DeLand’s own gubernatorial candidate Michael Arth is fighting the good fight to get his party’s nomination. He’s run into the true party system at work.
In our two-party system, the sad truth is each party’s candidate is anointed by party honchos before the public even gets a look at them. The deals are made, the backing is promised.
Try to run as a third party candidate, and good luck to ya. In only rare instances has a third party candidate won major elections.
So, it’s generally the party machine that decides in advance. When you go to the polls, you have a choice between two hand-picked candidates. That’s why there’s often little real difference between them. They’ve been picked to pick up as many votes as possible, at least according to the computations of party flacks, and to do the will of the party bosses.
That’s how we get weird tickets like McCain-Palin. McCain had the Repub blessing already, and talking middle-of-the-road Republican, while claiming mavericky status. Those in charge figured Palin would tow the line, and would look good enough to pick up some of the younger right-wing votes McCain might miss.
We got the odd Obama-Biden ticket in the same way – balancing the ticket. Obama, the African-American “liberal” and Biden, the middle-of-the-road Joe Middle White America, to soothe those frightened by Obama.
The point is, regardless of party, it’s the party cheeses who choose the candidates.
It was a tossup between Obama and Clinton. I kinda think Obama got the nod because the party cheeses weren’t really thrilled with a woman – especially Hillary. (It worked out well, however.)
Not that I’m picking on the Democrats — I am one. But I still carry a little grudge about the way the national party treated Florida during the primaries last election year.
Anyway. So, now, outsider Arth is up against the state-party machinery. The Democrats have already anointed Alex Sink, barring some big scandal from materializing.
In today’s press release, Arth stated, “… the Florida Democratic Party (FDP) has ‘paid for and authorized’ prominent and numerous fundraising ads and banners on its official website” favoring Florida Democrat Party Chair Karen Thurman’s candidate, Alex Sink.
“The advertisements were paid for with money raised from Florida Democrats to support Democratic candidates. To spend these funds to support candidates more than a year before the Primary Election is to deny these Democrats any say in how their money is spent and to dilute their choice in the Primary,” Arth said.
We’ll see how he fares.