Raging Red

Okay, so the various permutations of caucuses and primaries across the country are confusing. Clinton won New Hampshire last night, according to the percentage of the vote. But according to CNN’s breakdown of New Hampshire delegates, Obama has 12 to Clinton’s 11. Since it’s the delegates that count, doesn’t that mean Obama won New Hampshire? I was watching the news coverage all evening and I didn’t hear anyone mention that (not saying it didn’t happen, I just didn’t hear it). CNN was the only network I saw that even displayed the number of delegates that each candidate in both parties has amassed so far.

To be clear, this isn’t a post complaining about Clinton unfairly being declared the winner or anything like that. I’m just trying to sort things out. The way we elect people in this country is kind of strange.

As for what happened last night, at first I was pretty disappointed when it became clear that Clinton was going to win New Hampshire. I don’t dislike her, in fact I think she would probably be a good president. (It’d be nice to see the I.Q. points in the Oval Office go up significantly.) But on the issues, she doesn’t represent me. I don’t necessarily trust her to make it her number one priority to look out for the interests of the American people. But this whole notion of a couple or a few states effectively choosing the nominee is patently unfair. I especially hate how the media coverage drives the outcome. Edwards came in second in Iowa, then he was practically ignored going into New Hampshire. The media decided that anything but first place for Edwards would count him out of the race entirely (see Greenwald’s Update III), so they just didn’t bother to give him any coverage. That’s so messed up.

So while I’m still hoping for an Edwards or Obama win (and I realize the chances of it being Edwards are slim), I’m glad the primary season isn’t over after just two states. Because that’s messed up too.

Oh, and for the trifecta of things that are messed up, it’s also messed up that if you’re a woman running for president, you just can’t win (figuratively speaking). If you’re not emotional, the media’s conventional wisdom goes, the voters will be turned off by your cold personality. If your voice barely cracks and there’s a glint of a tear in your eye, again according to the media’s conventional wisdom, the voters might think you aren’t tough enough for the job of Commander in Chief. So as a woman, it was satisfying to see Clinton blow all of those talking heads’ expectations.