Posted on 03/10/2008 7:58:05 AM PDT by SmithL
The outcome of the Democratic Party's presidential nomination could hinge on what happens in Florida and Michigan.
Late last year, leaders of both states decided to hold their primaries in January, in defiance of party rules. That led Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean to strip both states of their combined 366 delegates, as he had pledged to do.
The impasse could mean that the millions of ballots cast in Florida and Michigan won't count, and those voters will be denied an opportunity to influence the most competitive primary race in 40 years.
The apparent Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain, is surely chuckling at this state of affairs. He should. One of his GOP friends helped engineer it. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and a Republican-controlled Legislature approved moving up Florida's primary date to January, ignoring Dean's warnings. Once Florida made the move, Michigan followed it off the cliff and defied the DNC rules.
It's possible to feel some sympathy for Florida and Michigan, given the stampede that swept them up late last year. California helped trigger this stampede, by moving its primary to February. That prompted dozens of governors and legislatures to make the leap, hoping to give their voters more clout in picking a president.
As we now know, the stampede didn't produce the intended results. California's impact was muted by the fact that so many states voted the same day. States that chose to hold their contests later – Pennsylvania and North Carolina, for instance – are now in a position to determine whether the Democratic presidential nominee will be Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama.
Michigan and Florida voters deserve to be a part of this momentous decision, but there isn't an apparent cheap, easy and equitable solution.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
I’m thinking “so sad, too bad” sounds like a pretty good solution to me!
No Democrat leaning bias here, hmm?
For your liberal friends out there who follow these Pied Piper editorials; the Florida legislature was practically unanimous in its vote to move the date of the Florida primaries.
For those of you in Rio Linda that means all Republicans *and* Democrats voted for this.
And the editorial comment that Florida should pay for the DNCs problem? Take a hike, SacBee. Hold a bake sale and give the proceeds to your Democrat overlords to help defray the cost. I fail to see why the taxpayers should pay for a "do-over".
POPCORN, GET YER POPCORN !!!!
Best thing the GOP could do would be to keep pointing out this fiasco. The dumb dems can’t oversee their own primaries and they want to run the country? Sorry, thanks but, no thanks. Learn how get your own house in order then we’ll talk about it.
So the Sacramento Bee's advice is to:
Soooooooooooo The Sacramento Bee is suggesting that Charlie Crist should have vetoed the choice of the Florida DNC and the Democrat controlled legislature???? That would have gone down like a turd in a punchbowl!
Furthermore, the Florida bill to move the primary to an earlier date WAS INTRODUCED BY A DEMOCRAT lawmaker.
If it were not so true it would be funny!
schu
I missed the part about the legislature being Republican, It doesn't matter though, the bill was introduced and 100% supported by Dems
One of the things I find fascinating in this whole debacle is that FL Sen. Bill Nelson initially came out against another primary. In recent comments, he has indicated that he supports another primary . . . . . or SOME means of making the FL primary count. Perhpas someone had a “meeting of the minds” with him!
This also has the issue of “Be careful what you wish for”. In the primary, HillBillary originally won FL’s delegates. She might not come out so well on the “do-over”. Obama came on strong after the primaries were over in Mich. and FL!
I’m having an argument with a dem after I told him I had read this numerous places. He wants a name and bill number, do you have it? I have done a quick google search and can’t find anything.
Ummm. No. Not in Florida they don't.
Fact is the dates are set by State law, and the parties follow suit.
After all, there is no special law for political parties that gives the DNC some say in how Florida must pay for primaries.
And we are still laughing at Dean.
The freaking nutjobs in any party who think that states and their taxpayers have to hold and pay for their primaries in the first place, need to be run out of town on a rail.
Hillary will sweep Florida.
Not many blacks and plenty of middle age democrat women in the dem ranks.
Of course, in the general, she will do poorly, as will any democrat.
How was it done in Michigan? Was it by a DEMOCRAT controlled legislature?
No Republican Speaker would stand in the way of a Democratic Primary. To do so would be political suicide. The writer reveals his bias since it was a Democrat who pushed the Bill and the Democrats who Got what they ASKED FOR. DOH!
Two trains on a slow-speed collision path. The wreck looks to be centered on Denver. Colorado’s left-wing, nutjob Governor (Bill Ritter, D-RAT) is certain to make the problems worse as he tries to clean up the mess.
“Train wreck for the Democrats”
I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope.......
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