A primary is part of the electoral process in that it is a process political parties engage in to decide on their candidates for the elections.

Primaries are not elections per se, as no one is electing anyone for an office. Perhaps I missed the part of the constitution that addresses how political parties pick their candidates.

Anyone is free to challenge me on that I would be interested if I missed something.

I NEVER wanted to "exclude" you from anything and certainly not because I "don't like Florida". Your delegates are excluded by the DNC because of infractions by Florida Democratic Party leadership. I have yet to understand what went on behind closed doors between the FL Dem Leadership and the DNC. However, it is very clear to me that the Florida Democratic leadership did not and does not care about the health of the Democratic Party.

A primary is part of the electoral process, no? So you want to exclude me now because you don't like Florida, but you want me to come back later?

The odds are very high I will vote as I suspect a solution will be reached that I, yes, I find acceptable.

As for right now, please crawl back into your hole troll.

confusing a Political Party Primary with an Election.

And it's not about some group or some people telling me to vote for someone or someone else.

It's very simply about voting. If I can can vote and have a full vote, then don't ask me for money as you do nearly every day, and don't ask me to vote for someone I was denied any part in selecting. I won't give money, and I won't vote for President. I don't care who heads the Democratic ticket; either is miles superior to McCain or for that matter any Republican.

I'm rather disgusted by the calls for allowing me a half vote. The original version of the Constitution did better allowing me a minimum of 3/5 of a vote. Calls for half a vote only show the paucity of American education.

steven@bobker.com

I think the whole Florida and Michigan debacle does point to major issues with Dean's leadership of the Democratic party.

If the Democrats did as the Republicans and sanctioned the states by half of their delegates, there would be no problem. The states would be duly punished, yet would have some representation. Instead, Dean insisted on a nuclear option: No delegates, and candidates can't campaign in those states.

Now, there's a major problem. Although both of these states are crucial to the Democrats winning in November, Florida and Michigan Democrats may sit out this election. They may not help with funding, and they may not help with voter turnout. You can say "rules are rules" all you want, but it isn't about who is the Democratic nominee. It's about a Democrat becoming president.

I like Dean and I like his positions on issues. I also highly believe in his 50 state strategy. Unfortunately, Dean has been having problems with running the Democratic party. He became a central issue in the 2006 race when he initially refused to help fund the Montana and Virginia Senatorial campaign because it meant taking money away from the 50 state strategy.

Dean didn't get involved in the primary scheduling issues, and thus got both Florida and Michigan politicians upset because they felt their states were being ignored. He pushed a nuclear option in dealing with states that jumped ahead in the primary schedule which now has us in our current position in these two states.

I also think that he's sitting too much on the side lines in the primary campaign. Yes, he needs to remain neutral, but where in the heck is he? He should be on all the talk shows explaining how great both candidates are and how either one would make a great nominee. He should be working to keep the party together and helping tone down the rhetoric. He should be meeting with the super delegates to help them work out a strategy to bring the two campaigns together during the convention and solve the Michigan and Florida problem.

Dean is simply out of his element in running the Democratic party. We need someone who can schmooze. We need someone who can workout deals between factions. We need someone who knows when to push their plans and when to layoff. In the United States, political parties are not a single unified organization.

The Democratic party is a coalition of 50 state parties (that's where the real action is). These 50 state parties have their own agendas, their own desires, and their own politics. The head of the party needs to be someone who can handle party details, who can workout compromises, and who can keep the desperate factions that make up the Democratic party together.

Remember Will Roger's saying: "I don't belong to an organized party. I'm a Democrat." It's just as true today as it was back in the 1930s. The leader of the Democratic party needs to be a person who can wheel and deal. Dean is a bright guy and he has some excellent ideas, but he just isn't cut out for the task.

As a Democrat, I understand your, and your state's Democrats, disappointment. And yet I keep going back to last year when you made an effort to move your Primary and were denied the request. Florida Democrats, deciding it would be better to vote early than be acknowledged at Convention, ignored the decision, and voted anyway. Of course, last year we had no way of knowing that your issues for wanting to vote earlier would be moot this year.

Who can forget the butterfly design ballot(by a Democrat, by the way) that created confusion for some of our Democratic voters causing them to cast wrong ballots, the inability of some counties to complete their counts during the recounts (controlled by Democrats, by the way), and the way some of you just folded to GOP-controlled intimidation in 2000? Yes, you sure have had it tough.

Well, we're really sorry, Karen, that you won't be able to vote again...and again...and again...until you get it right. You don't need to point out the importance of Florida to us Democrats across America. We saw the sorry handwriting on the wall last year when you wanted to jump the gun, refused the decision of the DNC, and decided to lurch ahead anyway.

What is really making me pissed off right now, however, aside from the obvious fact that neither candidate will not be able to garner anymore delegates, is how you are now trying to blame the DNC and everyone else for what you all decided to do. You are acting like the DNC disenfranchised the voters. The fact is: YOU DISENFRANCHISED YOUR ENTIRE STATE PARTY.

Love ya, mean it,

RamblinRose