Dean staying "above the fray", letting the process unfold.

[madfloridian]

This is an interesting take. I think the Florida and Michigan situations are tearing our party apart right now because one side does not think the rules matter anymore. The two states broke the rules, knew they were breaking them, went ahead anyway.

Yet the forums are filled with people who can say nothing but the d word..."disenfranchisement". Or perhaps the m words..."make my vote count or I vote for McCain."

It's really all getting sillier by the day, but it is necessary for one candidate to win...there must be turmoil and anger for one campaign to get traction to get to the convention. FL and MI filled that bill quite well.

Dean Above the Fray

He refers to the incident there the Clinton donors accused Dean of not doing enough to fix FL and MI problems.

I like his take on the situation.

That to me sounds like a level of desperation that we have not seen the Hillary Clinton admit to. What Nemazee's action here says is that she does not believe that time is on Hillary Clinton's side. The position of the Hillary camp, or at least this member of it, is that their only chance is for Dean to intervene, to intervene now, and force all the superdelegates to go on record.

And the reason they want it to happen now is that the superdelegates seem to be slipping away the longer this goes on. Dean is indeed playing it safe, but neither is he being unfair to either side. He is simply letting the process unfold the way it was designed to. That the process as it stands now will cost Hillary the nomination, well, that's not his fault.

That Hillary is losing is not a good enough reason to change the process mid campaign. Unless you are on Hillary's staff of course.

This morning on This Week, Dean said something I have not heard him say before. I don't have the transcript. It was to the effect that if we were going to change the rules in the middle of the primary, then both candidates had to agree.

He never before admitted that they were changing the rules. I guess they are by letting FL and MI even be seated. I have no objection to their being seated.

I have objection though that there will be disruption by her campaign at the convention. I think it is fully intended. Hillary has a lot of power, and a lot of clout.

I doubt many will be standing when this is over.

[murielm99]

1. I would like to know how ordinary

people in Michigan and Florida feel about this. I don't mean DUers, or those deeply involved in politics.

How do people likely to vote Democratic feel? Is this important to them?

[madfloridian]

3. Does it matter? They are not getting the truth...so do we break rules anyway?

Dean is letting them be seated, but the counting will have to wait.

Hillary is hoping low information voters get all upset.

She will win in the end. She has power.

[DJ13]

5. I bet ordinary voters in both states would say

"I voted. If they dont count it, so what? Im used to my vote not being worth anything. Besides, they made it clear that my vote for President in our primary wasnt going to be worth anything, so whats the big deal?"

[murielm99]

8. Are they talking about staying home for the general?

They are important states. I don't want to see anyone stay home, no matter what the outcome. The general election is the important one. We need to win.

I don't live there. I live in Illinois, Obama central. Also, I am involved enough with the Democratic party that my views are skewed. I talk mostly to Democrats.

[DJ13]

9. Are they talking about staying home for the general?

Why would they?

First off, theres more than just the President on the GE ballot, so they will surely turnout to vote for lower taxes or some other important measure that would likely be on the ballot.

Then theres the fact that those two states wont be neglected by either party as far as campaign stops and mass media advertisizing.

No, those two states will actually become key states in the GE as a result of this, in fact they will become far more important if their primary votes dont count than if Clinton is successful and they do end up counting.

[David Dunham]

2. The Democratic Convention, not the DNC or its rules, decide whether to seat delegates

[madfloridian]

4. The committees appointed by DNC rules decide. Stop the spin.

There have been enough of the lies and spin.

[Beregond2]

6. "I doubt

many will be standing when this is over." Oh, please. It's a campaign, not Armageddon.

[madfloridian]

10. Cute.

Really cute.

[Dr.Phool]

7. My vote in the Florida primary went to Edwards.

So it didn't count for shit anyway. The important thing to remember is that in November, MY VOTE WILL COUNT! And John McCain ain't getting it. Or Ralph Nader.

The lying media down here keeps running with the "Howard Dean is disenfranchising us" story line. So, most people who are not activists, and don't try to keep themselves well informed, think exactly that.

[JVS]

11. Dean needs the help of his people! People who care about the rules must protest against those who..

desire to break them. Especially at the convention.

[madfloridian]

12. Video, Dean on ABC today...popular vote doesn't count at convention.

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4599096

FL and MI will have seats, but they will not look like the other delegations.

Good interview. Very clear. The votere did not do it, their political leaders did it to them.

[eridani]

13. He has to. I was Credentials Co-chair for my LD caucus yesterday--

--and understand the feeling well. You have to work hard at giving all sides a fair shake.

[madfloridian]

14. Using the states to get applause....Schweitzer and MI

Dean has already sent out word that he wanted to seat MI as well as FL. They are not going to let up, though. This is very tiring. I wish they would realize what they are doing to the party.

http://www.mlive.com/elections/index.ssf/2008/04/levin_michigan_dems_will_get_f.html

"Michigan Democratic chairman Mark Brewer has said there are options that could be considered to help get the delegates seated, including some that would partially take into account the results of the Jan. 15 primary.

For instance, the primary results could be blended with whatever comes out of a possible state party convention or settlement negotiated with the two campaigns and party officials.

The dinner's keynote speaker was Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat whose state will have a primary June 3. He drew hearty applause when he said he won't go to the national convention if Michigan delegates aren't seated. He also talked about reducing the country's dependence on oil, containing college tuition costs and other topics."

[undeterred]

15. Behavior has consequences. But it sucks for the voters.

She came make all the noise she wants but if she doesn't have the delegates she doesn't get the nomination. She would not have won anyway.

[samsingh]

his approach is helping the party

[samsingh]

16. his approach is helping the party

[rodeodance]

17. Dean is a weak DNC leader who not have lead from the beginning--instead

of staying above the fray.