While I hate to spoil my post-dinner stupor by ranting, I have to say something about the conduct of Austinites and Texans concerning the upcoming Democratic debate in Austin on February 21st.

STOP WHINING!

Sure, I was disappointed about the debate being invitation only and there being no way to buy a ticket, no matter the price. Sure, I will be as disappointed as everyone else when I don’t get a phone call on Tuesday morning telling me I won a ticket in the drawing. Sure, I would love to see the debate. Sure, I will be whining about how much I’d like to go.

But … I am not whining about it being unfair or undemocratic or an injustice or a symptom of how screwed up the election system is, because it is none of those things. Just how many people do you think have gotten to attend any of the 18 Democratic debates so far (or is it 19, I lost count)? It’s a debate, not a rally, and all of them have been readily available for anyone anywhere to view on the TV and internet. It’s not like it’s happening behind closed doors in a smoke-filled room and no one is going to get to see or hear what happens. Does anyone expect that anything really new is going to be said … that it will be in any way different from all the other debates?

Let’s talk about the New Hampshire debates, shall we? New Hampshire, being one of those oh-so-important early primary states, is always big news. How many people were in attendance at the Democratic and Republican debates? 750 people.

There were approximately 750 people in attendance at each debate. Applications for seats were made through the New Hampshire Political Library and through the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm. Seat applicants were asked for name, dob, and contact information as well as voter registration from previous elections. About 100 undecided registered Democrats and Independents likely to vote in the Democratic primary, identified with help from the New Hampshire Political Library and the Institute of Politics, then interviewed by CNN producers, were seated in a red zone. Blocks of seats were given to all debate partners including WMUR-TV, the Union Leader, Saint Anselm and CNN as well as both the state and local party, elected officials, campaigns (10 seats each) and ambassadorial observers. (source)

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? I am certain I could find information about other debates as well, but I suspect the numbers wouldn’t vary much. They aren’t holding these things in stadiums for any number of very valid reasons. Like I said, it’s a debate and not a rally … and it’s televised. We are all going to get to see it.

I’ve been reading some of the most ignorant comments from people on local news sites and political blogs written by people who are having fits because they feel the democratic process is being subverted because everyone and their four-year-old can’t attend the debate, and I have read entirely too many comments from people cursing the Democratic Party and declaring they were now going to vote for McCain … because they can’t get into the debate. Now that’s a great way to select a president isn’t it?! Please, grow the hell up already!

So, sure, I would love to go to the debate. It would be the biggest and best thing ever to get to sit there and watch it live and in person, but not because I think anything new is going to be revealed about the candidates or that anything will be said or done that hasn’t been said and done at every one of the last debates. No, I would love to go to the debate just because it would be so cool to say I had been there, and to maybe get to shake the hand of someone who may go on to be the President of the United States. I’ll be disappointed when I don’t get to do that, but I am not going to be screaming about how the voters aren’t being listened to and are being ignored. A debate isn’t where voters are to be listened to. A debate is where voters listen to the candidates. Furthermore, while there may be some whining from me about not getting to go, you will not hear me squawking about the process being broken and democracy being in a shambles because I and ten thousand of my fellow Austinites are not in attendance at a debate event. I can still find out what they each stand for (as if I don’t already know), and I am still allowed to go vote any way I feel like (even for Ron Paul, if I so choose) on March 4th. Austin debate or no Austin debate, getting to go or not getting to go, I still get to have my say at the polls on primary day.

Now if you want to hear me squawking about something it’s going to be super delegates. Now that could end up being a subversion of the democratic process, but we are all just going to have to wait and see what happens with that. If the person with the most committed delegates and the popular vote, whoever that may end up being, doesn’t end up as the Democratic candidate due to the super delegates deciding they aren’t happy with that outcome, then yes … I will be squawking loudly about that. But not getting to go to the debate? In the long run, that doesn’t even make a blip on the outrage radar. The big picture is that no one really gets to go to the debates, at least not as many people as would surely like to, and yet, every last one of us gets to see and hear them (or at least read transcripts and overviews). So…

STOP WHINING!