Hyper-Democracy

The vulnerability of the U.S. politicians in today's political enviroment makes them overly responsive to every twitch of the American electorate. With the onslaught brought forth by the ever increasing media coverage, politician's every words and moves are documented in real time and spread throught the electorate instantly. I believe that the media has lead to a change not only in politicians but also in the way campaigns are carried out. In previos years well before the world wide web and up-to-the-minute headlines politicians had much more freedom to carry out a campaign with the issues important to them at the for front. Now it seems that a politician can only talk about the issues that are polling highest or the issues that the media is covering. For example, imagine a scenario where a politician wants to go out and talk about an issue that he cares about and believes he has strong policy ideas only to be told by his campaign manager to stick to the issues that the press or the public want to hear about. However, i can also play devils advocate and say that the public influencing politicians is the very essence of democracy. Without it politicians could pursue personal policy choices. The media is leading the United States further and further down a path of unparralled participation by the masses. This inturn, creates a new breed of American Politicians that are ever increasingly affected by every shudder of the electorate. The overall extent of this influence is yet to be seen, but it will be extremely interesting to see how this election shapes up and how future elctions utilize the new forms of media to an even greater extent.

Florida Dem's New Website

http://www.MakeItCountFlorida.com

Florida and their January 29th primary

As we have covered the rapidly increasing trend of states bumping their primary up to earlier and earlier in the year I thought it would be a good time to bring up Florida. The Democratic National Committee currently has a rule forbidding any states from holding primary elections before February 5Th of the election year. The only exceptions to the rule are Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. The state Democratic Party in Florida has announced it will hold its state primary on January 29Th, therefore breaking the National Committee's rule. The Democratic National Committee gave the state party in Florida until Saturday to come up with an alternative primary. On Sunday afternoon the DNC followed up on their threats by announcing they will strip Florida of its 210 convention delegates. The State party is sticking with the primary date even after the hearing about the sanctions. I think it is fascinating to see how a state party cares so much about getting their state earlier in year to attract more time and focus from the candidates. They go so far as to practically forfeit there nominating votes for the presidential candidate who will eventually make the run for the White House. Florida is not the only state stepping outside the DNC's rules and moving up their primary date. Michigan has gone ahead and scheduled a January 15Th primary. The trend seems to be increasing just as we discussed in class and now state parties are flexing their muscle and overstepping National Party boundaries in order to get their states into the heart of the fight between the remaining candidates. Florida has even created the motto "Make It Count Florida", to try and persuade voters to stand behind their decision to defy the DNC. The state party in Florida states on their website that their are looking for more recognition than the other states that vote later. They also state they want to actually make a difference is determining who will run as the Democratic Candidate for president. Now one can only wonder how long it is until we see a primary on January 1st? Or even a primary in December?