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| FRONTRUNNERS: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton |
By Paul Shalala in Syracuse, New York
The past two weeks have been very political on all major TV networks here in the United States.
This is the period when the two major political
parties, the Democratic and Republican parties, hold their conventions to
select their nominees for the November 8 Presidential election.
These conventions were covered live by all
major TV networks.
A week ago, the Republicans held their
convention in Cleveland, Ohio where real estate mogul Donald Trump was
confirmed as the party’s nominee.
This past week, it was the turn for the
Democrats who converged in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where they nominated former
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as the party’s torch bearer for the
polls.
Having found myself glued to CNN,
Fox
News and MSNBC throughout these past weeks, I have learnt about party
conventions in the US.
I have also noted a number of parallels with the
way conventions are held back home.
In this article, I will try to bring out some
of the issues that I feel can help foster democracy and perfect the intra-party
democracy in the great nation of Zambia.
The Nomination Process
The nomination of a presidential nominee is a
long process in the USA.
Prospective candidates or their supporters form
what are called PACs (Political Action Committees) way before the actual nomination
process begins.
Because elections in the US are expensive,
candidates are expected to raise a lot of money to fund their campaigns and
publish the figures for transparency’s sake.
The PACs are usually in the forefront raising
millions of dollars to help the campaigns, but by law, they cannot raise more
than a certain limit.
In the early stages, candidates hold town
hall meetings, address rallies and issue political statements.
The media later gets involved and organise
debates.
For example, last year when the TV debates
commenced, some Republican candidates were left out because opinion polls had
shown that they had no enough nationwide support for them to debate live on TV.
Then comes the primaries and caucus in all
the fifty states of the USA.
In these contests, mere party members vote
among their candidates just like in a national election.
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| An American voting during primary elections |
Voters are only eligible to vote in the
primaries if they are registered as a member of a certain party in the area and
they cannot vote across party lines except in a normal election.
Both the Democrats and Republican
simultaneously have these primaries and caucuses.
Rules are different from state to state but the
nomination process is such that a candidate can only become a nominee in the
Democratic party if he or she polls at least 2,382 delegates during the
campaigns.
For the Republicans, the magic number is 1,237
delegates.
Just like during the US Presidential election
where voters don’t vote direct for the candidate but vote for people who form
the electoral college, voters in a caucus vote for people who will elect the party’s
nominee at the convention.
It should be noted that in this process,
there are delegates who are bound with their vote and once they vote, they
cannot change their mind in case the nomination process is contested at the
convention.
There are also super delegates, especially
among democrats, who are free to choose for themselves and can change their
vote as and when they feel like.
It is a complicated procedure which Donald
Trump, when he was still the Republican party’s presumptive nominee, described
as a ‘rigged’ process.
If during the Caucuses none of the candidates
amasses enough votes to reach the threshold to become the party’s nominee, then
the issue can be taken to the floor of the convention and hold what American
call a contested convention.
Basically, at a contested convention,
candidates will start lobbying delegates for fresh votes until a nominee is
elected.
Parallel to this, in Zambia the selection of
a party’s presidential candidate is done at a convention with delegates (party
officials) from all the ten provinces meeting in one place and voting.
In Zambia we call those wishing to contest on
the party ticket as presidential aspirants while in the US they call them presidential
candidates.
When the party chooses the person to
represent them in the elections, in Zambia we call them presidential candidates
but in the US it’s a party nominee.
What I have learnt from the nomination
process in the US is that local people (not party officials in Zambia) have the
responsibility of choosing their party nominees.
This is power to the people.
Selection Of Vice President Nominee
Just like in Zambia where we now have a Vice
President who is a running mate to the President candidate, Americans also have
a running mate who they call Nominee Vice President or Vice President Nominee.
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| Donald Trump and Mike Pence |
The selection for this nominee in the US is a
secret but slow process.
It involves interviews for possible
candidates and doing a lot of background checks.
The media is kept at bay but there is always
speculation as to who is likely to be picked.
Back home, the selection of a running mate is
a preserve of the party president.
