Soo...it's Super Tuesday today in the USA.
For a gal who spent most of her life using the comparatively simple electoral system of the UK, what goes on in electoral USA is a constant source of confusion. For any passing reader who's not familiar with the complex US system, Super Tuesday is the day when a large number of states hold their primary elections. Our state, Oklahoma along with 9 others will vote today.
Voters nominate their chosen presidential/or other candidate. Results for the presidential nominee will determine the number of delegates who will attend the party's national convention at which a presidential candidate is officially nominated.
This delegate thing confuses me no end. As I understand it, a delegate attends the relevant party's national convention as the personification of a block of many thousands of voters who voted for a particular candidate. The delegates at the conventions vote for the parties' official nominees, so the more delegates, the better chance of winning. There's a variety of ways of counting and allocating delegates, but I'm not going into that.....even less the electoral college! I truly am still confused by the seemingly unnecessary complexity of it all!
This time around it's basically a Republican primary because the incumbent President is not being nationally challenged by any Democrat....though oddly there will four other names on Oklahoma voting papers under the Democrat presidential heading: obscure "wannabes",I guess! If one of these happens to stand marginally to the left of Obama (not a difficult stance), disaffected Democrat voters might favour that candidate in order just to make a statement.
None of this need worry yours truly though. I'm democratic socialist, registered Independent, and now so very glad I opted to be so, rather than registering as a Democrat. That party has lost any vestige of support I might have otherwise dredged up. Unless there's an Independent candidate on the sheet (there isn't), I'm not allowed to vote.
My husband, being a registered Democrat was treated to one of those dreadful robo-calls yesterday morning, from one of the 4 Democrats appearing on the ballot sheet, one Randall Terry, noted as being a "pro-lifer". Husband said the call began with "You know, of course that Obama is directly responsible for killing babies". My husband put the phone down.
If we're being deadly accurate, yes Obama is directly responsible for killing babies - brown-skinned babies - in several Middle East locations. I'm pretty darn certain that Randall Terry was not, and would not ever refer to those babies! The babies he's concerned about are not babies at all, and they are the sole concern of the woman who bears them in her womb - certainly none of his business. Grrrrr!
10 states will vote today: Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virgina. A total of 437 delegates are at stake. Alaska (27), Georgia (76), Idaho (32), Massachusetts (41), North Dakota (28), Ohio (66), Oklahoma (43), Tennessee (58), Vermont (17), and Virginia (49).
Here's the astrological chart for today, 12 noon in Washington DC.
Compare today's planetary positions in the above chart to those in natal charts of Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum (data borrowed from Astrodatabank). Romney and Santorum are said to be the main contenders; so far Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul have trailed in other recent primary results.
For Romney I don't see much indication either way, win/lose. He has Sun/Mercury/Mars in Pisces natally and Sun's in Pisces today. He ought to be in harmony with the day's flavour I guess - can't be bad!
Santorum has transiting Saturn (restriction) conjoining his natal Jupiter (expansion, luck) and opposing his natal Mercury (communication)- not good in these circumstances!
Romney:
Santorum:
There are congressional seats up for grabs too, and primary voting for these will proceed today in relevant states. One of these in particular interests me. Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich's district in Cleveland, Ohio has been subject to re-districting (aka gerrymandering) by the Republican state legislature. Consequence is that Kucinich must fight another incumbent Democrat, Marcy Kaptur, for the seat.
Kucinich has been an anti-war voice and a supporter of what we have come to term "the 99%" for many years, and is probably a thorn in President Obama's side. The Prez took Kucinich on a flight in Airforce One last year, during which Kucinich's mind was miraculously changed about voting against the healthcare reform bill which did not include a "public option". Afterwards Kucinich said
His chart:
Transiting Saturn in very late Libra is close to Kucinich's natal Mercury and Jupiter in the first degrees of Scorpio. Not helpful, I'm not optimistic about his chances today, but hope I'm wrong. If he loses to Ms Kaptur today, perhaps he'll seek to run for a vacant seat in some other state....but I wonder how much support he'd get from the DNC, he hasn't had much in the past.
