Election 2008: Super Tuesday
The more I have learned and grown as a world citizen and the more the seeds of a liberal arts education have germinated within my brain, the more I have realized the incredible gift of a democratic government that we have here in the United States. That’s not to say my ignorance of the election system isn’t shocking — in fact, today I read through the Wikipedia article about Super Tuesday to understand what, exactly, happens on this day:
In the United States, Super Tuesday commonly refers to the Tuesday in early February or March of a presidential election year when the greatest number of states hold primary elections to select delegates to national conventions at which each party’s presidential candidates are officially nominated. More delegates can be won on Super Tuesday than on any other single day of the primary calendar, and accordingly, candidates seeking the presidency traditionally must do well on this day to secure their party’s nomination. In 2008, Super Tuesday is February 5; 24 states will hold primaries or caucuses on this date, with 52 percent of all pledged Democratic Party delegates and 41 percent of the total Republican Party delegates at stake.
Super Tuesday is tomorrow. To avoid a premature, misinformed, unfocused political debate, I will not venture the current candidate I favor at this time. Later this year, however, I promise we will get to have a good tumbledry political discussion. Focus is the key.
The main message here, though: get out and participate in your political system by reading about presidential candidates tonight, and caucusing for one of them tomorrow, on Super Tuesday. Please.
Comments
Richard
Ron Paul and Obama.
The rest are so annoying and carbon copies of the crap that got us into our current siutation.
Nils
Can anyone recommend a good website where I can get a detailed overview of the candidate’s positions on current issues? Personally, I find it hard to stay informed without devoting a lot of time to reading about individual speeches/appearances by the [thinning] plethora of candidates out there.
Mykala
I’ve been checking out <procon.org>. It certainly is not the most aesthetically pleasing design, and I have found a few typos in the transcriptions, but it has a really neat layout that allows a user to either view each candidate’s viewpoints individually, or view a certain issue and each candidate’s corresponding viewpoint, etc.
I am trying really hard to keep up this year, as it’s the first time I feel I’ve understood the world in any sort of capacity that gives my vote merit. Being an adult is hard. :)