Fix the Michigan and Florida double standard

Turkana at The Left Coaster has a good post up today about the way that Florida and Michigan are getting the shaft. And let’s make no mistake about this: if they were included in the totals, Clinton wouldn’t look like she’s on the ropes right now and the media would have been forced to cover Florida as a genuine win- and a big one- for Hillary. Instead, they barely mentioned it while they overhyped Obama’s win in South Carolina.

What the absence of MI and FL does is nullify the votes of those of us in the Big D states who voted on SuperTuesday. Our votes combined with MI and FL should have given Hillary more of a boost but they seem to be dangled out there like they don’t count and without their critical mass, we are in virtual dead heat with no one getting a decisive lead and with one candidate benefitting from a deceptive media narrative.

Now, I think maybe Michigan should hold its primary again. It’s only fair since Obama and Edwards were not on the ballot. If it’s too expensive to do a primary and caucuses are *clearly* out of the question because the rabid Obamaphiles are the ones who show up to them and there is no secret ballot, why not have a primary by mail like Oregon has for their general elections? How hard would that be? It takes virtually no time to send out a ballot fo everyone registered and give them until *name a date* to send the sucker back. It’s quick, it’s private and it’s cheap compared to setting up voting precincts and calibrating voting machines. Before you know it, Michigan could seat some valid delegates. No muss, no fuss.

Florida on the other hand, *did* feature multiple candidates on its ballot and more than a million voters turned out to vote. I think Florida’s primary must be taken seriously. In fact, the voters did it without much campaigning on any candidate’s part which, to me, is more important. Except for the cable ad buys that Obama’s camp did and the few fundraising events by Clinton, the voter’s were relatively untainted and could evaluate the candidates based on nationally televised debates. It sounds legit. What good would be served by doing it all over except that due to the momentum that Obama has in the past week or so, the numbers would change in his favor?

Then there’s this: it turns out that South Carolina, NH and Iowa all violate the stated DNC primary timing rules, but they are let off the hook because of tradition. Only Michigan and Florida are punished. From a Left Coaster thread, a commenter notes:

Rule 11.A specifically set the date for the primaries & caucuses for those three states as ,“no earlier than 22 days before the first Tuesday in February” (Iowa), “no earlier than 14 days before the first Tuesday in February” (New Hampshire), and “no earlier than 7 days before the first Tuesday in February” (South Carolina).Iowa held their caucuses on January 3rd. That’s more than 22 days before the first Tuesday in February. New Hampshire held their primary on January 8th. That’s more than 17 days before the first Tuesday in February. And South Carolina held their primary on January 26th. That’s more than 7 days before the first Tuesday in February.

The fact is that, using your words, “the rules of the game” were changed to continue to give Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina preferential treatment in the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination process. Florida, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, all violated Rule 11.A., but only Florida and Michigan were punished for it.If you’re going to enforce the rules, then the rules need to be applied equally and fairly. They weren’t, and as far as I’m concerned, the 2008 Delegate Selection Rules for the Democratic National Convention aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.

Now, I’m not the kind of person who approves of changing the rules of the game while in progress, but when there are three states that started out with a handicap and they are relatively small states, why should they have the power to nullify the votes of more than a million voters from two other states? In fact, I don’t think the number of voters of IA, NH and SC combined exceed the number of primary voters in Florida alone. It looks like we are *still* being held hostage by the same stupid little states as before. IA and SC have made the decision for us in spite of SuperTuesday and more than a million disenfranchised voters in 2 states.

Howard better fix this fast because I am losing my patience. My state’s vote in NJ had better carry some weight and if Florida isn’t included, it most likely won’t.