Thru Other Eyes

A Super Ugly Mess

For weeks the candidates, the pundits and the media have been all a’ chatter about the Democratic superdelegates. Endless speculation about what could happen IF the Democratic nominating contest has to be decided by the superdelegates. Well, we’re way past that point because the superdelegates are going to have the final word in this historic contest.

Fears of a potential super ugly superdelegate mess? Did I say potential? Forget that. The future is here and so is the superdelegate mess.

Given the current delegate count (see visual) there is practically no way that either candidate can reach the magic nominating number of 2,025 without the superdelegates. As you can see, Obama needs to win 78% of the remaining delegates while Hillary needs almost a total sweep of  89% of the regular delegates left to win the nomination.

Given that Democratic delegates are awarded along a more or less proportional fashion it is for all intents and purposes a foregone conclusion. Neither candidate is going to reach 2,025

And Then There Were Three

I earlier wrote that this could be America’s next potential great moment in time. The kind of moment that doesn’t come along very often. A moment of potentially transformational importance. As we look at the last three standing in America’s primaries, we can see what makes this moment so unique and so challenging.

Imagine the times we are in: The country’s confidence in its President is at one of its lowest points ever. And even more significantly, barely 1 in 5 Americans, only 22%, puts much stock in the Congress. And the rest of the world is waiting with bated breath for an America renewed. Against that background, look at the three presidential candidates left standing: a woman, the son of a black Kenyan immigrant and an old white guy who is one of America’s last true warrior heroes in national public service.

We now know, barring some wild unforeseen circumstances,

A Six Point Plan for Political Transformation

The recent California Democratic debate was on the surface not very spectacular. However, if one were to look at it thru other eyes, it is possible to imagine the contours of a 16 to 20 year period of transformational change with a gigantic capital C. Part II – A Six Point Plan for Political Transformation.

Every once in a while, a moment or period comes along in a society’s evolution that embodies the potential for meaningful transformation. Such a moment generally arises out of a conflux of fortuitous circumstances: the broad realization of the moment’s importance, a mix of challenges with historical and lasting significance, people’s willingness and readiness to rise to the occasion and finally leaders who are prepared to ignite the fire, carry the torch and bear the burden of responsibility and risk.

Over the past hundred years,

The Choice No One Should Asked Be To Make

The recent California Democratic debate was on the surface not very spectacular. However, if one were to look at it thru other eyes, it is possible to imagine the contours of a 16 to 20 year period of transformational change with a gigantic capital C. Part I – The Choice No One Should Be Asked To Make

As I nestled into the couch to watch this debate, I had low expectations. Given the tenor of the recent campaign I feared a ‘he-said-she-said-no-I-didn’t’ kind of debate. Sort of what the Republicans had offered the previous night. Instead we were treated to a show that was to a surprising degree ‘I’m okay-you’re-okay-it’s-the republicans-we-are-after.’

On the key issues of this primary season these two are practically within millimeters of each other. When it comes to the complex issues of