Posted by
Darrick Johnson on Thursday, March 20, 2008 12:00:00 AM
Every March, Americans are treated to the excitement that is March Madness. We love the upsets, the fearful way that number 5 seeds enter the court against their 12th seeded opponents, knowing that more money, boosters, a nicer arena and all their other advantages are worthless if they can’t defeat this underdog on the court. There are upsets, surprises, at the end, an undisputed winner.
Every December, Americans are treated to another spectacle. 5 or 6 college football teams will finish with 1 loss (except a small school, who will be undefeated), and all will claim the right to compete in the championship game, based on everthing but their record. Debates will rage about strength of schedule, margin of victory, “quality wins”, and based on these esoterics, reporters and coaches will arbitrarily pick 2 of them to compete for the title. And the title will be anything but undisputed.
Since Florida in 2000, the Democratic party has been bent on turning the March Madness of American politics into a BCS-like fiasco. See, March Madness isn’t very fun if all the pundits and press love you, but you still lose the game. And Democrats have been doing a lot of losing. In 2000, on the losing end of the only score that mattered, the electoral college, Democrats complained about “the popular vote”, and absurd arguments took place about which states were more important, and confusing ballots, early calls, and all the data except what mattered. Bush won Florida in a squeaker, and thus the 270 electoral votes to be President. In 2004, Democrats complained about Diebold, crowded polls, and Swift Boat Vets. But they lost. And now we are treated to the Hillary/Obama civil war. Republicans quickly learned that the number 1191 was important. It was 50%+1 of the convention delegates. Win 1191, and you’re the nominee, no questions asked. But our Blue friends are engaged in all their usual BCS scorekeeping. “Sure, Obama’s ahead, but Hillary won California, shouldn’t that count for something?” “I know Michigan and Florida broke the rules, but we have to count those votes, it would be Un-American not to.” “If Hillary wins with superdelegates, that just won’t be right.”
Here’s a novel idea: Win a majority of delegates, win the nomination. If at the end of the election, you determine that the rules don’t suit you, change them for next time. The Democrats combination of super delegates, open primaries, and proportional awarding of delegates is a mess. But everyone knew the rules in advance.
The Democrats BCS strategy of electoral politics has been a bad thing for the country. It’s with quite a bit of pleasure that I’m watching their party thrown into chaos by these very same tactics.