Meanwhile on the other side of the Atlantic…

So, instead of focusing on their common enemy, the Democrat delegates still try to kill each other. Very productive. They’ve got an electoral system created to benefit strong parties; a majoritarian system in practice creating two large parties. The idea was understandable: instead of having minority governments, made up of various coalitions, as a result of a for example proportional system (Sweden), a more, naturally debatable, democratic system was created (It can of course also be debated whether the authors really were so much in favour of full democracy… ) with two large parties and a strong executive.  

What we see now, is not, I’m sure, what Madison and Hamilton and the other authors of the constitution intended. The system of how the parties appoint their presidential candidates can of course not be attributed to them; however the election process is a result of what the electoral system looks like. This time it just happened to be two strong candidates.

Most Democrats probably wish this process was over long ago, so they could focus on defeating McCain and the Republicans instead. You can’t get everything you wish for. Last night, Clinton defeated Obama in Pennsylvania. But ”her margin wasn’t big enough to change the race or small enough to end it”, as John Dickerson at slate.com put it. Now the soap opera continues. Clinton determined to win by superdelegates and Obama trying to avoid yet another scandal. If they only could stop this mud wrestling so we could start talking politics here!

If you want to follow the development, check out this page for best coverage.

If you prefer it in Swedish, DN. If you didn’t read Per T Ohlsson (he’s a genius) (in Swedish) Sunday in Sydsvenskan, do it now for some background knowledge. 

And if you’ve got some extra time, please read the following on the topic. I don’t have time at the moment so if you do, please feel free to send a summary or tell me what you though of them! A Bound Man. Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can’t Win (Free Press) by Shelby Steele. Two Speeches on Race (New York Review of Books, Volume LV, Number 7) by Garry Wills. The Almanac of American Politics 2008 (National Journal) by Michael Barone, Richard E Cohen and Grant Ujifusa.