UPDATE: There's a rather significant error in this diary based on my misreading of Obama's effort in PA. I had understood, incorrectly, that he was trying to change the rules when what he is trying to do is encourage people to change affiliations. Apologies to Obama. I'm leaving my mistake in the diary below, but will highlight it with itals. That said, the overarching message of the diary -- that the nominating process encourages efforts to game the system -- remains valid in my opinion.
I am totally sick of this campaign. In January I was a passionate Edwards supporter and was OK with both Clinton and Obama though they both irked me. Then Edwards dropped out and I endorsed Clinton based on a slight edge for her experience and Obama's bent for right wing attacks. However, it was tepid and I would back both.
Now I will vote for the Democrat in November, but I don't like either one of them. They and their campaigns both suck, and are engaged in attacks that are either disingenuous or based on "fact" that are only true when you wear blinders.
The reason for this is the idiotic nominating process we have, and the fights over its rules that the campaigns seem forced to engage in. First it was Clinton trying to seat the delegates in the unsanctioned contests in MI and FL. When she did that the Obama people went nuts, crying that she was trying to break the rules and cheat her way to the nomination.
In a way, she was, and I never supported it. Still don't. However, she was within the nominating process because the rules allow for appeals to change the delegate selection process in any state.
There was also Clinton's determination to push for super-delegate support to win the nomination even if she didn't have the most elected delegates. Obama's people screamed that she was trying to overturn the rank and file voters' will.
I think it was a pretty skeevy thing of Clinton to say that early, especially when things were still wide open. But the Obama supporter outrage is ridiculous because he knew the rules when he decided to run for the nomination.
Add on her attempt to move caucuses out of casinos in Las Vegas after Obama got a key union endorsement. Yes, Hillary didn't file the suit but it was obviously an attempt to help her campaign by supporters, and her side certainly didn't object. Obama was dead on to call her out on this one.
So far my problems have been Clinton's attempts to gain the system which are within the rules but are pretty weak and pathetic. (Yes, I also have problems with the racism, the attacks from the right, etc. This diary is only about the nominating process games.) She's been the main one trying to get a leg up by using the minutiae, and her protestations of innocence are sadly disingenuous.
But so are Obama's protestations that Hillary is gaming the system, because he is more than happy to do it when it suits him. The complaints about superdelegates have largely disappeared since Obama started gaining his share. Using super-delegates is great when they are your super-delegates, but not when they are your opponent's. He doesn't complain that the rules of caucuses favor his kind of insurgent campaign while complaining that the rules of superdelegates favor Clinton's institutional campaign.
And he doesn't complain that the allowing on non-Democrats to vote in many states has been a major reason why he is still in the race. Here begins the bad information And now Obama is looking to change the rules of the battle himself in Pennsylvania.
PA is a major bullwark for Clinton, and if she gets a big win there it could make a huge difference. The rules of the primary have been that only Democrats can vote, but now Obama wants to change the rules in the middle of the contest and allow non-Democrats to vote for whoever will be the Democratic nominee.
You can argue whether the party should allow non-members to pick it's nominee, especially after it looks like Hillary did better in Texas than she should have after Rush Limbaugh and his cohorts exhorted wingnuts to vote for her.
But it's hard to argue that we should change the rules mid-stream just because it helps your campaign after claiming in Nevada that we can't change the rules mid-stream. Obama is doing exactly what his supporters have accused Clinton of doing, and it is no prettier when he does it than when she does.
For the Obama folks out there who think this is an attack piece on Obama, it's not. For the Clinton folks who think this is an attack piece on Clinton, it's not.
It's an attack on this entire byzantine, circuitous, rule-changing, uneven playing field bizarre exercise in nominating a candidate for President. Every state has different rules for selecting their delegates, and these rules favor one type of candidate or another. Money helps in some, organization in others, institutional support in more, non-Democrat support there, union support here.
The fact that these rules change all the time almost forces the candidates to try to game the system, to play the fine print, to twist the rules in order to win the nomination. They really don't have a choice.
But when the do it they are ugly, their actions are hypocritical, and it hurts our chances of winning in the general election.
We need to have a single nominating system across all our states, a simple one anyone can understand. Giving the winner of the popular vote among Democrats only would make the most sense, because the we are selecting a DEMOCRATIC nominee and what better way than to let rank-and-file Democrats pick it. It won't disenfranchise anyone, because if they want to vote all they have to do is register with the party. It's not too much to ask that someone be a part of your organization in order to select it's leadership.
But other suggestions are just as good. What is most important is that it be consistent and democratic. The way it is now just creates too much stress on the party structure and creates fissures between constituencies where there should be none.
One of the fissures is with me, because after a few months of this crap I really don't have an affinity for either of these candidates. All I want is for one of them to win so we can get on to fighting the Republicans.
Assuming we haven't done too much damage to each other in the process.