Why everyone wanting to seat Florida and Michigan can kiss my ass

[Seen the light]

It's quite simple. I am a Democrat living in North Carolina. North Carolina has 134 delegates.

Let's assume for a moment that Obama takes Ohio/Texas/Pennsylvania and Clinton drops out of the race at that point. That will mean that in even THIS race, the most contested Democratic primary race in ages, the states of Indiana, North Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky, Oregon, Montana, and South Dakota will have NO say in the race. All of those states have their primaries after Pennsylvania votes on April 22nd.

Now I don't know about the other states specifically, but I do know that North Carolina has not mattered in a presidential race since freaking 1976 when they voted for Reagan.

North Carolina Democrats have been without a say in who becomes president for decades now. Who's crying for us? Is Senator Clinton calling for a complete overhaul of the system so that states like North Carolina are guaranteed to have a say in future elections? No? Then she can kiss my ass.

Actually...Senator Obama can as well if he doesn't propose a massive overhaul of how we conduct presidential elections in the Democratic Party and in the United States as a whole eventually. It's time that people get a fair shake, no matter what state they happen to live in.

[Clovis Sangrail]

1. they should run the primaries like the ge

all at the same time

[Yavin4]

7. But That Would Kill Under-Funded, Little Known Candidates

A candidate would need massive funding in order to compete in a national primary, which would mean more Lobbyist dollars.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

14. ok, but can we PLEASE remove New Hampshire from the front?

they keep screwing up everything!

They have paper ballots, but 80% are counted by Diebold optical scanners,
there isn't a good chain of custody of the ballots (according to some activists)
and there are NO audits of the election.

I know their state law says they have to be first, but maybe we can
find a way to put them back and get some states more like the rest of the US
to go first.

[MNDemNY]

27. an arrogant elitist post.

[Clovis Sangrail]

18. and that's different from now in what way?

underfunded candidates already have no chance.

Don't get me wrong, I've like a number of underfunded candidates... but none of them stood a snowballs chance in hell of making it to the GE.

[Yavin4]

31. Not True. Howard Dean Came Close To Capturing the Nomination in 2004

And practically no one knew about him outside of Vermont.

[LordJFT]

8. rotating regional primaries would be better

I'd like to keep the emphasis on retail politics because I think it's good for the voters to really get to meet the candidates, so the race isn't just based on name recognition. It just shouldn't always be Iowa and New Hampshire.

[Seen the light]

10. That's what I would probably support

Bump Iowa and friends down to the June primaries and move, let's say, Nevada up to the first spot.

[MonkeyFunk]

11. I'm not even sure regional is good.

It could too easily give an early advantage to one candidate. And if the schedule were announced early enough, it would even influence who ran.

[LordJFT]

12. better than having the candidate with name recognition always win

[MonkeyFunk]

17. But that's not how it works

Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter are two pretty good examples. Michael Dukakis, too.

[LordJFT]

30. not under our curret system, I'm saying that's how it would work if primaries were like the GE

[skipos]

2. ... someone who will get a lot of my time & money if he is our nominee, unlike Hillary. nt

"Is Senator Clinton calling for a complete overhaul of the system so that states like North Carolina are guaranteed to have a say in future elections? "

Not right now, but the day it is in her own best political interest, she will. Not a minute sooner and not a minute later.

[Seen the light]

3. Not just her though....

I hope that Senator Obama calls for an end to this madness.

[bellasgrams]

15. Don't the states have something to do with whether they want to

change their primaries. I don't think a pol should be telling a state when they can vote

[mckeown1128]

20. Except that they all did.

Hillary specifically said BEFORE the primaries that MI didn't count for anything. My, my, my, how things change.

[MonkeyFunk]

4. Move to Iowa if it's important to you

I've only ever lived in NY and CA. This is the first year EVER that my primary vote meant something - and I've been voting for 26 years.

[Seen the light]

6. Why should I have to move? Why not just change the outdated system? n/t

[Johnny__Motown]

5. I live in Michigan and I agree (to a point)

Michigan and Florida held elections when everyone believed that the delegates would not be seated.
In Michigan most candidates had their names removed, (Florida law would not allow names to be removed).

Clearly the outcome of both elections was affected by the belief that no delegates were at stake.

Changing things now simply isn't fair.

[Obamanaut]

16. I agree with you. Many, if not most, here in Fla voted because of

the property tax amendment on the ballot.

[pingzing58]

9. I'm thinking that the development of the primaries and caususes were made before communication was

so immediate. Our historians and sociologists need to help us work out a system that recognizes the immediacy of information to everyone in this digital age.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

13. I'm in NC too, and I approved (and recommended) this message

[Marrah_G]

19. But at least your vote is counted.

I personally think the primaries should all be on the same day, like the GE and that it should be a federal holiday.

[spinbaby]

22. Bad idea

All primaries on the same day favors established, well-funded candidates. Bill Clinton would never have made the White House if all the primaries were on the same day. Personally I favor some kind of a lottery system to decide which order the states have primaries.

[Marrah_G]

23. I also think all races should be federally funded

And certain amounts of airtime should be required to be free.

There is much we need to do to even the playing field.

[JVS]

25. How about order of admission (or re-admission for states that seceded) into the union?

[rox63]

21. Election laws are controlled by the states, not the Federal Govt

I don't know if such an overhaul would be legal or possible.

[Seen the light]

24. One of the roles the POTUS has is leader of the party

Either Obama or Clinton could get this done if they were elected if they really wanted to.

[bvar22]

29. The ONLY reason Obama is still in the race ....

is because of our current Primary/Caucus system.

Hillary would have WON easily if we had a National Primary.

[knitter4democracy]

26. Something I've always wondered:

Why don't both of the Carolinas have the same primary day? Why is it always South Carolina that gets all the early attention but North Carolina's left behind? They're similar states, similar media markets, and easy to travel between. Why not make both states share a primary?

I like the idea of rotating regional primaries myself. I think that makes a hell of a lot more sense than the crazy state hopping we have now. The system we have now is too darn expensive. If we did regional primaries, it would consolidate travel time and money way better.

I'm from Michigan, and the only answer I can see is to have the MI Dems hold a caucus in May or some late time like that. Obama wasn't on our ballot, and I know many voted undecided as a vote for Edwards. So, if we had a caucus, which the state party would have to pay for, not the state (that has no money), that would be far more accurate and fair. It would help heal the anger and frustration up here, too.

[IronLionZion]

28. NC went to Jimmy Carter in 1976

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_us_presidential_election

I don't necessarily disagree with your post concerning the primary schedule, but the real bastards around here who can kiss my ass are the ones repeating the 100% bullshit lie that Florida and Michigan's delegates won't be seated at the convention. The people pushing that lie make me sick. They will be seated, as will NC's and every other delegation, they just don't get to pick the presidential nominee that's all. And those primaries still chose their nominees for state and local offices.


I would support a random rotating schedule, but there is a very good reason why small states are at the front. It's for an even playing field where money and the media have less impact.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

32. Kiss your own stinkin' ass.