Not many people expected a black man to get as far as Illinois Sen. Barack Obama has in the 2008 presidential elections.
Not only is he doing well, but as you should know, he is leading the Democratic presidential nominee contest with the most delegates. According to a CNN count, he had 1,319 delegates while Sen. Hillary Clinton had 1,250.
Obama needs 2,025 delegates to win. If neither Clinton nor Obama reaches the 2,025-delegate mark, the super delegates will help select the presidential nominee during the Democratic National Convention in Denver this summer.
Super delegates are mostly Democratic National Committee members, current and former elected officials, who are not bound by the primary and caucus results.
Obama is doing exceptionally well, but he needs to do better. Obama supporter votes won’t matter if he doesn’t receive 2,025 delegates. If the super delegates have the final say-so, he may get robbed of a well-deserved victory.
The Democrats put this system into effect in 1982 after the 1980 election didn’t go their way. In short, the Democratic Party created “super delegates” to play the role of superheroes – superheroes who will save the Democratic Party from incompetent voters.
Numbers suggest they are waiting in the shadows to save the party from an Obama win. Currently, Clinton has 234 super delegates to Obama’s 161, and the rest are undecided, according to CNN.com. So if they were to decide today, Clinton wins.
Notable super delegates include former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, former vice president Al Gore, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
They even include Democrats who aren’t even citizens of the country’s 50 states, like Antonio Charfauros, chairman of Guam’s Democratic Party. A Guam Democrat cannot vote for the president, so why can one have a voice in who will be the party’s candidate?
That’s not right by any means. If we, the people, decide we want Obama to be the Democratic presidential candidate, then he should become that. Time and time again, justice and equality in America seems to hide behind a rock.
This possible scenario is reminiscent of the infamous Florida recount in 2000. President George W. Bush clearly lost the election because the majority of the country voted for Al Gore, but somehow Bush still won.
Sadly, the system is set up this way; the desired outcome will be met. Everyone knows the election was stolen, but nobody could do anything about it.
Will Obama be the 2008 Al Gore? Let us hope not.
Clinton isn’t America’s worst option but she certainly is not its most favorable.
As a matter of fact, she is the country’s second best option behind Obama. It’s too bad for America that Clinton and Obama represent the same party. Only one can run for president… that’s the way that cookie crumbles.
At this point there is not much we can do to circumvent the unwanted foreseeable future.
Siraaj Sabree is a senior newspaper journalism student from Miami. He can be reached at bree_305@yahoo.com.