventual winner) for President this year. The extremely misguided conventional wisdom for states holding their primaries this election cycle was to try and be either in front of or just after Iowa and New Hampshire. Now that twenty-eight states have now had their say, and there is no clear margin of victory for either Hillary Clinton or Barak Obama, the front-loading of primaries this year proves the folly of an extended primary season.
Since well over half of the states have alloted their delegates, and they are nearly evenly divided between Ms. Clinton and Mr. Obama, there has been no advantage garnered by any one state nor block of states. These two, as well as almost all of the original field of Democratic candidates, were excellent choices to succeed Mr. Bush as the "official" resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Even more importantly, though, is that all of the Democratic candidates had, always did have, and will continue to have the best interests of All Americans at heart, and not just the best interests of a small few boosters of the differing factions of the Republican Party.
Furthermore, since the race for the 2008 nomination started almost as soon as the 2006 elections were finished, this cycle's race has extended an awful trend at extending the calendar as well as the expenditures of the candidates. Spending almost two years and probably over one billion dollars to become the next President of the United States is a horrible waste of personal and financial resources. Just think of how many teachers, firefighters, policemen, roads, bridges and schools could have been either employed or fixed with the money wasted on all of the campaigns during this election cycle.
If this trend continues in the logical progression established thus far, it won't be too long before a successive cycle's Presidential campaign starts right after the nominating conventions of the prior cycle, while expending the equivalent of the GDP of all of the African nations combined. This madness needs to stop, and it needs to stop as soon as possible.
What I am advocating here, in my long-winded approach, is to establish a National Primary Week running from September 1st to September 7th, during which time all states are holding their elections at the same time, while allowing the most number of registered voters to participate in the electoral process as possible. Additionally, this Primary Week's elections, while getting rid of caucuses, would utilize Instant Runoff Voting to apportion delegates in the manner they now are.
So, are you happy now, or would you be happier with a primary plan like I am proposing here? I invite you to comment below. Thanks for reading, and enjoy the rest of the primaries!