When I first registered to vote in my transplanted state of Florida back around 1990, I wanted to register as an Independent. I was told that would prevent me from voting in either of the major party's primaries. So, in order to have some voice in choosing at least one party's candidates for public office, I registered as a Democrat. That was the only reason.
Well, guess what? That reason's been taken away. Now that Florida's January 29 Democratic primary has been reduced to a "straw poll," as Senator Obama calls it, I have no reason to remain a registered Democrat.
I have always considered myself more of an independent anyway. My political leanings are considerably left of most Democratic politicians. Fact is, I hate the whole two-party system. I'd love to see third, fourth, and fifth parties flourish in this country. A parliamentary government with parties representing all shades of gray would suit me just fine. Registering as a Democrat, and thereby endorsing the two-party system, was a bitter pill for an old radical like me. But I did it because it seemed to make sense in terms of having a voice in especially presidential primaries. No more. I don't give a damn what arguments the party faithful come up with to convince me my vote on January 29 still matters, I'm not buying it. Four million registered Democratic voters have been disenfranchised due to inter-party political maneuvering and that truly sucks. So what if the Florida contingent is eventually seated by the party's nominee at the national convention, by then it's too late! The nominee has been chosen. That's the thing we're supposed to have a voice in! I wanted to cast one lousy little vote for my choice (probably Edwards but maybe Kucinich if he was still in), but now I won't get to do that in any way that matters.
Watching the early primary and caucus results from Iowa and New Hampshire these past couple of weeks, I've felt my anger growing. You see all these nice little homespun news stories of all the candidates sitting down to hobnob and sip coffee with ordinary voters. Hell, it seems like you can't shake a stick at a fucking small-town diner without hitting a goddam candidate for president. These early primary states are spoiled rotten when it comes to exposure, and everyone goes along with it. Everybody protects their ridiculously disproportional influence on the country's politics. Meanwhile, here in Florida, in the state with 18 million people, with 4 million registered Democrats, we get nothing. No candidate visits, no speaches, no sipping fucking coffee with presidential candidates. The early primary states demanded a pledge to boycott Florida (and Michigan) and all the candidates took it. Pandering! Special treatment! I read an article this morning that said the Obama people are trying to charge up their supporters with preudo campaign events featuring cardboard cut-outs of Barack Obama. Is this pathetic or what? A diarist on this site a couple of days ago was all fired up over a possible single Edwards appearance at some fundraiser somewhere in the state. Table scraps! He was concerned they might not get their cardboard cut-out by then. Beyond pathetic!
What's worse, this disenfranchisement is going to hurt in November. Check out this article in The Nation wherein Bob Moser makes a strong argument for how the Dems may have already lost Florida in the general election thanks to the primary fiasco.
So whose fault is this? Some will say the Florida Democrats put themselves in this position by moving their primary up. Well, the Florida Republican-controlled Legislature had more to do with this than anybody else. And there's no way for Florida Democrats to make it right as long as Republicans have the majority. The state party cannot change its primary date. Only the legislature can do that. So we're stuck; and the Republican Party (which had the wisdom to allow half the state's delegates to its National Convention) is laughing all the way to the general election. I blame them all - the DNC, Howard Dean, the Republicans, all the candidates for pandering to the early primary states - they're all at fault for stealing my vote. This is why I always felt there really wasn't that much difference between the major parties. This is why I always used to, and will now again, call myself an independent.
Here's the bottom line. The one thing that should never be done, the line that should never be crossed, is taking away people's right to vote. Not in a democracy. Even if you accept the reasoning for why the so-called traditional early primary states should have their inordinate influence protected, you don't steal people's votes. Howard Dean and the DNC should have found another way to make their point.