Saturday, January 26, 2008

The Voice of the People in Florida & Michigan

On Florida, both Republicans and Democrats will vote in the state's primary. Yet, the vote will only count for Republicans. The same held true for the primary in Michigan.

In an attempt to give voice to the smaller states, as well as minority candidates (blacks in South Carolina and blacks and Hispanics in Nevada), the Democratic Party ruled that no primaries or caucuses, except the primaries and caucuses in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada, could be held before February 5th.

Florida and Michigan, two very important swing states, especially if Romney wins the Republican nomination, moved their primaries to a date before February 5th. In response, the Democratic Party stripped the states of their delegates and candidates agreed not to campaign in those states.

Recently the candidates (Clinton and Obama) broke their compact and decided to advertise in Florida to gain some "votes" before the Tuesday primary. Hillary Clinton will win the vote but not the delegates, as she did in Michigan. (In Michigan, neither Obama nor Edwards were on the ballot. Hillary won with 55% of the vote; however, uncommitted received 40%).

Clinton will challenge legally the DNC's decision to strip the states' delegates to ensure she receives those delegates. While this will certainly violate principles of fairness, that does not matter to all involved.

yet, if the lawsuit is not successful and if the Democratic campaign goes to the convention without a nominee, which it may depending on how Super Tuesday plays out, then the question is what will happen to those delegates at the convention? Will they vote in accordance to the vote during the primary? Or will they assign the votes to who they choose then?

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