One state decided it because it was decided before the election (with the disenfranchisement of voters) and after (without a fight for recount).
One state.
The left said never again.
Maybe they just meant never just one state again since many Democrats and assorted other mongrels are willing to disenfranchise Florida and Michigan this go-round.
But wait, they couldn't mean that.
They said every vote should count.
They made such a big to-do over it that the 2004 Democratic Party presidential nominee, John Kerry, would have to promise that he would not allow a repeat, that every vote would be counted. Sure enough, John-o buckled and Ohio was not recounted.
There was much booing and hissing following the 2004 election.
It's four years later, eight since Florida was disenfranchised.
And yet some want to argue that Florida and Michigan's primaries shouldn't count.
You know the drill, we've covered this here since last year and Wally, Cedric and C.I. covered it at their sites. Wally, is in fact, from Florida and takes the issue very personally.
Florida and Michigan, like other states, moved their dates up. Iowa and New Hampshire weren't penalized, just Florida and Michigan. Before the primaries ever took place, we came out against it. Our position would be the same if Barack Obama had won because voters are more important than candidates. That's a basic truth that Amy Goodman and John Nichols can't grasp. Both ignored what was going on in real time but wanted to pretend recently that they gave a damn. If they gave a damn, they would have had their facts right.
Basic truths.
It's going to be real hard for any Democrat to win the White House without Florida and Michigan.
Florida and Michigan had high turnouts. Florida had the biggest turnout for a Democratic primary ever.
Hillary Clinton, who won both primaries, argued for a do-over if that was what it took to get Florida and Michigan's delegates seated.
Barack Obama was against it.
That hasn't gone unnoticed. Florida has only amplified their talk of staying home during the general elections if Florida is penalized.
That talk was present in 2007 and, in fact, some posted comments to Cedric's site about just that when he and Wally would do one of their many joint-posts on the topic.
The Democratic National Committee cannot expect to win a presidential election if they piss off Florida and Michigan.
Since a do-over now seems impossible, earlier methods are now being more seriously addressed.
Some argue that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton should split the delegates evenly.
No, they should not.
In Florida, Barack Obama advertised on TV. Wally saw the ads repeatedly leading up to the primary election (as did Gina and Krista and many other community members in Florida). Hillary, that would be the winner of the primary, didn't advertise. (There was supposed to be no advertising. Barack claimed they were national buys and he had no control over it. They weren't national buys as community members in Iowa and Nebraska have pointed out in the gina & krista round-robin.)
Neither campaigned in Florida. Both attended private fundraisers (permitted by the DNC) and Barack Obama held a press conference (not permitted by the DNC), one where he approached the press and began speaking until reporters pointed out that the press conferences weren't supposed to be allowed and he left in a huff. That's bend the rules until they break Barack.
Barack lost the primary. The winner was Hillary Clinton. No way in hell does he deserve an even split of that primary and no way in hell are the bulk of Florida Democratic voters going to put up with that.
The votes are counted, Barack wanted no do-over, the delegates should be apportioned as they normally would be and the delegates should be seated.
Michigan?
Michigan's a bit different.
In Michigan, neither campaigned (though both campaigns had surrogates). Hillary won there as well. Bambi supporters say the delegates should be split evenly between the two.
No, they should not.
The DNC didn't ask anyone to take their names off the ballot. Barack Obama made the decision to take his name off. Hillary, Dennis Kucinich, Chris Dodd and others did not make that decision.
Having eliminated his name from the ballot, he now wants to scream, "Half are mine!"
No, they aren't. You forfeit a game, you lose. You don't show up on the field, you lose. That's basic in any match up.
Again, the actual winner, Hillary Clinton, was willing to have a do-over. Barack Obama opposed that. Partly because he can't win big states and thinks a do-over would drive that even more home.
But Barack isn't entitled to any votes when he didn't even place his name on the ballot.
The Obama tries to argue that "uncommitted" was their voters. They also try to argue that their voters voted in the Michigan Republican primary.
Let's deal with the latter first. Should someone talk sense into Barack (lots of luck) and Michigan get a do-over, no one who voted in the Republican primary should be allowed to vote in the Democratic do-over. You had your choice and you chose to vote in the Republican primary. The do-over is only for Democrats and, for all intents and purposes, a Democrat in Michigan is someone who voted in the Democratic primary. That's pretty basic.
The former. While Obama dispatched John Conyers, among others, to campaign for him and tell people supporting him to vote "uncommitted"; he wasn't the only one doing that. John Edwards, who also chose to keep his own name off the ballot, also had his surrogates telling his supporters to vote uncommitted. The notion that Edwards is out of the race so his supporters automatically go to Obama isn't a notion with any scientific backing nor does it allow for the fact that some of the uncommitted might not have yet decided (Michigan doesn't hold it's primary that early usually) or they might not have liked any candidate. Or they might have just liked voting "uncommitted." Or they might have been protesting. Regardless, those voting "uncommitted" did not choose Barack Obama.
