Letters to the Editor
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Note the key thing -- no do-over is even mentioned in this declaration
A Clinton backing Michigan Governor calls for delegates from a primary held without Obama or for that matter Edwards on the Ballot to be seated, without a do-over ... do you think she asked the Hillary campaign first. And a Republican governor, now that the Republican nomination is settled and all the remains is the General Election calls for the Florida delegation to be seated to throw the election to Hillary, again without a do-over.
So what we have here is the Hillary campaign strategy to get the nomination, and the Republicans to win the General. All pretty transparent.
By the way, there is no suggestion that 55 uncommitted Michigan delegates (who reflect what voters had to do when Obama and Edwards were not on the ballot) be automatically allocated to Obama -- I wonder why Hillary is silent on that -- is it because she would then only pick up 18 -- watch the Hillbots go batshit explaining that the uncommitted delegates should simply not be counted, but they should get the 73 that voted for Hillary (without Obama's name even on the ballot.) By the way, without any Obama or Edwards on the ballot Hillary only managed 55% of the vote -- its pretty clear she would have done worse had she not broken rules to get her name there. Meanwhile Hillary did against rules campaign in Florida and is up by 38 there. Still the real prize for Hillary, whatshe wants, is to enfranchise those who voted for her in Michigan, but disenfranchise the 45% that did not.
A do over in Florida and Michigan probably means, best case for Hillary, she gets 26 extra delegates -- but she is 138 behind and would still be 112 at that rate back at the convention. Put bluntly, she wants selective enfranchisement -- let her people go!
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of course...
ya know, what's stopping them from holding new primaries, say...three weeks from now, where the DNC pays half and the State pays half? (and maybe CNN can kick in a significant chunk as well :)
I realize that it would set a pretty terrible precedent, but then the status quo right now is kind of a terrible precedent.
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Florida Should Count, But Not Michigan
Michigan wasn't a legitimate contest and doesn't reflect the voters' wishes so it should NOT count. Unfortunately, the only alterantive in the time left is a caucus, and we all know by now how bad they are.
However, Florida was a legitimate contest with record turn-out.
The voters knew the issues, from extensive debates and national media coverage. Internecine fighting from Democratic party managers is irrelevant.
The approx 1.8 Million Florida voters should not be dis-enfranchised and I can't think of any way to redo the election that would seem legitimate if it didn't come up with the same result.
P.S. I'm watching video of the Texas caucuses on CNN as I type this and, frankly, the Texas Caucuses seem less legitimate than an open vote in Florida by 1.8 Million people. They have video of people sitting in the Texas caucuses for three hours with no idea what was going on, until all the parents with children left, all the senior citizens left, and the caucus was defaulted to those few that stayed by midnight. That's represenhisible and certainly not representative.
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My vote should count
Since I live in Florida, in hanging chad territory - see 2000 election, I feel qualified to chime in on this.
Florida and Michigan should be allowed to seat their delegates. But, I vote NO on the do over primary election. Why do we need to spend money/time on having everyone vote again? Just count the votes that were cast, and if people didn't vote because they didn't think their vote was going to count - so what, how many people normally vote in a primary anyway.
And, no I don't have a horse in this race - I voted for John Edwards.
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Florida delegates
I am a Florida Democratic voter and I did vote in our beauty pageant anyway..just because I participate in every election possible.
Can I just say that comments by 'debaser' and 'TreeRol' were exactly right! I could not agree more.
Our states screwed this up! Florida has a knack for doing these types of things..but we get to vote in the general election so there is no disenfranchisement of the voters. Our state parties screwed us over...that's the bottom line.
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This is a joke
I live in Michigan and have followed this entire travesty. First of all, the Michigan Democratic establishment decided to to go against the will of the party and move the primary. In so doing, the Michigan Democratic establishment put the votes of Michiganders at risk (the party had already declared what the penalty would be if Michigan choose to continue on its course). Michigan went ahead and held a sham primary since all of the candidates weren't on the ballot and none of the Democratic candidates campaigned in the state because of party sanctions. Since many people saw the primary as a sham, many decided not to vote since they couldn't vote for their candidate, if their candidate was Obama or Edwards. Hillary "won" because she was the only major candidate on the ballot, eerily similar to Soviet elections of the past. Now it is that very same Michigan Democratic establishment that is complaining about the "vote".
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Well of course they do...
Of course the Governor wants their voters to be recognized. A Governor should and that's their job.
They also should have thought of that before they moved their primaries (or allowed them to be moved). Breaking the rules as it were, has consiquences.
That said, I would happy to see them seated, but not without re-votes. While disenfranchising millions is highly undemocratic, so would simply taking these votes as is. Obama followed the rules and he should not be punished for doing so.
But of course, Hillary knew this conundrum was coming from the first, and its likely outcome. It's a sad statement on her character and her campaign that she would be happily willing to take them as they stand, despite how unfair it is.
I'm not sure that Obama is the better candidate, but Hillary has time and time again shown a lack of character that is hard to want to see her elected over.