According to news reports, candidate Kamala Harris received ‘Yes’ votes from 99% of the Democratic Party’s 4,694 delegates allocated during the Democratic primary process. The voting was ‘virtual’ and the 99% total was announced on August 6, two weeks prior to the actual Democratic National Convention.
So we could claim that Vice President Harris was ‘virtually’ nominated. If we wanted to appear unkind.
Given that all the delegates had presumably pledged their votes — previously — to current president Joe Biden, and given that no other Democratic Party candidate had sought the nomination, I was curious who the 1% were.
The 1% who didn’t vote for Harris.
I mean, when there’s only one candidate, it seems kind of silly to vote ‘No’. But apparently 52 delegates voted “present” — the only other option on the virtual ballot. And 79 delegates didn’t vote at all. Maybe they were on vacation at the time… or in the hospital… or simply in a bad mood.
Or not paying attention?
Anyone who watched the entire convention saw a fake “roll call vote” at the convention on Tuesday. Each state delegation had a chance to proudly announce the number of votes cast for the candidate, even though the votes had been counted two weeks earlier.
They called it a “ceremonial roll call”.
I like that phrasing. “Ceremonial” instead of “fake”. It just sounds more friendly. I could see it used in other situations.
“The mainstream media is publishing ceremonial news.”
“He opened a bank account under a ceremonial name.”
“That woman has ceremonial boobs.”
The Democratic Party had announced back in May that they would be conducting a virtual roll call prior to the convention, to clear a potential hurdle in getting their nominee on the ballot in Ohio. Ohio’s deadline to file for the general election ballot was August 7. The deadline had been modified in previous years to accommodate late-summer party conventions, but this year, state Republicans announced plans to enforce the existing deadline, with one GOP lawmaker calling the scheduling deadline “a Democratic problem.”
It sort of spoiled the suspense we normally feel around party conventions. Maybe that was the intention?
But then, there wasn’t much suspense at the Republican convention either.
If you count only the Democratic delegates who voted “present”, then Kamala Harris did indeed win 99% of the votes. But if you throw in the delegates who didn’t vote at all, then she won approval from about 97% of the delegates. So the headline our editor picked for this column, “Harris Wins 99% Approval Rating at the Convention”, could be seen as slightly misleading.
Or, as ceremonial.
But as I said, I’m curious about the 52 delegates who voted, “present”… when that was their only other choice. That seems to imply, “Anyone but Kamala Harris.”
Or maybe, “I’m just sick and tired of this whole political system.”
Three of the delegates at the convention held up a banner during Joe Biden’s speech on Monday, which read, “Stop Arming Israel”. They were quickly escorted out of sight by convention security. As we can imagine.
At least one of the three — Connecticut delegate Essam Boraey — had voted “present” during the virtual voting two week earlier, but apparently he also wanted to make a statement at the convention.
Maybe he’s mad as hell, and he’s not going to take it anymore.
A lot of Americans are feeling that way lately.
I don’t think Kamala Harris is among them, however. Every picture I see of her, she’s smiling like she just woke up on Christmas morning, and the pink bicycle she’d always wanted, was standing there beside the tree.
Of course, it’s entirely possible that she never wanted to be President and she’s been pressured into accepting the nomination by 4,563 eager Democratic delegates who got to go home afterwards to their toasters and TVs and steel-belted radials. In which case, her smile is forced.
But it doesn’t look forced. I was married once, so I’ve seen lots of forced smiles. Kamala’s smile looks genuine.
Not at all ceremonial.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.