Michigan, Florida: Hush (Chicago Trib)

[SoCalDem]

Michigan, Florida: Hush

March 10, 2008

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-0310edit2mar10,0,7906548.story
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"It's clear, this election they're having is not going to count for anything."

-- Sen. Hillary Clinton, on New Hampshire Public Radio, dismissing the Jan. 15 Michigan presidential primary
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There's no telling where the nomination race between Sens. Clinton and Barack Obama will lead. One place it shouldn't lead is to a Democratic National Convention floor fight on whether to seat delegations from Michigan and Florida. Those rogue states defied the rules of both parties by butting ahead of other states on the calendar of primaries and caucuses nationwide. State leaders in Michigan and Florida now are in a tizzy for fear that their bad choices could have bad consequences. They've had enough mood swings to qualify for therapy:

* Those leaders were smug and puffy-chested when they flouted the parties' rules and moved their primaries into January.

* They were pouty and disbelieving when Democratic officials responded by stripping them of delegates to this August's national convention. Republicans stripped those states of half their delegates.

* Now Democrats complain that if they truly are excluded -- if, that is, the Democratic National Committee does what its rules say it must do -- then millions of Michigan and Florida Democrats will be disenfranchised.

That's true. But we don't recall much public protest in Michigan and Florida back when lawmakers were boasting that early primaries would give voters in those states more clout in the nominating process.
snip....

Having made their bed, though, Democrats in the two states don't want to sleep in it. (Florida Democrats complain that their legislature is Republican-controlled and thus they shouldn't be punished; they conveniently forget that Democratic legislators went along with their GOP colleagues in advancing Florida's primary date.) Adding injury to insult: Democrats in both states who flouted national party rules now want their national party to pay for new primaries or other selection protocols.

snip....

[kennetha]

1. Wow!

More and more Obama supporters are either hinting or coming out and saying it outright that MI and FL should not be allowed to influence the nomination, EVEN IF they do some sort of "re-vote." You can see what unprincipled manipulators they really are. They are willing to disenfranchise millions of democrats for the sake of their own personal gain. It's one thing to argue against seating the FL and MI delegations on the basis of the January primaries. It's quite another thing to say that because these primaries violated the DNC rules (designed merely to appease NH and IA, by the way) then no subsequent primaries that fall within the rules should be allowed.

There is absolutely NO JUSTIFICATION or JUSTICE for that stance -- except a desire to preserve the pretense that Obama is "entitled" to the nomination.

[catgirl]

2. I think you missed the point

Hillary denounced these states way back when.

[EFerrari]

3. Obama supporters have nothing to do with this.

The state party leaders screwed up and now they want the DNC to pay for their stupid mistake.

[Usrename]

4. Obama will abide by the rules. He has said as much. Many times.

But if FL and MI don't get a proposal for something to the rules committee soon, it will be out of the rules committee's hands.

On July 1 control of the convention is turned over to the credentials committee, and they won't be able to do anything.