Co-chair of Hillary's MI campaign, Jim Blanchard, rips the DNC to shreds.

[madfloridian]

Okay, this is getting to be a pattern. It is out of control. It is meant to hurt the party. It is meant to hurt Howard Dean as chairman because he stood up for the rules with the Rules Committee and said no, you can not have your way. He said it to MI and FL.

Former Democratic Governor Rips Party

Former Michigan Gov. James Blanchard said Friday that the Democratic National Committee is so focused on punishing Michigan and Florida for moving up their primaries that it has lost sight of winning the November election. The DNC stripped the two states of their national convention delegates for breaking the rules. Neither has been able to come up with a way acceptable to the DNC, state party leaders and the campaigns of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama that would get the delegates seated.

Blanchard, a co-chairman of Clinton's Michigan campaign, said the Republican National Committee handled the matter better than the DNC. The RNC stripped the two states of only half their GOP delegates and applied the same punishment to New Hampshire and other states that moved up their GOP elections.The former governor says the DNC leaders have gone too far and risk losing the White House to Republican John McCain.

"They have put their rules ahead of common sense, of electing a Democratic president, of the voters in two major states," Blanchard said during the taping of Michigan public television's "Off the Record" program. "They're treating the rules like they're the U.S. Constitution or the Ten Commandments. They've lost their way. If Michigan is not seated and recognized -- and Florida -- we are flirting with a McCain election," he added.

DNC spokesman Damien LaVera says the DNC is continuing to work with Michigan and Florida to find a way to seat the delegates that meets party rules. He doesn't think enforcing the rules is endangering a Democratic victory.

Blanchard sounds like Carville did in November 2006, when he said the RNC did better than the DNC in the election. He forgot we effing WON.

DNC responds to Carville

DEAN RESPONDS Via TNR, Howard Dean spokeswoman Karen Finney emails the following in response to James Carville's comments below:

"After the Republicans have admitted to a thumping, why is it that the only one complaining on the Democratic side is James Carville, who today in addition to trashing Howard Dean, praised the RNC, the outfit that brought us the racist ad that defeated Harold Ford, James' supposed candidate for Chair? Perhaps he's not aware that under Dean in this midterm election the DNC has raised record cash --- all hard dollars -- including three times as much from major donors, eight times as much online and made a $30 million investment in the '06 cycle, three times as much as the DNC put into the last midterm. Not to mention we made an $8m overhaul of our voter file which was successfully used in 47 states and through the 50 state strategy invested in states like Pennsylvania, Kansas, Indiana and Montana where we had critical victories on Tuesday."

I was feeling kind of empathetic a few minutes ago, about how hard it must be for someone who thought they would be president to see it not coming true...now I am not empathetic.

It must be hard to give up a dream.

Some give up those dreams graciously, some do not.

[Yael]

1. So maybe he should reregister as a republican

if he prefers their methods of ginning up the system over his own failed policies.

Just sayin'

[Rageneau]

2. The DNC;s primary rules are like the TSA's rules against nipple rings -- silly.

It makes no sense to disenfranchise two huge Democratic states merely because they 'broke' the (silly) rules.

That's the same thing that happened to the lady who tried to board an airline wearing her nipple rings a few days ago. The "RULES' said she couldn't board the airplane til she passed through the metal detector undetected. The silly RULES made no provision for the greater good, or even for common sense, they were just arbitrary rules that arbiters like Dean and TSA employees enforce because they CAN enforce them.

Disenfranchising Florida and Michigan voters is like keeping a woman off a plane because she's wearing nipple rings.

Same thing.

[MonkeyFunk]

3. Good for blanchard

he's absolutely right.

[AmericanUnity]

4. I know Jim Blanchard. I'm embarrased he'd buck the Party after MI knew the rules.....

[madfloridian]

6. There are a lot of Dems in FL I feel that way about.

Some did not surprise, but there were many I trusted who are acting in bad faith now...a way that shows it was never about the party at all.

[Guaranteed]

5. It IS kind of starting to look like Clinton is trying to tear the party apart. nt

[madfloridian]

7. Yes.

It is.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

8. My personal feeling is that the campaigns should not be involved at all.

This should be between those states and the DNC. Involving the campaigns just muddies the waters. They either need a re-vote or a seating of the delegates that reflects the fact that the campaigns in those two states were not particularly fair, given the rules on campaigning.

Personally, I'm for seating all the delegates but only letting them vote on the second round, if it comes to that. I'd have preferred a re-vote, but none of these people seem to be able to pull the sticks out of their asses for long enough to accomplish that.