The only votes he got were if someone wrote his name in. They'd have to write his name in because he chose not to appear on the ballot.
You can't skip a match and claim afterwards that you deserve credit for it.
Whether it's pee-wee, high school, college or professional, you miss the game, you lose.
He has no right to any delegates and only due to the fact that the press has so catered to his demands does he feel he's entitled to delegates who did not select his name.
Hillary gave him a chance at a do-over in both states. The winner gave the loser a chance at a do-over. That's called "good sportsmanship."
It wasn't necessary on her part. There are many people, like us, who were arguing that Florida and Michigan delegates would have to be seated long before 2008 rolled around. She had to know many still would be arguing that. But she was sporting enough to offer a do-over. Bambi wanted nothing to do with it. He just wanted to claim half the delegates that he never won. That's not how it works and if a grown man who brags about his love for b-ball doesn't grasp how embarrassing his attitude is, then he truly isn't fit to serve as president.
In 2000, Al Gore threw in the towel. You can argue the reasons for that until the cows come home. In 2004, despite pledging he wouldn't do the same, John Kerry . . . did the same.
In both instances, Democrats were outraged. In both instances, we were stuck with four years of the Bully Boy in the White House.
Allegedly, this election matters. 2008's election matters. And allegedly Democrats wants fighters.
Hillary's already done more with regards to the Florida and Michigan primaries than Al Gore did for Florida and John Kerry did for Ohio. That's because she is a fighter.
That would be the fighter that we've been waiting for. The Democrat who doesn't roll over and say, "Oh, it's no big deal."
That would be Obama. MoveOn ran an ad about General Betray-Us. The right screamed their heads off. It was insulting! It was unpatrotic! (It was funny and we'd been calling him General Betray-Us long before the MoveOn ad, The Times of London had as well.) Republicans staged a show-vote in the Senate in an attempt to get Democrats to condemn MoveOn for the ad. Many did. Barack, not having the option of merely voting "present," elected to skip that vote. Hillary didn't skip it. She voted against condemning MoveOn.
MoveOn was no friend to Hillary. (Or to Bill, though they like to pretend otherwise.) Hillary could have skipped the vote as well. But she didn't because she knows how the right-wing works and she knows if you don't stand up to them, they don't just get their way, they grow hungry for even more.
Hillary stood up. She's a fighter.
Barack gives speeches full of the words that FAIR usually calls out when they're coming out of the mouths of mainstream columnists and editorialists. Barack claims that it's time to put partisanship behind us. If true, then let's do away with the Democratic Party because if there's no partisanship, there's really no reason for political parties.
As FAIR likes to note every election cycle but this one, when someone starts talking that bi-partisan nonship, it's to Democrats. They don't do it to Republicans. With Republicans, they speak of them having a "mandate" (even when they don't). With Democrats, it's time for bi-partisanship.
If you missed it, with Bully Boy at the helm, the government tilted to the right. Now is not the time to 'reach across.' (Nor is it time for a reach around which really seems to be what Barack's promising.) But Bambi's giving away a store that not only isn't his to give, it's not his to run. Still running for the nomination, he's talking about making nice with those who have worked to tear apart the country. Under Bambi, the message is being sent, you make your crazy demands and he'll meet you half-way. And, probably, if you don't like that offer, he'll meet you two-thirds of the way. If that doesn't work out, he'll come over to your side.
He's never had to fight. In the Illinois legislature, others wrote bills and his mentor put Bambi's name on them in preparation of a US Senate run. Once elected to the Senate, despite promising he would complete his first term (that would be the term he's still serving, serving until 2010), he didn't. And he didn't make votes. And he didn't chair the subcommittee he was put in charge of. And point out any of that and you'll be told, "HE WAS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT!" Yeah, and he wasn't doing his job.
Hillary's done her job. And if Republicans try to steal votes in the 2008 general election, you better believe she's not going to be figuring out what sop to toss out to voters. She's going to be out there fighting. She is the fighter Democrats have been waiting for.
The blank slate, unvetted Barack was a distraction. When examined, his public life is full of unsavory details. Not the least of which is he electing to attend a church, and be a member, where the pastor damns America. He continued in the chuch and is still a member.
We can't picture Hillary staying with a church that damned her country.
Right now, the Bambi campaign is amping up the volume that Hillary must drop out. She's not going to win! That's what they insist and the press goes along. The same press that told you she was going to lose New Hampshire, by the way. Which, for the record, she did not lose.
They want her to drop out because Wright's only one detail in the offing. There is the trial of Barack's buddy Tony Rezko. That would be the man under federal indictment whose trial is currently ongoing. The man who attempted to buy favors with politicians. That would be the man who toured the property, at Barack's inviation and with Barack, that Obama couldn't buy. There was a mansion and a parcel of land. The Obamas couldn't pay for both. (Why they needed to move from a condo to a mansion when he'd just been elected to the US Senate, not made CEO of Del Monte goes to Bambi's grand ambitions.) Rezco and his wife bought the land. The Obamas the mansion. On the same day. The same rubbing the pennies together Obamas were given a discount on the mansion while real estate developer Rezko paid cost. If that sounds "normal" to you, you've drunk too much Kool-Aid.
