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Superdelegates
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- Citizen Voices blogger Chris McConnell is a bookseller, freelance writer, former high school English teacher and odd jobber who lives in La Jolla.

I Listened to Rush Limbaugh and Got an Idea

"Remember what I told you, Mr. Snerdley: There are no rules in the Democrat Party, there are only customs and traditions. Don't frown at me! Do you realize what a brilliant observation that is?" Rush Limbaugh, March 5 broadcast, 2008.

Love him or loathe him, the Right listens to Rush. Why? He’s entertaining. He’s bombastic. But answering beyond that, well, that’s why I listen to Rush.

Plenty of brave souls willingly espouse their political beliefs in public, but few delve the depths of why it matters to them so much as does Rush. I’ve been thinking a lot about Rush lately, and not because he’s so brazenly self-congratulatory. More so because he’s been saying the same thing for so many years and people still listen. 

From what I gather that message all boils down to this: The Democratic Party wants to destroy this country. 

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Politics Without End

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Party Crasher

With Ralph Nader announcing his presidential candidacy, the embarrassment of holding him partially responsible for Al Gore’s loss in 2000 crept up like a forgotten nightmare. I don’t like admitting this — although many in my party don’t mind — because I believe what Mr. Nader has said about bipartisanship is true.

The two-party system is choking civic involvement. Labeling oneself as either a Democrat or a Republican feels stifling now as more and more voters claim their independence. 

I don’t think Ralph Nader’s run for office this time will siphon votes the way I begrudgingly believe it did in 2000. That’s because Dems have heard his message earlier this year, and mostly rejected it.

When John Edwards’ campaign message featured big corporations versus the little people, it was a prelude to Mr. Nader’s meat-and-potato policy initiatives. Edwards’s message was mostly rejected by early primary voters. So unless former Edwards’ supporters jump ship from backing Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton to go third-party for a day, Mr. Nader is competing for undecided Democratic and Independent voters.

Personally, I think Mr. Nader’s work has made a huge impact on America’s view on the important role of independent voters, the environment, and big business’ relationship with regular consumers. However, his days of running for office are irrelevant and will likely be ignored by most voters this time around. Then again, maybe Ralph Nader is as much a "miracles guy" like Mike Huckabee when it comes to victoriously ending this election.

-Citizen Voices blogger Alma Sove has spent most of her life in San Diego and is currently attending law school. 

Blue, Red or Purple?

A funny thing happened on the way to the polling booth in San Diego County. People got lost. I don’t mean they couldn’t find their polling place, although that happened a lot, too. They couldn’t find their political party.

Sure, most everyone had registered to vote under the patriotic flag of their choice, but many I talked to were feeling disenfranchised by their party and wondering where they really belonged.

People are describing themselves as a mixture of parties these days, saying something like “I’m fiscally conservative, but socially liberal.” So does that describe an elephant or a donkey or some new creature?  What do you get when you mix blue states and red states? You get purple. It seems a new purple voter is emerging. A lot of people I talked with on election day expressed frustration with their party and wanted to know how to change their official voter registration card. America is clamoring for change and voters are beginning with whom they want to align themselves.

Some Republicans, for example, claim that John McCain is really a Democrat in disguise. Has the party left the voters or is it the other way around? 

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The ‘90s, a Topless Bar and Libertarians in San Diego

Is this 1990? Really, is this 1990 all over again? Then why is Republican presidential frontrunner John McCain spouting off about "no new taxes" if elected? I know, Republicans are in awe of the Reagan years, but come on! Stop stealing campaign promises from Reagan's former vice president! 

Though, while this is amusing, it also seems someone didn't do neighborhood scoping plans well enough. Yes, Hillary Clinton's Austin, Texas campaign headquarters is next door to a topless bar. Furthermore, it seems her husband was an hour late to the new headquarters. Hmmm... I wonder, I wonder...

What ever could have kept the former president up? In all seriousness, I really hope this doesn't turn out to look too bad on her campaign. Topless dancers aside, the Democrats are pretty split. So split, in fact, they called forth Al Gore to help clean up the mess. And this, my friends, brings up the term superdelegates. 

No, readers, we're not in a Marvel comic book, superdelegates are over 750 REAL people who will finally, once and for all, decide the Democrat's candidate for president. I know, when I heard the term, I pictured Superman and Batman stepping into the Democratic National Convention to cast their votes. Though that WOULD bring some much needed excitement to the proceedings, in my opinion.

Also, this weekend in sunny San Diego is the Libertarian Annual Convention of Delegates for California.

Your Libertarian Citizen Voices blogger is going to try VERY hard to cover it for all of you, if he can! Check the blog for more updates. I'll be discussing it next week either way.

-Steven Garrett is a professional food blogger who lives in Chula Vista.

A Minority Report

After Tuesday’s vote, I learned that I fell outside two demographic groups, making me something of an anomaly.

The Los Angeles Times’ political blog, “Top of the Ticket” ran the number of Democratic women in California who voted for Senator Clinton (52%) as compared to Senator Obama, and the number of Democratic Latinos who voted for her (61%). A higher than usual turnout by women and Latinos has been credited with giving Senator Clinton a win in California.

I am a Mexican-American woman who voted for Senator Obama and apparently, was in the minority in my choice of candidates. It got me thinking. Why didn’t I fit with my groups, both women and Mexican-Americans and other Latinos? Could I be that weird?

