HeidiAllen.com

I finally unsubscribed from the Democratic Party’s mailing list today. Their automated system was kind enough to ask me why, so I composed the letter below. I doubt anyone will read it, so I figured I’d post it here.

First, let me be clear that my intention is NOT to take the wind out of anyone’s sail. If you’re enthusiastlically involved in the upcoming election, maybe it’s best that you don’t read this. But if you feel let down, allow me to commiserate:

It’s bad enough that our nation still uses the undemocratic Electoral College to elect a president. The delegate system knocks underdog candidates out of the race early by arbitrarily assigning a threshold that must be met before delegates are assigned.

Then there’s the staggered primaries, which deplete all but the wealthiest campaigns long before a nominee is announced. And there’s the fact that the public owns the airwaves, but the media hasn’t been required to give candidates equal time or even focus on issues since the Fairness Doctrine was overturned in 1987.

There’s black box voting equipment, which makes every vote tally suspect. There’s endless debates in which the “frontrunners” are chosen by powerful interests well in advance of a single vote being cast, and where substantive, detailed questions on issues of importance are the exception rather than the rule.

In all these things, our Democratic majority in Congress and the DNC itself have failed utterly to affect change. But still, I tried to have hope.

Then I found out that the Texas Democratic Party, my state party, no longer makes resolutions passed at the state convention a part of their platform. Having wasted my time and money being a delegate to two state conventions, I knew that resolutions were the only hope the grassroots had of impacting party policy. Yet, when I asked party chair Boyd Richie a direct question regarding this at a “Town Hall” meeting, he declined to answer and called for the next question.

I resigned my position as precinct chair, and spoke at length to two party operatives about my reasons, but no-one really cared. Still, I tried to have hope.

Then state parties, including Texas, started knocking candidates off their ballots for reasons completely unrelated to fair elections. In doing this, they deprived voters of the right to cast a ballot for the candidate of their choice. The DNC said nothing.

The DNC itself stripped Michigan and Florida of their delegates to punish them like little children. Clearly, the delegates can’t be restored without new elections, because not all campaigns bothered to spend time and money in these states. My hope was waning, but I tried to hang on.

And then I found out about Superdelegates. How could I not have known about this this direct violation of democracy before? As it stands now, it looks like Hillary will be elected by fiat. And the DNC does nothing about this affront to voters.

I’m forced, once again, to vote AGAINST a candidate rather than FOR one. And even that pitifully miniscule little bit of voting power will be diluted by a system that prefers oligarchy to democracy. It hurts all the more knowing that Howard Dean, whose campaign was destroyed by these very same forces, (Well, ok… by the DLC. Same thing.) has apparently been absorbed into the Party groupmind.

Why should I support the Democratic Party when the party doesn’t support democracy? Sure, I’ll still support individual candidates. (That is, until the system finally manages to extinguish that last tiny ember of my belief that it even matters.) I still haven’t made a final decision as to whether or not I’ll vote for Hillary if she’s crowned. I’m thinking “no”. Maybe, if McCain wins, the Party will get a clue.

But I absolutely, positively can no longer stomach the propaganda that keeps landing in my inbox.