Why are we the Democratic Party?

[burr]

Is it just another name given to just another party? Or does it have special meaning for all who are Democrats?

For me 2000 was not just another painful election, it was a wakeup call. It demonstrated that even if you do the right thing and vote, your vote will not be counted...even if your candidate wins the most votes! It then occurred to me that my vote for Clinton in 1996 did not count either, because Clinton lost every electoral vote in my state. This did not occur to me then, but it is occuring me today. I have finally begun to understand why so many good Americans have thrown in the towel on our system of government!

At this point there is only one thing which will keep me active in Democratic politics. That is the commitment of our party to making every vote in America count equally, whether it is cast for President or State Representative. This means embracing the concept of IRV, as Dean and Kucinich have done. It means bringing proportional representation to state and federal government. And most importantly, it means having all on the Democratic ticket campaign for a constitutional amendment to abolish the electoral college.

Every voter, regardless of ideology, must demand that his or her vote matters. And there is no better way for our party to make this matter for all voters than to make it a central issue in 2004. Frankly, it is all that matters to me at this point. Everything else politically, only comes second.

<http://www.fairvote.org/articles/kucinichirv.htm>

[AndyTiedye]

1. IRV a.k.a. Preferential Voting is used in Cambridge, MA

or at least it was when I lived there.

[burr]

2. Was it used in both primaries and the general election?

And more importantly, did you like it?

[10digits]

3. Green slime.

Greens need to get elected. We need not change the constitution to favor losers.

[burr]

4. We don't have to...

we need to change it to favor winners. :thumbsup: