Frankly My Dear, I Don't Give a Guam
Posted 1 week 5 days ago byIt seems that the good people of Guam had better things to do today than vote in the Democratic Party primary/caucus.
Out of approximately 55,000 registered voters, only 4,521 people voted. The winner? Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton by a grand total of seven votes.
Voting is a very touchy issue in Guam. In yet another bizarre footnote to our election process, the citizens of Guam can vote in the Democratic Primary, but they are not allowed to vote in the general election.
Even stranger, Guam gets to send 13 people to Denver for the convention. Five of them are Superdelegates (Guam gets five Superdelegates???). The other eight get a total of four votes. So you have a combination of Superdelegates and Semi-delegates.
To get these 4,500 people to vote Obama and Clinton spent a small fortune in television ads. Flooding the airwaves, they covered pretty much the same territory, making the exact same promises. The biggest promise? Making sure that Guamanians can vote in the next presidential election.
Apparently, it wasn’t just apathy that kept all but 4,500 residents from voting.
It seems that yesterday’s voting coincided with one of the island’s biggest annual events, the Kantan Minagof Song Festival. According to the Guam Visitors Bureau, “the public is encouraged to participate for prizes in Talaya fishnet throwing, Coconut Husking and Grating, and Tuba Drinking.”
While Tuba Drinking evoked images of inebriated brass bands, it turns out that tuba is a potent alcoholic drink made from the sap of coconut trees. Bombed on tuba, the Guamanians weren’t thinking about Reverend Wright, universal health-care or the state of affairs in Iraq. They were too busy tossing fishing nets, husking coconuts and getting blasted to worry about such mundane matters.
But the Guamanians could raise their glasses and drink to democracy. They might not have too many voters, but at least their votes counted. They’ll have more votes in Denver than Florida or Michigan.
Guam… this Tuba’s for you!
Thoughts
Guam and Republicans
Submitted on May 3rd, 2008 by Chuck_JohnsonIf Guam were made a state, it would vote overwhelmingly for the Republicans.
Just thought I'd throw that out there.
Chuck Johnson is a student at Claremont McKenna College. Feel free to contact him.
What if ...
Submitted on May 3rd, 2008 by John 2000What if more SDs had already decided and Guam pushed one of the candidates over the top.
Can you picture the candidates flying over to Guam to get that critical vote. TV crews.
What if they couldn't find the place?
Now that Obie has won by 7 votes there, it should be renamed Guamabama.
Ah but Rhett, whatever will the Dems do............?
Submitted on May 3rd, 2008 by Skye RiversI read your blog JonGee and thought WOW... out of 55,000 registered voters only 4,521 came out to vote leaving Obama the winner by 7 votes... and this is what determines who becomes the Democratic nominee... why register if you are not even going to vote I say... I am just speechless at the moment but I wanted to say bravo on a great blog and thank you.