When you say black people were told not to vote what is missing is this explanation: ________________ told black people not to vote. See, all that is necessary is a subject which would answer the question of "who?" The verb would be "told" and the object would be black people.

OK, I personally had a discussion with some black people at my work in Florida a couple of days before the Florida primary, some of whom were surprised to learn that one of the candidates was black. I told them that the Democratic Party had decided that Florida votes would not count at the National Convention.

This came as no suprise to them.

Don't you think that numerous working people, on being told that Florida delegates would not count, then decided not to spend extra gasoline, arrange for extended childcare etc. so as to be able to vote in a meaningless primary? Do you not agree that this is more likely to have an impact in the black community where so many people are single parents.

Do you think that the knowledge that the delegation would not be seated was an advantage for Obama? Do you think that if the delegation WAS going to be seated that Obama would have gained even less votes in Florida.

I don't, and that is the bottom line.

We are sick of this kind of crap in Florida. The legislature did not like the findings of the courts in the Terry Schiavo case, so it tried to change the law and did actually succeed in having a state court overruled by a federal court. The Democratic Party made rules regarding the order of primaries, then didn't like how it turned out, so decides to change the rules after the fact.

Although I am an Obama supporter, I would be quite happy to see a Florida do-over, and if Clinton wins it 70% to 30%, I would be absolutely willing to accept the result.

If Florida and Michigan had abided by the rules they would've had their day to vote, make a difference, and the issue would be moot. I mean, we can see why they wanted to jump the gun, but there are rules. Everyone else abided by the rules.

And then there's Florida anyway: Hell, these Democrats can't design a simple ballot for voters to understand, count their ballots accurately, or stand up for fellow Democrats who were deliberately purged off voter rolls the last 2 presidential elections!

Maybe instead of picking fights with the National Party, they should just clean up their own act.

We already know it will be expensive - the DNC really does not want to finance; the governors feel their residents are disenfranchised; HRC smiles & says ...well I won!!

Maybe it is just me - but why establish any rules - with known consequences and then change the rules BECAUSE - what?? Did not the DNC and the state parties know at the imposition of the rules - the outcome?? Too much game playing. Obviously, Dean does not have the credentials,personality or respect to make the kids play fair.

Not on the Florida taxpayers dime. I’m not sure if the legislators who voted to move our primary forward were aware of the penalty. If they were, then the cost of the” Do-Over” should be come out of the pay and benefits package of the legislators who initially voted to move the primary.

All of those people who say the Florida result should stand are ignoring the question of WHY the National Democratic Party would not allow Florida to hold a primary in January.

My belief is that the idea is to start off in some representative smaller states in each region of the country, so that candidates can build brand recognition in the early going without spending the huge amounts of money needed to buy media time in larger states. In these smaller states less delegates are at stake, so one or two losses are not fatal to a campaign.

Once you front load a major state--I think Florida is the 5th or 6th largest state in population--you change the dynamics of the election process.

No one here who is proposing the reinstatement of the Florida delegates seems to be addressing this point and considering how moving this large state to the front of the primary sequence might affect the chances of candidates with less name recognition in the future.

Doesn't it seem like this is a DNC (Dean) versus the DLC (Clintons) Democratic in-fight?

The poor DLC just cannot stand not having the power they once had, the 50 state strategy was just too successful after the DLC proved themselves no leaders at all, and now they are going to cheat to get power back...

...and they will split the party to do so.

Just a thought.

I believe Howard Dean has been asking for this all along.

Not that it will help Clinton, as her supporters seem to believe.

All the mathematical analyses show that regardless of her performance in all the remaining contests, including FL and MI,

Obama will remain ahead in elected delegates.

Seating FL and MI will make it clear that all the states have had their say. I believe the Obama campaign has made it clear they are prepared to fight this battle fairly according to whatever rules the Democratic Party puts before them, and they are confident they will prevail regardless.

Florida and Michigan? Nope. Rules are rules. Silly, maybe. But you can't change the game in the middle of the contest. The loser and his/her minions and supporters would claim foul, something that in some places has led to revolution. Maybe we should let the Supremes decide? That's a joke!

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean urged Florida and Michigan party officials to come up with plans to repeat their presidential nominating contests so that their delegates can be counted.

The Michigan governor, top officials in Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign, and Florida's state party chair all are now saying they would consider holding a sort of do-over contest by June. That's a change from the previous insistence from officials in both states that the primaries they held in January should determine how their delegates are allocated.

Clinton won both contests, but the results were meaningless because the elections violated national party rules.

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Starting to smell the foul stench of Billary machine as they begin the process of changing the rules?