Punditry 101

Oh, South Carolina voters in the recent Republican primary, feeling a bit thwarted? Why, how could you? A local senator-wannabe is shocked, shocked I say.

According to the Post & Courier, State Rep. Jenny Horne said [Mark] Sandford's refusal to accept the will of the party's electorate "is a slap in the face to all (emphais mine) the Republican voters in South Carolina who gave him an overwelming victory in our recent primary."

Well, sure enough, Don did take home 50 convention delegates—that’s 50 out of 50. Oh, and that sweep was by gathering 32.5% of the actual vote.

Now maybe it’s just me, but if I were standing in front of a 100 folks in a parking lot asking for their vote and 68 (I’ll spot the torso) said no and got in their cars and drove home, I’m not feeling the word overwhelming. Like I said, probably just me.

Disenfranchisement, however, to my ears rings loudly and clearly. Two-thirds of the voters might as well have run errands. Makes me think of the coin-toss solution in Iowa, but I stray too far from home.

Of course, I understand that national parties want to coalesce around a candidate as soon as possible—saves money, which is not unlimited even as some pundits think $5,000,000,000 and loose change may be spent on this election cycle—and allows a unified siege against the other side to begin. Got it.

But 33% of the vote captures 100% of the delegates? I’ll give you efficient if you will spot me ruthlessly.

With 50 states and the territories all with the right to participate, this kind of winnowing early degrades the choices for those voting later in the process. Media coverage, money, and time will conspire—how democratic? ‘Tis a pity for the folks downstream calendar-wise, but isn’t that always so for folks downstream?

Sure, neither party wants a throw-down at the national convention with the whole world watching. A sort of family feud in the backyard with all the neighbors uploading the donnybrook to YouTube. Fair enough.

To my neighbors who voted and are disappointed and, well, underwhelmed, all I can say is—if I have any sense of how it goes this election—maybe 2016 will be the Year of Holding Noses.

By the way, Sister H won 75% of the Dems’ delegates with 75% of the vote here in South Carolina. However, this formula is a function of the state’s rules and doesn’t undo what I think of the national process. I only mention this result because at least one reader will ignore every word if I don’t address both sides of the aisle. Obviously the Republican slate is more fragmented and so worsens the effect of some primary rules.

Oh, I could go on, but I won’t.

Folks get paid for writing this kind of stuff? And big money? Wow. Please, like and share and follow and tweet—well, maybe not tweet—and whatever else one may do these days.

But as for me, give me—okay, a bit over the top—but as for me, I choose to go all Candide on the process and retreat to cultivating my garden.