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The Final Four, Commercials, and a Missing Initiative

So, we're in the Final Four! The Democrats are bringing out Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton; and the Republicans have John McCain and Mitt Romney up for nomination. Of course, it won't be until March that we find out the Libertarian candidate or July for the Green Party candidate, but for now we have at least four candidates.

And being in the top four, this seemed the perfect time for Mitt Romney to buy ads during the Super Bowl, which he did. I will admit, I was highly disappointed in the ad his campaign chose. Rather than state his stance, the chosen ad instead bashed on Clinton. Shame on you, Mr. Romney! On the flip side, Coca-Cola's political ad was an interesting and welcome addition! The premise was that with their soda, ANY group can get along.

If this is the case, then all Americans need to buy each member of the three branches of government a 12-pack of their favorite soda to share. It might work!

In South Bay, Chula Vista residents are voting on changing the position of city attorney to an elected position rather than the currently appointed position.

After months of fighting, over 20,000 signatures, and even the city suing itself to stop this initiative that the citizens are requesting, the initiative was supposed to be on this ballot. Instead, back on January 16th, the city postponed the vote until November's election. This, of course, has made a lot of folks even more upset.

Now, some may wonder why the citizens of Chula Vista have been fighting so long to be allowed to nominate, rather than appoint, a city attorney. The idea behind it is checks and balances. In theory, an elected attorney will not be indebted to those who appoint him or her to the office, and thus would work more for the city itself.

Personally, I think it’s also backlash after seeing what happened with San Diego's corruption, and an attempt to ensure that Chula Vista never has that kind of scandal drop into the laps of the city's residents.

Finally on a lighter note in Imperial Beach, I wanted to congratulate the city council for approving a new skate park, thus giving the youth in San Diego's South Bay another safe spot to play and keep healthy. Let's hope they get the remaining donations needed to build and complete the park.

-Steven Garrett is a professional food blogger who lives in Chula Vista.

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Johnny, I’m Going to Miss You

As I feared, Corporate Media had their way, so I won’t even have the opportunity to vote for my candidate.

Over the past several months I watched with wonder as I witnessed the major networks’ systematic trivialization of John Edward’s campaign. Ridiculed as “vain” or “angry” or “rich” or “irrelevant” by foolish reporters who didn't know enough about history to even understand how fundamental American rights have been eroded, or how far we have traveled from basic protections our society used to afford us - even as recently as a decade ago.

John Edwards was the only candidate who had done battle with corporate giants and won. Of course Corporate America didn't want to see Edwards become the Democratic candidate.

Well, John, thank you for running.

Thank you for championing the causes of the middle class, and the working poor. Thank you for pushing for a universal health plan. 

This election may represent the last opportunity for all of us to reclaim the promise made by the framers of our United States Constitution. The real issue of this election is not the economy or the war or immigration or even the environment. While these are all vital issues and will determine how we will live out our lives, what is actually at stake is the survival of our democracy as an entity owned by “We the People.”

It is up to us to take back our country and demand a return to the “rule of law” where all citizens are bound by a set of clearly defined and accepted laws.

This rule of law is manifested in an independent judiciary, a free press, and a system of checks and balances on leaders through free elections, and separation of powers among the branches of government.

The continued erosion of these basic principles threatens our social order and our civil rights far more than whether a Mexican national climbs over that ridiculous corrugated wall down at “Friendship Park”; or whether we are allowed to continue destroying an entire country that did not attack us first; or whether corporations systematically continue to outsource our labor force and sell our country to the highest bidder; or whether we pay more attention to celebrity sightings than we do to the catastrophic evidence of global warming.

“We the People” means all of us - you and me.

Somehow we have to navigate the political waters of sound bytes, intimidation, blatant misinformation, and election fraud to decipher which candidate truly possesses the combination of ability, instinct, and integrity.  

 
- Candace Suerstedt is a filmmaker and a mother of three who lives in Coronado.

Still Hung Up on 2000

I'm conflicted about voting Democratic right now.

Ideally, Al Gore would be my choice, but only to say: "I wish the Supreme Court had not cast the deciding vote in the 2000 election."

In order to move on, I need to get over Al Gore's loss and the fact that everything changed afterwards. But I'm having a really hard time accepting how much we've changed.

I've gotten the impression Democrats would like to get back to normal, to a time before the invasion of Iraq. Normal is a time when Democrats focus on "blue" issues, like reinforcing public kindergarten through 12th grade education; expanding infrastructure, like bridges; improving job training; making college tuition affordable; encouraging unions; protecting Social Security and Medicare; and all the other issues Republicans hate us for. I like normalcy too, but not at the expense of dealing proactively with the reasons things have changed.

When the majority of Americans told their leaders they disapproved of the war in Iraq, for instance, why did the Democratic-led Congress instead focus on domestic policy? Granted, Republican opposition went a long way in getting nothing done. But we didn't always need a majority of votes when it came to holding the Bush administration accountable for repeatedly lying to the American people. And what about filibustering? That's one type of symbolism that actually means something politically yet Democrats in Congress refuse to use it for fear of appearing divisive.

The occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan drains every American resource except war profiteering. Ending the occupation of Iraq enables vital resources to flow back into domestic issues, something that means a great deal to cash-strapped Americans.

Democrats have an opportunity in this election to reiterate what the party stands for. Do we stand for progress, or do we stand for conserving our traditional base?

- Citizen Voices blogger Alma Sove has spent most of her life in San Diego and is currently attending law school.