All the nine running mates for the August 11
Presidential polls were selected by the Presidential candidates with little or
no input from their respective parties.
In our context, this is done to give the presidential
candidate the freedom to choose the person they will be comfortable to work
with.
In the US, the Vice Presidential nominee is
supposed to add value and some level of support to the party nominee.
In 2008, Democratic nominee Barack Obama, a
first term Senator from Illinois chose Joe Bide as his vice president nominee
to help him add foreign policy credentials to his campaign and experience in
running affairs of government.
This year, we have seen Donald Trump choosing
Mike Pence, Governor of Indiana as his Vice President.
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| Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine |
He did so because Pence has some public
service credentials which the wealthy New York businessman lacks.
For Hillary Clinton, she chose Senator Tim
Kaine of Virginia because he is seen as a conservative who can appeal to
frustrated Republicans and eat away part of Trump’s possible votes.
Added to that, Senator Kaine speaks Spanish
and can bring on board millions of Hispanics who fear Trump following his
promise to crackdown on undocumented migrants, mostly Mexicans.
The Role Of Losing Candidates
Following the conclusion of the long and
painful period of selecting a party’s nominee, the tradition in the US is that
losing candidates rally behind the nominee and work for the good of their
party.
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| Bernie Sanders |
In 2008 when Obama beat Clinton to be the
Democratic Party’s nominee, the former New York Senator gave a moving speech at
the Democratic National Convention and endorsed the man who would later become
the first ever African-American President.
This year, we saw this same tradition
manifesting itself.
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who lost
to Clinton, made a moving speech at the convention and endorsed the former
First Lady.
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| Ted Cruz after he addressed the Republican convention |
He even moved a motion to unanimously endorse
her as the party’s flag bearer in the November poll.
Senator Sanders did this despite thousands of
his supporters who called on him to continue his ‘revolution’ to reform Wall
Street, reform healthcare and the education system.
His supporters kept chanting ‘Bernie’ ‘Bernie’
‘Bernie’ but in the spirit of unity, he put aside his interest and endorsed his
rival.
Even after the leak of emails from the
Democratic National Committee showing revealing the party leadership’s
preference for Clinton, Senator Sanders attended the four day convention and
was part of all proceedings.
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| John Kasich |
However, on the Republican side, the losing
candidate Ted Cruz did the actual opposite.
When he was given chance speak at the
convention, the Senator from Texas reassured his supporters of his continued
fight but he did not endorse Trump.
This however did not go well with Trump
supporters who booed him.
Other losing presidential candidates John
Kasich and Jeb Bush did not pitch up at the convention.
Despite hosting the convention, Kasich, the Governor
of Ohio where the Republican National Convention was held in the city of Cleveland,
refused to attend the four day event saying Trump was a wrong candidate for the
party.
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| Jeb Bush |
Despite these two parallel scenarios, the
Zambian picture is usually different.
Most aspirants who are left out of the
presidential race leave their parties and join others or better still form
their own parties.
Currently, we have several parties formed by
individuals who had presidential ambitions but were beaten by other candidates.
The lesson I learnt from losing candidates
here is that politicians must be attached to their parties because of ideology
and not the need for them to be on the Presidential ballot.
The Role Of Families
From my research, families seem to play a big
role in the campaigns in the US.
Take for example the Trump family which is
heavily involved in every aspect of the Republican campaign.
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| The Trump Family |
Trump’s wife Melania, his children Ivanka, Eric,
Tiffany and Trump Jr spoke at the convention.
Even though Melania’s speech plagiarised Michelle
Obama’s speech she delivered in 2008, her role at the convention was very
prominent.
The Trump children are also said to have been
very much involved in the dismissal of a number of campaign leaders and in
shaping their father’s public image and utterances.
In particular, Ivanka has been telling
his father to be more ‘presidential’ and avoid his outbursts on almost everything.
According to recent US media reports, Ivanka’s
name even popped up among the possible Vice President nominees for her father
due to her influence.
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| The Clinton Family |
In the Clinton camp, her husband Bill and
their only child Chelsea are also fully involved in the campaigns.