UPDATE ~ It was "in the stars" - Dennis Kucinich lost his seat in the House of Representatives. As long as his voice continues to be heard, all is not lost.
For a gal who spent most of her life using the comparatively simple electoral system of the UK, what goes on in electoral USA is a constant source of confusion. For any passing reader who's not familiar with the complex US system, Super Tuesday is the day when a large number of states hold their primary elections. Our state, Oklahoma along with 9 others will vote today.
Voters nominate their chosen presidential/or other candidate. Results for the presidential nominee will determine the number of delegates who will attend the party's national convention at which a presidential candidate is officially nominated.
This delegate thing confuses me no end. As I understand it, a delegate attends the relevant party's national convention as the personification of a block of many thousands of voters who voted for a particular candidate. The delegates at the conventions vote for the parties' official nominees, so the more delegates, the better chance of winning. There's a variety of ways of counting and allocating delegates, but I'm not going into that.....even less the electoral college! I truly am still confused by the seemingly unnecessary complexity of it all!
This time around it's basically a Republican primary because the incumbent President is not being nationally challenged by any Democrat....though oddly there will four other names on Oklahoma voting papers under the Democrat presidential heading: obscure "wannabes",I guess! If one of these happens to stand marginally to the left of Obama (not a difficult stance), disaffected Democrat voters might favour that candidate in order just to make a statement.
None of this need worry yours truly though. I'm democratic socialist, registered Independent, and now so very glad I opted to be so, rather than registering as a Democrat. That party has lost any vestige of support I might have otherwise dredged up. Unless there's an Independent candidate on the sheet (there isn't), I'm not allowed to vote.
My husband, being a registered Democrat was treated to one of those dreadful robo-calls yesterday morning, from one of the 4 Democrats appearing on the ballot sheet, one Randall Terry, noted as being a "pro-lifer". Husband said the call began with "You know, of course that Obama is directly responsible for killing babies". My husband put the phone down. If we're being deadly accurate, yes Obama is directly responsible for killing babies - brown-skinned babies - in several Middle East locations. I'm pretty darn certain that Randall Terry was not, and would not ever refer to those babies! The babies he's concerned about are not babies at all, and they are the sole concern of the woman who bears them in her womb - certainly none of his business. Grrrrr!
10 states will vote today: Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virgina. A total of 437 delegates are at stake. Alaska (27), Georgia (76), Idaho (32), Massachusetts (41), North Dakota (28), Ohio (66), Oklahoma (43), Tennessee (58), Vermont (17), and Virginia (49).
Here's the astrological chart for today, 12 noon in Washington DC.
Compare today's planetary positions in the above chart to those in natal charts of Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum (data borrowed from Astrodatabank). Romney and Santorum are said to be the main contenders; so far Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul have trailed in other recent primary results.For Romney I don't see much indication either way, win/lose. He has Sun/Mercury/Mars in Pisces natally and Sun's in Pisces today. He ought to be in harmony with the day's flavour I guess - can't be bad!
Santorum has transiting Saturn (restriction) conjoining his natal Jupiter (expansion, luck) and opposing his natal Mercury (communication)- not good in these circumstances!
Romney:
Santorum:
There are congressional seats up for grabs too, and primary voting for these will proceed today in relevant states. One of these in particular interests me. Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich's district in Cleveland, Ohio has been subject to re-districting (aka gerrymandering) by the Republican state legislature. Consequence is that Kucinich must fight another incumbent Democrat, Marcy Kaptur, for the seat.