As Hillary noted in a debate, Rezko is a slum lord. And, indeed, some of those slums were in Barack's district when he was in the Illinois legislature. People went without electricity in the Chicago winters. And Bambi didn't know that? No constitutents complained about that? Since he was writing letters on behalf of Rezko -- to receive government contracts -- one would assume he knew about Rezko's business.
None of the above came out in the debate. Instead Bambi stated he'd done about five hours of work for an organization that was working with Rezko.
A federal witness is expected to testify that Bambi visited Rezko daily while Bambi.
Bambi used to say that he had given all the moneys for his campaign that Rezko donated or raised to charity. He said that when he gave away $70,000. He said it again when the figure reached $100,000. He repeated it when it reached $150,000. Two weekends ago, he revealed it was $250,000. As Regis would ask, "Is that your final answer?"
$250,000 (probably a great deal more) via someone Bambi pretended to barely know. There is more in store. On top of the toxic and viral revelations about Jeremiah Wright, it's not making for a pretty picture. It's only natural that Bambi would want Hillary to drop out because the longer she's in, the less electable he looks. Not due to Hillary's actions, due to the fact that the press slowly starts examining who Obama actually is.
Reality is that Barack Obama is not winning. Hillary's not winning. The two are basically tied at this point. The Democratic Party, up to this point, has been evenly split.
No one leaves the field during a tie. But Bambi wants to eject her from the field so that, as more of his trash becomes public, the Democratic Party has no choice but to rally around him, having made him the nominee.
So he and his pitiful surrogates scream for her to drop out, the LIAR Melissa Harris-Lacewell threatens a "Black-out," the press goes along with it and puts forward the narrative -- the same one they used against Al Gore -- that Hillary's not winning. The two are tied. It is as close as Florida right now and we all know Al Gore would have won if he'd fought.
Despite the surrogates and the campaign screaming for her to drop out, despite the press screaming for it as well, what does Hillary do? Does she go home like Al Gore or John Kerry with her tail between her legs?
No, because she is a fighter.
Over the next few weeks, you'll hear that Hillary needs to drop out more and more. People will start moving the topic to the super delegates and claiming Barack has more. He doesn't. And pledged delegates before the convention do not have to honor their pledges at the convention. (Rebecca, Elaine and C.I. have seen pledged delegates break their pledges at DNC conventions before.) More importantly, Barack Obama doesn't have the support of most pledged delegates.
One thing that Ava and C.I. are hearing over and over from super delegates they're speaking to is: FUNDRAISING. That's the magic word. Money makes the party go round, if not the world. Bill Clinton has been an incredible fundraiser for the Democratic Party since leaving office. They do not want to piss him off, they need him. Hillary's also been a star fundraiser. Bambi? When it was all gloss, he was. Will Americans show him the same sort of loyalty they've shown the Clintons after they've been called every name in the book by the right-wing echo chamber? That's a question super delegates are asking.
Equally true is that Barack's super delegates aren't plugged into the party's power structure. Fools like Amy Goodman go giddy over Ted Kennedy's endorsement of Bambi. Consider it the kiss of the death because Ted has some power in the Senate but no power in the party. Even being the brother of RFK and JFK combined he's not been a star fundraiser. What the party thinks of him was made clear in 1980 when those in charge didn't want him for the presidential nominee. John Kerry? That would be loser Kerry who had to take a vacation and travel following the 2004 election before he could return to his Senate duties and, no, John Kerry is not a fundraising superstar (or even star) for the Democratic Party.
To score some cheap points and easy publicity, the Obama campaign called Geraldine Ferraro a racist for making statements that were similar to what Barack himself had made. Then they took a 'high road' -- one of their momentary truces -- and said she wasn't a racist. Then, last Tuesday, Bambi's likening to her to the NUTSO Jeremiah Wright who not only damns the country but preaches that AIDS was created by scientiets to do away with African-Americans. How nutty can you be? Super delegates do not take well to one of their own being attacked and that Bambi yet again used the racist club (apparently his bag only has one golf club) has truly pissed off a large number of super delegates. Ferraro could, if she wanted to, talk about the supportive calls she's received from other super delegates. She knows what the reaction to Bambi's dirty tricks was.
As it stands now, neither Hillary or Barack currently has enough delegates to claim the nomination and will have to depend upon super delegates unless there's a major change. (Such as Barack doing what's good for the country -- the one he's okay with being damned, apparently -- and the party and dropping out.) In the super delegates, as it currently stands, Hillary's doing very well and better than Bambi.
He can scream "I want!"s in commercial after commercial. It's not his Democratic Party. The party belongs to the Democratic people and they've not crowned him.
Hillary realizes that and keeps fighting.
Democrats post-2000 election and post-2004 election said they wanted a fighter. Open your eyes, she's here.