Bill, the former US President, has been
holding campaigns rallied for his wife, hoping to woo her more support and
become the first ever US President to also serve as First Gentleman, a title
given to men who are married to female Presidents.
Chelsea, now a mother of two, spoke at the
Convention and painted her mother as a caring parent, determined lawyer and
public servant who dedicates her life to serving others.
Back home, relatives of presidential
candidates are usually not allowed to be in the forefront of campaigns for fear
of it being seen as a family affair.
Protests At Conventions
America is often referred to as the land of
the free.
During the two respective conventions,
organisers had to deal with protesters both inside and outside the convention
halls.
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| Supporters display Sanders posters at the convention |
At the Democratic National Convention, the
protesters were supporters of Senator Sanders who felt cheated by their party
following the leak of emails which exposed the long suspected ‘fixing’ of the
delegate count to ensure Clinton clinches the nomination.
Inside the Convention hall, some delegates,
especially in the first three days, carried posters of the Vermont Senator and
kept shouting his name as countless people spoke.
At some point, even people addressing the
event had to pause a bit due to the protesters’ determination to be heard.
Even when President Barack Obama addressed
the event on Wednesday, he recognised their efforts: “Let’s be as vocal as
Bernie’s supporters.”
Outside the convention hall, dozens of supporters
of Senator Sanders held their protests and occasionally clashed with Police.
At the Republican National Convention a week
earlier, protesters showed up both inside and outside the convention hall.
Inside the hall, supporters of Senator Cruz
were vocal and most of them were from his home state of Texas.
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| Protesters outside the Republican Convention |
Outside the convention hall, people from all
walks of life protested against Trump’s campaign messages such as building a
wall on the Mexican border, his mocking of disabled people and derogatory statements
against women.
Despite all this, the rights of the
protesters were respected because: America is a land of the free.
But can such protests from supporters of losing
presidential candidates be tolerated in our Zambia at party conventions?
Your guess is as good as mine.
Intelligence Briefings and Secret Service
Protection
In America, when a political party chooses
its nominee, that person is entitled to receiving occasional intelligence
briefings which the President of the USA also receives.
However, the intelligence is limited and not
much is given to them.
This is done to make them aware of the
threats the country is facing and prepare them for possible office.
On top of that, presidential candidates are
also given secret service protection.
This is done to protect them from possible
threats as they transverse the country to woo voters.
The Secret Service is a security agency which
offers security to the US President, Vice President and their families.
Elections and the Transition
Now that the Republicans have settled for
Donald Trump and the Democrats picked Clinton, the die has been cast.
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| Dr. Jill Stein |
But these are not the only candidates who
complete the presidential ballot for November 8.
The Green Party is floating a medical doctor
Jill Stein while the Libertarian Party has nominated former New Mexico Governor
Gary Johnson.
The four will be subjected to more than two
live debates between now and November.
These intense and long debates are an avenue through
which voters hear policies and campaign messages.
Pollsters also use these debates as an
opportunity to ask voters what they think about their candidates’ standing on
various issues and then they collect opinion polls.
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| Gary Johnson |
Whoever wins on November 8 will have to work
with President Obama’s administration (government) during the transition period
until he or she is sworn in on January 20, 2017
Usually, the President-elect chooses a
transition team which works with the outgoing administration to smoothen the
transition process before the inauguration.
Conclusion
Conventions in the US are an important aspect
of intra-party democracy.
They bring together party members who listen
to speeches from various people.
The speakers are both party members and non
party members.
With various things Zambian politicians can
learn from the US, it is important that true democracy is embraced when
selecting presidential candidates.
American democracy is today seen to be one of
the best because it has evolved over the past 240 years since the country’s
founding fathers kicked out the English colonialists.
Zambia’s democracy is only 25 years old and
it is still growing.
Even though our democracy maybe in its
infancy, we the Zambians have demonstrated to the world that we are free
thinkers, we respect the verdict of the people through the ballot box,
political parties which lose power easily hand over government to the victor and
our transitions are always peaceful.
Americans may have perfected their democracy
but we too are on course and one day we will reach there.
