There is talk of letting Democrats in Florida and Michigan vote again, because their first votes didn't count as they were against party rules.
Before they go down this road, everyone needs to re-think the reasons why Florida and Michigan violated Democrat (and Republican) Party Primary voting Rules. These two states wanted to give momentum to a candidate that would eventually win each party's nomination. News coverage of the winner would influence the votes that followed in their wake. In the end, their 'votes' would not need to be counted because the winner would have handily clenched victory. Kind of like what John McCain has done on the Republican side.
They would have gotten away with their plot if it were not for the DNC actually punishing them for breaking party voting rules. The candidates at the time had also agreed to not campaign in the two states.
At the end of the day, the votes in the two states did not amount to much of anything. However, that is not our problem. Their intent was to make a repeat of 2004, where John Kerry had an early win, and that was all it took to power him to party victory. Despite not being officially counted, their votes did influence this primary season. There was lots of press coverage and Hillary thanked the voters of these two states, counting them as victories for her.
This was never about delegates. This was about power and influence over voters in other States, damn the rules. The real enemy here is the two states Committees who played this game.
These same people are now demanding a do-over and hold a re-vote. That really shows utter and complete contempt for the whole election process. So, your plan to anoint a winner doesn't work, no problem. Just hold another vote and choose from the finalists. If they are the last two 'big states' to vote, their results will be the ones setting the 'momentum' at the convention. Do they deserve this recognition and influence now?
Lets say they do this. All those who voted in Florida for Edwards, Kucinich or whoever now get to change their vote. No one in the other states will get that opportunity. Any way you slice it, they are giving these states the opportunity to vote twice. How unfair is that? Hell, I bet even Rudy would like a do-over.
How to get around this problem? How about re-voting in all the states, on the same day. Of course, to be fair to both remaining candidates, they should be able to keep the delegates that they already won. The re-vote will assign a second set. All except for Florida and Michigan, which would be electing their first. See, everybody wins this way.
This mess has had the side-benefit of showing once again what a snake Hillary Clinton is. She refused to remove her name from the Michigan ballot after agreeing not to campaign there, winning by default. She campaigned in Florida after agreeing not to do so. She is using the excuse that the two states delegates must be seated for the people’s voices to be heard. That reasoning is sound, in a box, but these two states decided that the voices of the people in the others states did not matter. And for that very reason, they should not be permitted to do any more damage.
Before they go down this road, everyone needs to re-think the reasons why Florida and Michigan violated Democrat (and Republican) Party Primary voting Rules. These two states wanted to give momentum to a candidate that would eventually win each party's nomination. News coverage of the winner would influence the votes that followed in their wake. In the end, their 'votes' would not need to be counted because the winner would have handily clenched victory. Kind of like what John McCain has done on the Republican side.
They would have gotten away with their plot if it were not for the DNC actually punishing them for breaking party voting rules. The candidates at the time had also agreed to not campaign in the two states.
At the end of the day, the votes in the two states did not amount to much of anything. However, that is not our problem. Their intent was to make a repeat of 2004, where John Kerry had an early win, and that was all it took to power him to party victory. Despite not being officially counted, their votes did influence this primary season. There was lots of press coverage and Hillary thanked the voters of these two states, counting them as victories for her.
This was never about delegates. This was about power and influence over voters in other States, damn the rules. The real enemy here is the two states Committees who played this game.
These same people are now demanding a do-over and hold a re-vote. That really shows utter and complete contempt for the whole election process. So, your plan to anoint a winner doesn't work, no problem. Just hold another vote and choose from the finalists. If they are the last two 'big states' to vote, their results will be the ones setting the 'momentum' at the convention. Do they deserve this recognition and influence now?
Lets say they do this. All those who voted in Florida for Edwards, Kucinich or whoever now get to change their vote. No one in the other states will get that opportunity. Any way you slice it, they are giving these states the opportunity to vote twice. How unfair is that? Hell, I bet even Rudy would like a do-over.
How to get around this problem? How about re-voting in all the states, on the same day. Of course, to be fair to both remaining candidates, they should be able to keep the delegates that they already won. The re-vote will assign a second set. All except for Florida and Michigan, which would be electing their first. See, everybody wins this way.
This mess has had the side-benefit of showing once again what a snake Hillary Clinton is. She refused to remove her name from the Michigan ballot after agreeing not to campaign there, winning by default. She campaigned in Florida after agreeing not to do so. She is using the excuse that the two states delegates must be seated for the people’s voices to be heard. That reasoning is sound, in a box, but these two states decided that the voices of the people in the others states did not matter. And for that very reason, they should not be permitted to do any more damage.
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