Posted by: AGuyNamedWayne contact

Obama and The Death of Democracy?

President Obama reportedly made “an extraordinary intervention into a state political race” by reportedly telling New York Governor David Paterson, a vocal proponent of marriage equality and one of only two African-American governors in the nation, NOT to run for office in 2010. Apparently Obama prefers Andrew Cuomo, the popular New York attorney general, and would prefer him to run for governor. Not only is this intervention extraordinary, it is entirely undemocratic. The leaders of each state in this country are decided by the people, not the president. New York state Democrats (as well as Republicans) have a primary process in which Cuomo, or any other interested politician, can campaign to become the nominee of the party. The citizens of New York then decide by a vote who they would prefer to become the official nominee. For a president who has so easily backtracked away from his many promises to the LGBT community, it comes as no surprise that he would not favor David Paterson, who has been a true advocate for the equality of gay Americans. What is surprising is that President Obama would make such an obvious attempt to thwart the democratic process when half country already believes he is a socialist. To his credit, Governor Paterson has rejected Obama’s decree and has defiantly vowed to run for re-election next year. (via The New York Times)



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