Thoughts on "Super Tuesday"

Beefs:

1.  The American primary system: Why is this race narrowed down to four - realistically 3 - candidates after only a handful of states have voted?

2.  American voters: I'm glad we're concerned about things like "Hillary's ridiculous necklace" rather than policies.

3.  The Republicans: The only two people here that aren't amoebas are Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee.  Unfortunately, most of America views them as insane (maybe they are).

Hopes:

1.  At least one of the nominations will be decided at the convention - that means my vote might count.

2.  Mitt Romney wins the Republican nomination.

3.  Mike Gravel stays in the race.

Fears:

1.  As of February 6 we will have 9 months to decide a two person race between McCain or Hillary/Obama.

2.  The Swift Boat Boys come back to trash someone else and annoy the fuck out of me.

Rising Stock:

1.  Mike Huckabee: All signs point to a McCain / Huckabee ticket: Huckabee takes votes away from Romney and brings out the evangelical vote.  McCain should thank Huckabee for the former and take advantage of the latter.

2.  Barack Obama: Even though Hillary still leads national polls by a slim margin, Obama has closed the gap big time and seems to possess "the big mo."

Falling Stock

1.  Rudy Guiliani: Come on Rudy, just because you've switched from 9.11 preaching to licking McCain's boots doesn't mean you're anything more than the one line candidate you were before you dropped out.

2.  Campaigns with integrity: Even John Edwards paid for a ridiculously expensive hair cut with campaign money.

3.  The Green Party: As a party that wanted to raise awareness and change policy rather than actually win elections, where will the Green Party go with the trendy eco-activism in America?  And if they're done, will a new single issue party step up as the primary third party (not that it matters much) in the U.S.?  Of course hindsight is 20/20, but jeeze did they fuck things up for themselves in 2000 - ruining the election for the biggest name in environmental activism.

4.  My vote: As a Pennsylvania voter, I don't get a say until April 22.  My vote probably won't even be counted because absentees are only counted if the result is in question.  The only redeeming part is that Pennsylvania will (hopefully) matter in November.

5.  The Democrats: The general election should not be in question, but it is.

Cheers to Mike Gravel,

Ethan