May 31, 2008

To Be Or Not To Be...Counted


I'm sitting here watching, and listening to the delegate debate, and I'm afraid that there are quite a few not-so-happy- campers, and right now, uncounted Super Delegate, Donna Brazille, is saying, "my mama always taught me to play by the rules." For some reason, that reminded me of something that I read, recently, concerning Senator Obama, and how he "played by the rules" in his initial bid for political office. Here's an excerpt from the article:

"The day after New Year's 1996, operatives for Barack Obama filed into a barren hearing room of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.There they began the tedious process of challenging hundreds of signatures on the nominating petitions of state Sen. Alice Palmer, the longtime progressive activist from the city's South Side. And they kept challenging petitions until every one of Obama's four Democratic primary rivals was forced off the ballot.Fresh from his work as a civil rights lawyer and head of a voter registration project that expanded access to the ballot box, Obama launched his first campaign for the Illinois Senate saying he wanted to empower disenfranchised citizens.But in that initial bid for political office, Obama quickly mastered the bare-knuckle arts of Chicago electoral politics. His overwhelming legal onslaught signaled his impatience to gain office, even if that meant elbowing aside an elder stateswoman like Palmer."

After reading this, and watching the debate, I'm wondering how one could trust anything to be fair when it comes to how a candidate gets into office, whether locally, State, or as President of the United States. It seems that there is just too much underhanded maneuvering going on by too many ambitious, over-zealous, individuals to be fair.

What's going on now, is turning out to be a real war..but then, there is an old saying which says, "All's fair in love, and war." There may not be much love going on, but I guess they can justify what they do as being fair.

Read the rest of this very informative article:

Obama knows his way around a ballot -- Civil Rights, Brooklyn (King's, New York), David Jackson -- chicagotribune.com

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

This line's classic:

"Obama launched his first campaign for the Illinois Senate saying he wanted to empower disenfranchised citizens.But in that initial bid for political office, Obama quickly mastered the bare-knuckle arts of Chicago electoral politics."

Keep it up!!

Papa Frank said...

I watched just a short time and I was amazed at how desperate these people are to scratch and claw for every single advantage they can get. It's the exact same thinking that defines a leftist -- the rules do not matter if you can get away with something or if you can get an activist to change it in favor of you. Democrats have never been the true party of the American people. They dig and claw for power like a hog lusting for truffles.

Granny J said...

I recall examining the vote count records on floor 2-1/2 in the city/county building in Chicago. There was one aldermanic election where a write-in campaign had been conducted against a machine incumbent. Unfortunately, the voters had spelled (or written) the opponent's name variously. Each spelling was counted separately. Of course, the incumbent won.

Jan said...

granny j..you know that old saying, "Where there's a will, there's way," and I guess someone will always find a way, by hook, or by crook..another old saying! :)

Jan said...

AN..thanks! :)

Jan said...

FF..actually, I think the party used to be a lot better than it is, now, but a lot has changed over the years, and greed, and the lust for power has had a lot to do with that, I think.

DNR said...

Just wow.