[Het Parool, The Netherlands]
Rue 89, France
Instead of
Primaries,
U.S. Would
Be Better
Off 'Drawing Straws!' …
"With few exceptions, the
primaries create a democratic parody, from which the main socio-political
stereotypes and prejudices emerge reinforced. … One could laugh at such
practices if they weren’t about to appear in Europe."
By Philippe Marlière*
Translated By Kate Davis
February 19, 2008
France
- Rue89 - Original Article (French)
Never have the American primary
elections generated such a strong and sustained interest in the rest of the
world. Media coverage of the first vote held in the state of Iowa sparked a
media frenzy that was out of all proportion to the importance of the event. The
extraordinary candidacies of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama
on the Democratic side, and of John McCain on the Republican side, only
partially explain this craze.
THE PUBLIC FATIGUE
Would one say that the
American primaries are as “addictive” as the Super Bowl or the football World
Cup? Certainly not. The site of the BBC site was
recently besieged by members of the public complaining of “primary fatigue.”
Some, exasperated, demanded to know why the BBC was paying such costly
attention to non-decisive votes more than ten months before the presidential
election.
One might argue that it is a
fundamental stage in humanity's most important election. That would therefore
justify this level of media deployment, even if it means neglecting coverage of
important national and European events. After all, don’t we all indirectly
share in the fate of the most influential democracy in the “free world”?
Proponents of the primaries
believe that these elections display American democracy at its best. Record participation in these primaries stand in contrast to the
usually mediocre participation in the presidential vote. Aren’t these
primaries an essential part of citizen participation in the political process?
Don’t they allow the organization of debates that provide information on the intentions
of the different competitors?
REWARDING CENTRISTS
In fact, up to now the
primaries have not fulfilled these functions. The breakthrough of evangelist
Michael Huckabee forced John McCain to reposition
himself on the themes of morality and order, which are so dear to the
Republican right. The differences between Obama and
Clinton are blurred on international issues (a former supporter of armed
intervention, Mrs. Clinton vaguely promises to withdraw troops from Iraq, while
Mr. Obama doesn't distinguish himself clearly from
the bi-partisan consensus on the “war on terror”) and national issues (health
insurance). The media focus advocates a centrist consensus and neglects
atypical candidates (Ron Paul or Dennis Kucinich).
The candidates therefore spar
cautiously and commit themselves to more or less identical positions. For good
or ill, these candidates become the stars of a soap opera with a huge cast.
REWARDING CLICHÉS
More than a month
after the start of this media-political spectacle, what have we gleaned from
these primaries? The tears of Hillary in New Hampshire; the
maladroit aggressiveness of Bill; the elegant gestures of Barack. The
debate is “elevated” by instances when the commentators discuss the sex or skin
color of the candidates. The paroxysm of the analysis goes to those who make
generalizations - often with no scientific grounding - on the “Black vote” or
the “Latino vote.” With few exceptions, the primaries create a democratic
parody, from which the main socio-political stereotypes and prejudices emerge reinforced.
REWARDING 'OPINION
MAKERS'
The primaries give a
disproportionate amount of influence to “opinion makers”: pollsters who predict
the results state by state (including the “huge victory” for Obama in New Hampshire, where he was eventually defeated by
Clinton) and above all to the commentators who sententiously proclaim the
“decisive moments” (momentum) that the campaign is supposed to have accrued
(proven by often contradictory polls, by the amounts of money collected by the
candidates, by the self-promoting speeches of the candidates’ spin doctors
which are accepted complacently by the media, etc.).
DRAWING STRAWS WOULD
BE LESS EXPENSIVE
As we can see, such
a system corroded by the power of consensual images and money cannot treat all
the candidates in an equal and just manner. The primaries are devoted primarily
to the triumph of form over substance. The voters are required to choose
between Clinton and Obama, two candidates who are
seemingly equally capable and determined; two competitors separated by nothing
politically crucial. The voters must choose between individuals who come more
or less to sell their life stories. Rather than carrying out these primaries
that cost so much time and money, Noam Chomsky has suggested nominating a
candidate by drawing straws.
This quick and
economical system would be no less random than the voting being repeatedly
inflicted on Americans … and on the rest of the world by the media. One could
laugh at such practices if they weren’t about to appear in Europe. The primary
system has already been adopted by the Italian Democratic Party (a union of the
post-social democrats and the post- Christian-Democrats). Ségolène
Royal and the leadership of the Socialist Party [in France] would like to
introduce this method of selection for the next presidential election. If this
measure were adopted by the Socialist Party, that would mean the death of the
party of Epinay as a place for serious, contradictory
and pluralist debate. [The Epinay Congress was the
party's first in 1971].
*Philippe Marlière is a political
science professor at University College London.
SEE ALSO ON THIS SUBJECT:
Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Germany
America's
Democratic
Primaries: Transparent
as 'Theory of Relativity'
http://worldmeets.us/sueddeutsche000014.shtml
NRC Handelsblad, The Netherlands
U.S. Primary
System
Is 'Unfair';
and Has
'Significant
Flaws' …
http://worldmeets.us/nrchandelsblad000083.shtml
CLICK
HERE FOR FRENCH VERSION
[WORLDMEETS.US Posted February 22, 4:45am]
