Howard Dean is on Hardball right now and is wavering as to whether or not Michigan or Florida ought to count. It seems that, at first, he said the votes would not count. Now, he states that the people should decide the nominee and that an electoral commission made up by Democrats across the country will decide.
The Democratic Party- Finding Ways to Lose Elections Since 1968.
4 comments:
Harrogate doesn't know who to be mad at here.
Michigan and Florida for insisting on moving their primaries forward, knowing it would cause problems? No, counterproductive perhaps, but not worthy of ire unless you believe Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina deserve special status. Which Harrogate does not.
The DNC for stripping them of their delegates and getting the candidates to pledge not to campaign there? No. We already knew the DNC was boneheaded, so no real surprise here--too bad too, because Harrogate likes Howard Dean.
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for not realizing this was all bullshit that would come back and bite their entire show in the metaphoric ass? For not refusing to sign the pledge and campaigning in those states?
Ding, ding, ding! Bad move by both candidates.
I am not sure on this. I think that, when the candidate agreed, most thought that they knew who that Hillary would be the nominee. I am sure that Clinton, Dodd, the UFO Rep and Biden, and Richardson figured that they could not win the nomination, so they agreed.
Of course, Edwards and Obama thought that they would be the nominee. By eliminating two states you save on campaign expenditures and you limit the amount of influence Clinton could reach, especially with Florida.
It is win-win for the candidates and lose-lose for the people.
We are definitely in agreement that it is lose-lose for the people, even if you are more understanding with respect to the candidates' self-serving acquiescence in this matter.
IS it win-win for the candidates, though? As we all know, either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama are facing a very steep climb in the General Election if they can't carry at least three of the big four states, two of whose voters have been snubbed here. That's in addition to Dems' need to hang on to states like New Jersey.
Say Obama wins the nomination. And say he's up against John McCain. Can McCain staffers get traction through mailings saying hey Floridians, you guys kinda like McCain anyway, and look at Obama, he put money and red tape ahead of courting your interest--whereas McCain went down there and made his case?
Well, like American foreign policy, Florida is a win-win for the candidates in what they believe matters most: the immediate future. Before they win the general, they must win the primary. I am not "more understanding" of their actions, I just attempted to rationalize why they did it. I am not sure if I support the move by the Florida legislature or the presidential candidates.
As for the general campaign, 1,694,380 voters in Florida voted for one of four Democratic candidates when the vote did not matter. For the Republicans, 1,920,350 voters were cast for seven candidates. If Democratic voters knew the vote would not count, 1.6 million is a very high total. Plus, if you get Ohio, you do not need Florida though it would be a nice insurance policy.
As for how McCain campaigns in Florida, you would need to ask the Floridians what is more important: voting in the primaries, the war in Iraq, the economy, fiscal responsibility, the last eight years, etc. Maybe the Dems will lose some votes over this. Maybe the Republicans will lose some votes for the past eight years. Maybe Dick Cheney will cancel the elections. You never know what are the key issues that make the voters pull the trigger.
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