If LaFollette Were Alive Today, He'd Be Spinning In His Grave

By Miss Kubelik

It's so interesting how this year's Republican Presidential contest has ripped the veil off how undemocratic (small-d) the GOP's primary process is.

On the eve-eve-eve of the 2016 Wisconsin primary, we cats just have to say that the progressive Republican founder of the nation's Presidential primary system would be aghast at the state in which the GOP finds itself today.

Now, we are no fans of Donald Trump. But it goes without saying that the heretofore hierarchical Republican Party — consistently rewarding its "next-in-line" candidates (except, of course for Sarah Palin, who was mysteriously passed over in 2012) — has papered over the will of its discontented base for years, to choose guys who came oh-so-close last time but didn't quite pull it off.

Now, the teabags and the Freepers and the Obama haters have blown up the nominating process, and the GOP is consumed in turmoil, pro-Trump versus anti-Trump. Ironically, the anti-Trump folks, having enjoyed the quiescent support of the Trumpkins for decades, are leaning on the obscure-and-hardly-representative machinations of delegate selection to block The Donald from a first-ballot victory. Tennessee, North Dakota and Louisiana have all become arcane rules-oriented battlegrounds, and the Trump campaign is late to the battle. In fact, they may yet lose.

Now, see, we hate to say it, but if these GOP clowns were Democrats, they wouldn't be having this problem. Because our primaries and caucuses award delegates proportionately, to help ensure representation, diversity and fairness. And our superdelegates help balance everything out. We Democrats went through a lot of bloodletting to accomplish that system, but thanks to the McGovern-Fraser Commission, it's worked pretty darn well for 45 years — through general election wins and losses. And we think it's something to be proud of.

Meanwhile, the Republicans may sniff at our "political correctness" — but they're the ones with the chaos, they're the ones with the party that's breaking up, they're the ones with riots threatened in Cleveland, and they're the ones with the convention floors that don't look like America.

We cats rest our case. And we PURR.