You know, I walked away from politics about five years ago and haven't really looked back much. After working that campaign, after seeing how PARTY politics worked I lost a lot of faith in the idea that the best people for the job will ever even get on the ballot. I saw many, many great candidates simply not get the support from within their own party for whatever reason (the oh-so-popular "electability" X-factor, for one) that I lost interest in the whole thing all together. I started to see the futility in debate; saw that it more often divides than increases understanding... and I just couldn't take it anymore. I think all of that may be why I'm following this primary season so closely. Because the Democratic Primary is the best example of Party Politics that we've seen in a long time. Infighting, mudslinging, the possibility that the Democratic Party may well squander the first election that my generation has ever really given a damn about by letting the Party Elite (aka SuperDelegates... and doesn't that term just exude a sense of Democracy and fairness and One Person, One Vote? "Oh, you're just a delegate? Yeah, I'm a SUPERdelegate.") pick from behind closed doors whichever candidate they deem Electable. And may I just say? I'M SICK TO THE TEETH OF HEARING THAT I SHOULD VOTE FOR HILLARY CLINTON BECAUSE SHE'S A WOMAN. The very idea is simply gross to me. And it, despite what feminists like Linda Hirshman may say, actually sets feminism back, oh, say, 50 years. Give me a REASON to vote for you, and I'll vote for you. Being my gender is not a reason, it's a coincidence. It reminds me of John Kerry basing his whole campaign on NOT being George Bush. Give me SOMETHING, not the absence of something. Just had to get that off my chest, because it's been weighing heavily there. | 
