Posted on 02/13/2008 7:37:23 AM PST by IrishMike
WASHINGTON | A prominent civil rights leader has told the Democratic National Committee that refusing to seat delegates from Florida and Michigan would disenfranchise both states' minority communities.
In a Feb. 8 letter to DNC Chairman Howard Dean, NAACP chairman Julian Bond expressed “great concern at the prospect that million of voters in Michigan and Florida could ultimately have their votes completely discounted.” Refusing to seat the states' delegations could remind voters of the “sordid history of racially discriminatory primaries,” he said.
The DNC penalized Michigan and Florida for moving their primaries to earlier dates in violation of party rules. Both states were stripped of their delegates, and the party's presidential candidates signed a pledge not to campaign in either state. Florida lost all 210 delegates, including its superdelegates; Michigan, 156.
Since then, facing the prospect of a drawn-out delegate battle with Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign has pushed hard for both states' delegations to be seated. Clinton won Florida's primary Jan. 29 and Michigan's Jan. 15, but was the only candidate to appear on the Michigan ballot after the other candidates removed their names.
In an interview, Bond said the NAACP had taken no position in the race between Clinton and Obama and would not endorse either candidate. He sent the letter on behalf of the voters in Michigan and especially Florida, where the Republican-controlled legislature and governor changed the state's primary date.
“It struck me as making the voters, including minority voters in Florida particularly, victims of the Republican legislature in Florida. I wanted to get Chairman Dean to find some way to rectify the situation,” Bond said.
(Excerpt) Read more at primebuzz.kcstar.com ...
The Dems make the decision not to count those states yet it is still the fault of those mean Republicans. Amazing.
I would love to see the NAACP take the nomination away from Obama. (not that I am in favor of Hillary, mind you).
Let the games begin !!!
You know, with McCain as the Republican nominee, I really could see large groups of disgruntled Democrats staying home because and deciding that McCain isn’t so bad, for a Republican.
H I L L A R Y is desperate!
Hey Julian. Florida changed the date of the primaries. It had no control over what your Democrat Plantation Party did to "disenfranchise" minority voters by Herr Dean relegating Florida Democrat delegates to the trash heap.
You can take that up with Dean alone, dumbass.
Yes, it would be wonderful if the Clintonistas manage to steal the nomination with the superdelegates, the Florida delegates and the Michigan delegates!
And the lefty loons thought Bush “stole” the election in 2000.....they ain’t seen nothing yet.
and michigan isn’t exactly a republican state
Or else.
National Association for the Advancement of Clinton People?
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Excellent !!!!!!!!!!!!
Why wouldn’t he ask for a re-vote? He is clearly in the pocket of the Clintons.
Their desperation is showing.....and this would NEVER go over well with the populace.
There is no possible way this will end well for the dems. Clinton will make a powerplay that gets her the nomination but expose her for the ^$#$%^ she is.
In the VA Dem primary yesterday one of the exit poll questions was: If your candidate does not win the nomination, will you vote for the nominee? 39% of the Hillary voters said they’d vote for Obama. 16% of Obama’s voters said they would vote for Hillary.
She will lose in Nov. if she wins the nomination with her dirty tactics.
It is fascinating that many of the old-line black establishment are lining up behind Hillary against the first legitimate black candidate in history. Why? I think it’s because if Obama is elected, it will make the old-guard seem like the dinosaurs that they are. With a black president, how could they continue to say that America is the incurably racist society they claim it is? It will seriously undermine their race-baiting game.
LOL !!!
With a black president, how could they continue to say that America is the incurably racist society they claim it is? It will seriously undermine their race-baiting game.
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That’s it in a nut shell.
1. The Republicans are running a liberal
2. I have a liberal Democrat friend that is a McCain supporter.
3. I have a conservative Republican friend that says Obama is a better choice than McCain.
4. Now we have the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People shilling against the black candidtate.
Seriouslly, SOMEBODY WAKE ME UP!!
Yep, I don’t know how this can end well for them. If Clinton does what she probably will (and if I were advising her, what I would tell her to do), it will alienate the “black voter”, one of the main core constituents of the dem base.
Can the dems afford to lose the black vote? I don’t think so...
BUSH V. GORE!
Watch the textbooks get re-written overnight if that happens to say what a brilliant decision Bush v. Gore was.
Now, FWIW, Congressman Billybob, who wrote an amicus brief for BvG, says that the person with the delegates will control the committees, which will control the ruling on these states, i.e., Obama is set.
Seriouslly, SOMEBODY WAKE ME UP!!
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Sleep well, I’m afraid this is not a dream !
However.... I don't think it will get to court. Having been a Parliamentarian at a national political convention, I can describe how the process works. The delegates which are not disputed, are seated. The disputed delegates go before the Credentials Committee. It makes a recommendation to the floor.
The already-seated delegates are the ones who get to vote on which disputed delegates to seat. Bottom line: if Hillary doesn't have a majority of the seated delegates, she hasn't got the votes to seat (her) Michigan and Florida delegates. If Obama controls the floor vote, he would be wise to split those delegations in the same proportion as the delegates from other states who are already seated.
Lastly, the Supreme Court has repeatedly refused to get involved in parliamentary issues that, the Court opines, are within the special province of the legislature or convention, itself.
In short, Al Sharpton is correct (accidentally). Julian Bond is wrong (deliberately).
Did that make sense? I thought it did when I wrote it. But, inside baseball is not easy to follow, sometimes.
John / Billybob
I think it was Stalin that said it isn’t who votes that’s counts it is who counts the votes that matters.
Bingo we have a winner. I told my wife a month ago that the biggest losers if Obama wins is the race baiting Black establishment.
That scenario works best in processes where a Clinton is not involved.
Getting the Clintons to abide by the rules?
You would have better luck sticking a wet noodle up a wildcat's butt.
The question is will they. We don’t really know yet. If the preachers and the local Black politicians do the get out the vote effort will they still be able to deliver for Hill or not? Locally the old Ms Julia(Carson) machine will probably still deliver its votes to the Dem candidate whoever that is.
Is Bond one of the guys who received a lot of money (contracts, etc.) to endorse the ‘Toons?
I guess we know who butters Julian Bond’s bread....
You are SOOOOOO right!
It is a bit of a worry to blame the Julian Bond letter on Hillary Camp exclusively; obviously, Bond speaking out benefits Clinton, but I am afraid he came to the decision of the letter without much prodding. Then again, Clinton Mafia probably prods without making you realize they’re doing it. Is Julian Bond under Clinton mind control?
Not counting Florida and Michigan is not a question of disenfranchising minority voters; they have shown up in astounding numbers everywhere else. They - Blacks, Asians, Latinos - are all shifting toward Barack Obama and their voices are being quite heard, thank you very much, Julian Bond. This fact is what scares supporters of the Clinton campaign.
Besides, if the question was truly anger at the Republican establishment treading on minorities in Florida, wouldn’t this issue have come to light much earlier? How come it only became a problem when Barack started to pull away with high percentage wins?
ping
This is wonderful news. Think how delicious it would be if Florida and Michigan would change the result. The beast fights to include them and wins. The party is torn apart. Blacks and Obama groupies stay home.Springtime for Hitlery. I can hear the music playing.
I love trouble in the enemy’s tent.
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