Posted on 12/10/2003 4:04:56 PM PST by Libloather
Gore's early endorsement drowns out voters' voices
Wed Dec 10, 6:38 AM ET
When Al Gore endorsed former Vermont governor Howard Dean for president before a cheering crowd in Harlem, N.Y., on Tuesday, Dean had good reason to thrust his arms triumphantly into the air.
Gore awarded the highest-profile endorsement yet in the party's nine-way race for the 2004 nomination. By securing it six weeks before the first Democratic contest and seven months before the party's national convention, Dean solidified his front-runner status before a single vote has been cast.
That may prove good for Dean, whose standing in the polls has climbed from an asterisk to a widening lead over his rivals in a new USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll.
But the former vice president's endorsement is another sign of how a compressed campaign increases the influence of party insiders at the expense of voters. Gore conceded that a quick end to the contest was behind his move, calling on Democrats to unite behind Dean as "the strongest candidate" to defeat President Bush in November.
Much has been written about an accelerated primary schedule that produces a party's choice ever earlier. Forty years ago, primaries stretched from March to June, giving voters across the USA time to assess those seeking the presidency. But as more states have tried to influence the race by holding contests earlier, the primaries have been jammed into a shrinking calendar.
This year's hurry-up pace is the most frenzied yet: After Iowa and New Hampshire hold their customary leadoff contests in January, 33 states from Hawaii to Maine hold primaries or caucuses in a seven-week span. Seven states with late primaries have canceled them because they assume the Democratic contest already will be decided and Bush is running unopposed.
The same desire to be first also is infecting endorsements. Gore's follows at least 24 unions that already have endorsed a candidate, breaking with labor's usual custom of waiting for the field to winnow a bit.
Like early primaries, early endorsements concentrate power for choosing a nominee in the hands of a few. Endorsements help candidates raise money and build organizations, both crucial to winning a nomination early. The result is to deprive millions of voters of a say in the selection.
In fact, the primary process emerged from an attempt to move away from the days when insiders picked candidates. Yet, the nation appears headed back there again.
The reasons driving the early 2004 schedule are not solely of the Democrats' making. The Bush campaign's plan to raise a record $200 million presents a formidable juggernaut. Little wonder the Democrats want to settle their race and turn to the main event.
But while the rushed schedule serves insiders' purposes, it doesn't serve the interests of voters cut out of the process.
Cool...
Oh, yeah. Zell used some old southern term - the plank is broken and it can't be put back together.
He ran down a lists of positives and negatives with the Gore/Dean marriage. A negative for Algore - he has to hang around Dean for a year. A negative for Dean - he has to hang around Algore for a year. Zell said Algore used to have Tipper for stability and *Crinton for slickness. In Dean, Algore finds none of that - Dean is neither slick or stable.
I laughed all afternoon...
LOL. About sums it up. LOL.
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