Dear Democrats,
What I want most for Christmas is a structural change to American politics. Not Sandy Levinson's new constitutional convention (although I would not object to that). But similar to the problem with the antidemocratic "two senators per state" rule is the role of Iowa and New Hampshire in the presidential-candidate-nomination process.
The campaigns start with corn (see numerous posts on this blog about the problems posed by corn ethanol to understand why that's not a good thing) and other farmer issues. And in New Hampshire, well, I don't really know what people there care about, unless it's being told how delightfully "independent" they are. In both cases, though, the state's population is very white and very rural. And once Iowa and New Hampshire make their decisions, media coverage becomes about who's winning and losing the race, and substantive issues are completely gone.
So anyhow, while I would like to see Barack Obama beat Sarah Palin and her decrepit running-mate John McCain in the upcoming election, I would much more like to see the Democratic Party make California the first state to get a say in who will be the Democratic nominee. For one thing, there are about 5 trillion more Californians than there are Iowans and New Hampshirites (is that a word?) combined. The population is much, much more diverse, in terms of race, sexuality, lifestyle, and economic status. It is much more representative of Americans as a whole. We might even see candidates talking about something more important than how best to subsidize corn-farmers! For example, access to education, health care, and equal rights; or crime and the institutional racism that is the "war on drugs." You know, nonsense like that that plays little or no role in determining who the two contestants for the presidency will be (or in unusual cases, where one candidate is so pathetic that everyone cares more about his VP-in-Tina-Fey-glasses, three).
I'm even willing to compromise. Bring it to Michigan or Ohio, if you must. But that, Democrats, is what I want for Christmas.
Yours,
Joe
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