December 12, 2007
The exclusion by the Des Moines Register of progressive poll winner
Dennis Kucinich from the Register's Iowa Debate is a strong indicator
that the debate is an excuse for a coronation and not an opportunity
to allow caucus-goers to see the candidates and make an informed
decision. Is the fixing being done by the Register, an
organization now caught trying to exclude the progressive
front-runner for the presidency, or by the Iowa Democratic Party, which
is in charge of the
caucuses? This is not the first Democratic event in Iowa from
which progressive front runner Dennis Kucinich has been excluded.
Other exclusionary events thrown by Iowa Democratic Party insiders tend
to suggest that there is an agenda for the caucuses. The
appearance is that their plan is to use the first-in-the-nation
caucuses of 2008 to eliminate any true progressive from the
presidential race. Will the
caucuses themselves also be rigged with rules preventing the
caucus-goers from voting for the progressive front runner? If so,
there
could be a backlash from primary voters in other states. The
winner of the Iowa caucuses may find himself or herself the loser in
the primaries of 2008. The Iowa caucus endorsement may have the
same effect as Al Gore's 2004 endorsement of Howard Dean. Unlike the
caucuses, it is more difficult to fix primaries, and angry voters may
say "enough" to the crowned winner of the caucuses of that small
state if those caucuses fail
to give a fair shot to the national progressive front runner of 2008.
Progressive poll after progressive poll has shown that Dennis Kucinich
is the clear frontronner for the progressive vote, winning national
polls done by the Nation, Democracy for America (47/50 states) and
Progressive Democrats of America (46/50 states). For information
on
polls establishing Dennis Kucinich as the
national progrssive front runner see:
http://creativeyouth.net/dkwinspda.html,
http://pressmediawire.com/article.cfm?articleID=4148,
http://www.dennis4president.com/go/newsroom/democrat-base-gives-kucinich-third-major-win-in-nationwide-poll/.
California Democrats have learned the hard way not to trust
caucuses. This year, for the first time, delegates to the
Democratic state
central committee were chosen in caucuses in their assembly
districts.
Many of the most progressive potential delegates, who filed to run for
state central committee, discovered too late that they had been put on
the list in the wrong
district or were not put on the list at all, and that only those on the
correct
lists were allowed to be delegates. In other caucuses,
individuals
from outside the district showed up in menacing groups for the apparent
purpose
of preventing progressives from being selected. Individuals who
admitted to being Republicans had pretended to be Democrats long enough
to vote in the caucuses. In some cases, party insiders were seen
stuffing ballot
boxes, with the result being that the candidates most caucus-goers
supported lost. Where there were two ballot boxes, the candidates
elected to the executive board would often lose their delegate seats
(required for selection to executive board) due to delegate box
tampering. In some cases, the person who got the executive board
seat was the third place finisher for that seat, with the first two
being disqualified. In some districts, progressives and their
supporters were threatened with violence
if they attended their caucuses. From comments made by a
prominent member of the California Democratic party suspected of being
behind the caucus-rigging, it was learned that the true purpose of the
caucus charade was to prevent the most liberal delegates from retaining
their voice at Democratic Party committee meetings.
It is not the progressive Democrats who will be on trial in Iowa.
The Iowa Caucuses, themselves, are on trial. More and more states
want to have their primaries at the same time as or before the Iowa
Caucuses. Most Democrats support the concept of a national
primary. Most expect to see that national primary in 2012
This may be Iowa's last year to go first. The question the public
is asking is, do they want to go out on a note of fairness or one of
caucus-fixing?
Copyright ©2007 by the
Creative
Youth News Team. All rights reserved.
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