Democrats are not Good at Following Rules
Mar 7, 2008 Political
Democrats in Florida and Michigan decided to hold their primary elections earlier than allowed by the DNC. Both states were informed well in advance of the election that they would not be able to seat delegates if they went ahead with the early voting and the states agreed. Now the Democratic race is tight and the prospect of a brokered convention looms large and is giving the Democratic Party heartburn. Of course, after the voting took place many Democrats cried that people were disenfranchised. If this is the case then they were disenfranchised by their party which is amazing since Democrats claim only Republicans do that to voters.
Howard Dean has tried to be tough on this issue and stated that they would not change the rules that everyone agreed to. Hillary is whining about the delegates (she won the token elections) and Obama’s folks are not happy with the idea of seating delegates in contests he did not compete in. However, the DNC is faced with the possibility of bloodshed at its convention and it wants to do anything to avoid that so the party is looking at alternatives including having another election. Major issues include how much will it cost and who will pay for it? Regardless, the indications are that there will be no “do over” if a number of conditions are not met.
Then again, it looks like the DNC might be forced into about anything. Fox News reported on television today that Florida was considering not including the Democratic candidate on the November ballot if its delegates are not seated. The Democrats know that they need to win Florida in order to win the White House and they do not want an open ballot that gives all the electoral votes to Republican John McCain.
It would appear that not only does Florida not know how to follow rules but now it is showing that it knows how to play dirty in order to get its way. If they had not brought this on themselves I would agree with the tactic but they decided that they wanted to have an impact on the primary and held their election early despite knowing what it would cost. I think they should abide by those rules. If the Democrats decide to have another election then the party should pay for it. Forcing the tax payers to foot the bill is unfair and a waste of money.
Having said that, I like this play by Florida because now it tightens the screws on Howard Dean and the DNC. They will have to seriously consider what Florida wants because that state is in a position to blackmail the party. If the delegates are not seated then Florida will not put the Democrat on the ballot. If Michigan decides to take the same path then the Democrats will not win the presidency.
Regardless of what happens, the infighting and posturing are great to watch and, I for one, pray that this thing keeps going right up until Denver so that they can destroy their party from within much the same way that party is doing to this country.
It Depends on the Meaning of Campaigning
Jan 28, 2008 Political
The Democrats had an agreement not to campaign in Florida after the DNC stripped that state of its delegates because it moved the primary to before February 5th. Hillary is way in front in Florida but it does not matter because the delegates will not count even though Hillary is trying to get a new decision on this so they will. I am sure that she would not do that if Obama were ahead there.
Despite the pledge not to campaign, Hillary Clinton is in Florida and she is skirting the rules to have a presence there. After her stinging defeat in South Carolina she decided to visit the Sunshine State and make sure people knew who she was. Now there are no rules against fund raising there and Hillary supporters would point out that she is only doing just that. Perhaps, and if she is it would be kind of disingenuous because the message is, “I can’t have a real presence here and the DNC says your delegates will not count but your money is still good.”
The news reports are indicating that Clinton is there with a *wink* and that her presence constitutes campaigning. I guess that it all depends upon what campaigning actually means. Anyone who has a husband who can argue the meaning of “is” can certainly skirt the issue and argue the meaning of campaigning.
If the DNC has taken the delegates away then it should stay that way. A rule is a rule and a sanction is a sanction. I also think that if Hillary broke her promise not to campaign people should ask what other promises she would break.
Maybe folks will realize that the Clinton’s words mean nothing to them. Integrity is not a word in their vocabulary.
Sources:
Yahoo News
My Way News
Tags: broken promises, campaigning, Clinton, florida