Superdelegate Coup

by Kent Ninomiya

Hillary Clinton's 10 point victory in Pennsylvania extends an already epic political battle with Barack Obama. Just when you think Hillary is down for the count... she gets back up. Prior to Pennsylvania Clinton pulled out "must wins" in Ohio and New Hampshire. In each instance the experts declared her finished if she didn't win. Everyone expected Clinton to win Pennsylvania. The demographics favor her and she went in with a 31 point lead. By the time the votes were cast she won by 10. Any less and Clinton's victory would have been seen as a defeat. A close loss by Obama would be seen as evidence that Clinton's momentum was gone. As it turns out she has just enough to muscle through another primary and keep the race going. There's little doubt now that this will come down to which candidate can convince the superdelagates to crown them the nominee.

This is NOT how we should be electing a president. It essentially gives each superdelegate the power of thousands of voters. That's not democracy. What could end up happening is a candidate who loses the delegate count and popular vote could be awarded the nomination anyway. The United States has a long history of "liberating" countries with the justification of giving their people "democracy." How then do we justify party leaders deciding who might be our next president?

Remember the 2000 presidential election? Remember hanging chads in Florida? George Bush was awarded the presidency by the Supreme Court and Florida election officials. Thanks to them Bush won the electoral vote despite losing the popular vote. The mess left a lot of Americans angry with the process and screaming "fix!" Keep in mind that the electoral college is mandated by the constitution. It is backed up by history and law. Superdelegates date back to 1984 and exist at the whim of democratic party leaders. Imagine how upset voters will be if their will is ignored by superdelegates. It's the equivalent of a coup by party leaders.

It's any one's guess how this will all turn out. Maybe the superdelates will get it right. Maybe they wont. The only thing certain is that a lot of people will be unhappy with what happens. Before the United States goes around telling other countries how to pick their leaders, maybe we should figure it out ourselves.

*** Kent Ninomiya ***

How Petty Can They Be?

by Kent Ninomiya -

How sad is it when candidates for President of the United States of America reduce the election to a "he said she said" worthy of an elementary school student council race. Hillary Clinton wants to be president so bad, she is eager to take a comment made by Barack Obama out of context and suggest it makes him unworthy of being commander in chief. John McCain piled on, agreeing with Clinton. Last Sunday, Obama made private comments at a San Francisco fundraiser. He was trying to explain why it's so hard to win over some working-class voters because they are frustrated by economic conditions. Obama said, "It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." Clinton now says Obama is "elitist and out of touch" because he went to Harvard. Never mind she went to Yale law school. She isn't arguing that there was something inherently inaccurate in his statement, only that he is acting superior to working class voters so is somehow unworthy of the presidency. Let me be clear. If Obama was reacting this way to a Clinton statement I would be calling him on it as well. My only point here is that this election isn't about issues, it's about perceptions. While it can be argued that all elections are about perceptions, that doesn't mean they should be. The media works in perceptions. Candidates should focus on issues. When a candidate openly seeks votes by reenforcing a false perception, it crosses the line. It's the same thing Clinton did on the race issue involving Obama's former pastor. At this point it's obvious Clinton will say just about anything to get votes, regardless of whether it is about a legitimate issue or not. While that may get her some votes (and the jury is still out on that) it's costing her a lot of respect points with people who thought she cared. *** Kent Ninomiya ***

Currency Crisis - Kent Ninomiya

Right now is arguably the worst time in memory for Americans to travel overseas. The dollar is at record lows against many currencies around the world. Gone are the days when you could travel to “cheap” countries where the mighty dollar pounded the “monopoly money” of an economically weaker nation. America’s bully currency is now itself being bullied. The humiliation is humbling. I recently had to change an airline ticket in Europe. Even though I originally purchased the ticket in dollars, the airline demanded I pay the change fee in a more stable currency… Polish zloty. Business in third world countries often takes place in “hard” currencies instead of the inflation prone local money. Until now the dollar was the gold standard of hard currency. No more. I spoke to a friend of mine in Africa the other day who says no one wants dollars anymore. I remember back in the early 1980’s when a dollar was worth ten francs and nearly equal to the British pound. Americans ran off to Italy then Greece then Turkey chasing cheaper and cheaper sunspots where they could lounge on the beach while their dollars stretched further and further. If you believe in karma then this is just America getting payback. The euro came and did away with the lire and drachma. Southern Europe was no longer cheap. Our economy is now in the toilet and the United States is suddenly the travel bargain for international tourists, not the other way around. Could the day be coming when we have droves of Europeans talking loudly in our restaurants demanding to know why we don’t speak French or Hungarian or Swedish? If you believe in karma, it would only be fair. *** Kent Ninomiya