This page was exported from The Auroran [ http://www.newspapers-online.com/auroran ] Export date:Thu Jul 18 10:27:06 2024 / +0000 GMT ___________________________________________________ Title: POLITICS AS USUAL: Trump on the Beach --------------------------------------------------- By Alison Collins-Mrakas I am writing this column from a small cottage on the beach in the Bahamas; a short little getaway with a close friend and her lovely family for some much needed R and R. It is a glorious little quiet community on the beach in Abaco. There are few people around, just sun, sand and of course the gorgeous ocean of the Caribbean. One would think that all the way out here – a tiny place that takes a big and small plane ride to get to – we could truly get away from it all; no politics of any sort. But, alas it is not to be. The name Trump is still on the tips of the tongue of most the folks vacationing here. Argh! I was hoping for a bit of Trump-free zone for a while (and Bernie-free too for that matter. His rantings about the one per cent are getting a bit much to take. Free school and health care for everyone! Hurrah! It's no wonder he's so popular with the “youth” vote). But the outrageousness of this presidential primary campaign knows no bounds. I doubt there's a place on the planet where one could be free from hearing about Donald Trump. It's odd though; no matter who you talk to or where, it's hard to find anyone who supports his presidential bid – or Hillary either, I have to say. Most folks I have spoken to have had pretty negative things to say about her bid as well. So, I am struck by the fact that despite their front runner status, they both have extraordinary “unfavourable” poll numbers. One has to question just who is voting for him them. Someone must be, and in large enough numbers to be out in front by a large margin. Or, are they just winning because of the bizarre US presidential nominating process? The answer is yes. The system they have is a crazy mish-mash of caucuses, primaries, conventions and the like that has little semblance of order let alone true representative democracy. So, in this regard I do have to agree with Donald Trump (gulp! Yes, you read that right). The process is not fair. How could it be? Each state has its own way of doing things, few of which make any sense. Some states are winner take all, some are proportionate. Some assign delegates that are bound – that is, they have to vote for the “winner” of their respective state primary or caucus. And some are unbound – that is they can vote for whomever they'd like regardless of who “wins” the primary. Which supports Trump's point (and Bernie's, I guess, as well). It isn't fair. What's the point of having an election process if it doesn't mean anything in the end? Just window-dressing? How can the “winner” not get the most delegates? It does smack of establishment-ism. I disagree with Trump that it is deliberately geared against him. The rules, such as they are, have been in place for well over a year. The time to complain about them or affect change was before the campaign started, not at the end when there's a potential for you not to win. All that aside, all political processes – our own included – have vestiges from a time when they were designed to disenfranchise, to afford those already in power to hold onto it. It is time for a change. And on that note, it's back to the beach for me. See you in a week! Until next week, stay informed, stay involved because this is – after all – Our town. --------------------------------------------------- Images: --------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Post date: 2016-04-20 21:05:15 Post date GMT: 2016-04-21 01:05:15 Post modified date: 2016-04-27 11:49:29 Post modified date GMT: 2016-04-27 15:49:29 ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Export of Post and Page as text file has been powered by [ Universal Post Manager ] plugin from www.gconverters.com