Mediocre Wednesday

Well I've been thinking what to write about. Yesterday was Super Tuesday. This Wednesday morning the final results are still trickling in. I'm not going to get partisan, but thought I'd just give a little commentary, share a perspective. My wife is from London, England and they do things differently there. I was born in Baltimore, MD, and am a US citizen. In fact, my ancestors helped found this nation, fought in the Revolutionary War, held political offices, and an ancestral first cousin of mine signed the Declaration of Independence.

But last night was interesting, if not down-right baffling. I was aware that for Republicans it means winner take all (the delegates) and that Democrats share the delegates proportionally, but what baffled me was that Republicans swap caucus members so as to block another Republican candidate (eg. in WVA Huckabee gained McCain delegates so as to block Romney--Huckabee take all) and that Democrats flood caucuses so as to outnumber an opponent (as appears to have happened in Olathe, KS with young Obama caucus members standing in freezing rain).

I guess I'm just confused about the democratic ideal of representation. I mean the driving force of the American Revolution (against England) was "No taxation without representation." How do the American people get represented who can't attend a caucus (whether Republican or Democratic)? I would think when it comes to national issues it would be more just and democratic at least to provide a fair opportunity for all people to get involved in the (s)election process rather than limiting it to an hour or two etc. (Personally, when it comes to national matters [not local] I believe we should have one uniform standardized format. But that's just me.)

Anyhow, so what does any of this have to do with Rockhurst and what I do? I just wonder how many new young voters got disenchanted last night with the "process." How many now feel what's the use? I believe people should be engaged in civic matters. No matter what the results might be, Shouldn't the process itself be equitable and empowering? At Rockhurst we strive to form the whole person. One facet of that is service to others. Naturally that involves civic duty and political participation. I just hope that the recent Generation X and the current Millennial Generation don't become disillusioned with civic involvement.