Letters to the Editor
BryanS
Published Letters: 365 Editor's Choice: 1
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John Edwards could save the day
[Read the article: Florida's House Dems oppose second primary]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If John Edwards came out right now and endorsed Obama, throwing all of his Florida support to him, the popular vote would come out to be something like 49-47 for Clinton. I'm a diehard Obama supporter, but I could live with that. I don't know if this falls within party guidelines - I'm not sure there are hard and fast rules for resolving any of this satisfactorily - but if the DNC could line up 50-100 uncommitted superdelegates to strongarm both candidates into accepting the solution with smile for the public, then this could all be over in a week. Hillary gets to declare "victory" in Florida and picks up a few delegates more than Obama, Obama gets to look gracious by putting the party ahead of himself, and Edwards dramatically improves his standing in the party by playing peacemaker, virtually guaranteeing a prominent role in the next administration if the Democrats win in November.
Alternatively, seat the Florida delegates as chosen, and make sure that enough uncommitted superdelegates declare their support for Obama on the same day to balance out whatever lead Clinton gets from the Florida tally.
This is exactly what superdelegates are supposed to be used for, to prevent the party from splitting and tearing itself apart. I think that the game that the Clinton campaign is trying to play in Florida is utterly shameless, and I think that they started playing it long before the election was held, but we've got to move past this immediately.
The Republican party was sharp enough to only strip Florida of half of its delegates, so despite the fact that Florida Republicans had diminished influence in picking their candidate, they at least had influence, and therefore a personal investment in the process and the candidate. If the Democrats don't seat any Florida delegates, they're leaving themselves wide open to charges that they didn't care about what Florida voters thought at the beginning of 2008, so why should Florida voters support the party at the end of 2008? We're already seeing this effect in polls that show McCain winning the state no matter which candidate he's running against.
PS: Plan C is to give a shovel to every Democrat from the 48 states who can actually play by the rules (sorry, Michigan) and have us dig a three-mile trench along the state's northern border so that Florida winds up in international waters and becomes someone else's problem. Losing a few theme parks is a small price to pay for getting rid of a state that seems to exist solely for the purpose of screwing up presidential elections.
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@ W.E.S.
[Read the article: Florida's House Dems oppose second primary]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If Obama can't close the sale yet again in Pennsylvania(4th failed attempt), the superdelegates need to take note.
I'm cool with that, as long as they also take note that Hillary's next loss will be her 29th failed attempt. Also, Obama's never suffered a third-place finish. *coff*Iowa*coff*
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Good luck with those big states
[Read the article: Florida's House Dems oppose second primary]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If Obama does not have 2025, and Hillary won California, New York, Ohio, Texas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and revotes in Florida and Michigan, she should be the nominee.
She lost Texas, according to the delegate count. Go ahead and make the "caucus vs. primary" argument if you want. I know it by rote now, and it doesn't change the fact that she lost Texas. She's also losing the popular vote by more than 600,000 votes (300,000 if you count Florida).
And good luck winning any of those other states without sizable support from black Democrats, who might have a bit of a grudge against Sen. Clinton if they perceive that the nomination was stolen from Obama. I'm not even going to get into the fact that waving a Clinton in front of Republican voters will energize the base more than all the anti-gay marriage initiatives in the world, or how well McCain matches up against her when it comes to wooing independent voters.
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Well, if you want to play the general election card...
[Read the article: Florida's House Dems oppose second primary]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Oh you mean the caucus part of Texas, Obama's strong suit...How many caucuses are there in the general?
If we're talking about how things are going to go in the general election, what are the odds of Texas choosing Hillary Clinton as their next president? Probably about the same as them choosing Obama: none.
The only difference between the candidates? One of them came out on top in the nominating contest, according to the convoluted rules of the contest. But then again, winning according to the rules hasn't been a Clinton strong point so far, has it?
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@ billcap
[Read the article: Florida's House Dems oppose second primary]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Nobody stole anything in Texas. Both candidates were subject to the same set of rules that were established long before their campaigns were formally declared, and the state Democratic party has ratified the results of the election. You can disagree with the logic behind those rules, but since the delegate count is the only thing that ultimately matters when it comes to determining the Democratic candidate for president, Obama won the state fair and square.
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Kate
[Read the article: Florida's House Dems oppose second primary]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]RE: Texas, Florida, and Michigan
If you don't like the rules, then change the rules...before the contest takes place. I know that's sort of a new strategy for the Clinton campaign, but no one's accusing Obama of trying to change the rules after the fact, and guess what? He's winning.
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Kate
[Read the article: Florida's House Dems oppose second primary]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I seriously doubt that FL and MI voters had any say in the making of these 'rules'.
Wrong again, Kate. They elected the state representatives and senators who voted for the rules knowing full well that the DNC would refuse to seat the delegates if the rules were adopted.