Kucinich has been an anti-war voice and a supporter of what we have come to term "the 99%" for many years, and is probably a thorn in President Obama's side. The Prez took Kucinich on a flight in Airforce One last year, during which Kucinich's mind was miraculously changed about voting against the healthcare reform bill which did not include a "public option". Afterwards Kucinich said"This wasn't about the kind of deal-making that is essentially self-defeating. That's not what my support is all about here. I come at it from a different level, taking a more historic, long-term view, [with the aim to] empower our president and the Congress to start to move the country forward, notwithstanding the differences we have."I then lost confidence in Dennis Kucinich, who had up until then been one of only two in congress for whom I could summon enthusiasm. I'd hate to see Kucinich lose his seat though. He remains one of two people in the whole of congress to whose ideals I can relate....I just wish he'd stick to his guns!
His chart:
Transiting Saturn in very late Libra is close to Kucinich's natal Mercury and Jupiter in the first degrees of Scorpio. Not helpful, I'm not optimistic about his chances today, but hope I'm wrong. If he loses to Ms Kaptur today, perhaps he'll seek to run for a vacant seat in some other state....but I wonder how much support he'd get from the DNC, he hasn't had much in the past.
UPDATE ~ It was "in the stars" - Dennis Kucinich lost his seat in the House of Representatives. As long as his voice continues to be heard, all is not lost.
GP: If you T. and many other intelligent people think that the political system in the US is not only confusing but open to lies, abuse and cowardice, here a story of how Nasreddin once (courageously) dealt with the Sultan (the power in place):
ReplyDeleteHe had some good news to deliver to the Sultan, but found it hard to get an audience.
When finally he was admitted to court, and the Sultan wanted to reward him for the good news, N. wished to receive 50 lashes. The Sultan found that very strange, but ordered N. to receive what he wanted.
Half-way through the pains, i.e. after 25 lashes, N. cried: Enough! Now let my partner in all this get the other 25 lashes. His "partner" was the chamberlain who had arranged for Nasreddin to be able to see the Sultan...
Gian Paul ~~ Hmmmm- getting my head around that little fable is almost as confusing as the US electoral system GP! ;-0
ReplyDeleteIs the lesson that we must be clever and brave enough to suffer a little ourselves in order to ensure that the real culprit's suffer later?
How about a translation? :-)
culprits....not culprit's
ReplyDelete(I wish blogger would get an edit system for comments!)
GP: The lesson, if there is one, which I believe there is, could be that one better stays away from involvement in politics, or if involved, by force or otherwise, do as your husband did: hang up the phone. Or accept some sacrifice (the 25 lashes) to have some effect!
ReplyDeleteGian Paul ~~ thanks for the translation - I now see what you, and N. were getting at!
ReplyDeleteHusband hanging up phone on a robot call didn't mean anything at all to the caller - they were unaware of it. but i see what you mean and my response is that too many people have been hanging up on the powers that be for too long in the USA. It's time somebody took them on and gave them a proper tongue-lashing, and be ready to receive one in return.
There's too much apathy here, too much acceptance of what the media is dishing up for the masses under instruction of The Real Powers That Be (bankers,
Wall Street, the guys behind the curtain).
It's a system wide open for corruption, T, as you so aptly say.
ReplyDeleteI find the delegate and Electoral College difficult to comprehend, i.e. is it based on the hypothesis that all USians are moronic idiots and can't determine who to vote for so let the Big Boys do it for them?
XO
WWW
Wisewebwoman ~~ Re delegates and electoral college - I don't know what the original thinking was behind these. I wonder if they hark back to the days before easy communication and fast information exchange was available. It all seems very clunky and archaic to me.
ReplyDeleteThe size of the country has to have made elections diffcult to administrate in decades and centuries past. USA authorities seem wary of changing or streamlining this stuff to keep up with the times - same with the Constitution (better wash my mouth out there before they come to de-frock me of my citizenship!)
;-)
Frankly, the Republican race has become a big yawn. It was interesting for some time but now it's clear they're all hopeless up there.
ReplyDeleteJames Higham ~~ Yes, it almost seems as though they're not seriously trying, and that they'd like another 4 years of Obama-rule.
ReplyDeleteWhy wouldn't they? He's doing most of what a moderate Republican would do and getting no back-chat from the Dems and their loyal base of supporters.