Florida and Michigan Delegates: Democrats Are Being Undemocratic

After Tuesday’s primary results revealed no clear democratic presidential nominee, attention has heated up over the Michigan and Florida delegates. Because the delegates are split so evenly, neither candidate will be able to accumulate the 2,025 needed to win the democratic presidential nomination.

 

Michigan has 156 delegates, and Florida has 210 delegates. Both states were stripped of their delegates, or penalized, by the Democratic National Convention because they moved their primary up to January.

 The problem with Michigan is: Barack Obama wasn’t even on the ballot in Michigan. The problem with Florida: both candidates had agreed ahead of time not to campaign there. And although Clinton made a victory speech in January in Florida, it was a “beauty contest” primary, no delegate were awarded.  

What is the fairest way for these voters voices to be heard? And if so many people do not want the election to come down to the superdelegates, than how does this get resolved? The only democratic solution is to redo, and hold new primaries in both states. Figuring out how to go about doing that is not easy.

Cost is a big issue, and The Democratic National Committee does not want to pay. http://www.democrats.org/a/2008/03/dean_statement_45.phpIt is estimated that a Florida primary could cost roughly 25 million dollars. Last January, Michigan’s primary costed 10 million dollars.  Florida Senator Bill Nelson issued a letter to Howard Dean, chair of the Democratic National Committee today. Dean said he believed a primary would be the best solution for Florida, and wants the DNC should pay for it.  http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/politics/0306nelsonletter.pdf Senator Carl Levin of Michigan also wants to resolve the issue and according to CNN he said: “I think the key is the voice of Michigan and Florida is heard and there’s a procedure that is fair to the residents and fair to the two candidates,” he said. http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/06/dems.delegates/index.html 

In an article with Traverse City Business today, Michigan Governor, Jennifer Ann Granholm said: “It could not be a primary because a primary is publicly paid for, and the taxpayers would not spend any more tax dollars on a primary. So if there’s anything it would have to be a caucus, but we’d have to have a way to pay for it without taxpayer dollars,” said Governor of Michigan, Jennifer Ann Granholm. Levin also suggested a caucus.

 http://www.tcbusinessnews.com/newsflash_detail.php?recordID=397&edit=true Hillary Clinton wants to seat the delegates.

“I would not accept a caucus. I think that would be a great disservice to the 2 million people who turned out and voted. I think that they want their votes counted. And you know a lot of people would be disenfranchised because of the timing and whatever the particular rules were.”

http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/campaign-2008/2008/03/06/exclusive-interview-clinton-looks-ahead-to-mississippi.html

 

Negotiations are going to continue to take place, in order to come up with a resolution, so millions of voter’s voices in Michigan and Florida do not to unheard. After all, voting is the fundamental process this country is based on, and I think the DNC went to far by taking away these voters voices.

 

Neither Clinton or Obama are going to end up with enough delegates to win the democratic presidential nomination. It is quite possible that superdelegates are going to decide who the nominee will be, or the delegates in Michigan in Florida are going to have to be resolved. Seating the delegates would not be fair.

 

Buckle up Democrats; it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

 

Super Duper Idaho Here I Come…

I’m heading to the democratic caucus for Kootenai County in Coeur d’Alene Idaho on Super Tuesday, February 5^th.  The caucus is being held in the North Idaho College Gym. Doors open at 5:30pm and close at 7pm sharp. As with the rest of the country, a record turnout is expected. Up to 1,200 people are expected to caucus for their candidate on Super Tuesday. This is going to be the rockis’ caucus in recent Idahoan history for Kootenai County. Just for perspective, in 2004, approximately 500 gathered to caucus in Kootenai County.

 Here is a map of Idaho showing where Kootenai County is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Map_of_Idaho_highlighting_Kootenai_County.svg

This is an excerpt from the Couer d’Alene Press, January 20, 2008:Thom George, a member of the executive committee on the Kootenai County Democratic Central Committee, said the organization is actively recruiting candidates for the upcoming races. “There will be Democrats running this election cycle,” George said. “We’re always hopeful that we’ll have qualified candidates to run in the open races.” The Democratic Caucus is slated for Feb. 5 and will be held at North Idaho College. George believes the Democratic Primary race is going to be very interesting and it will be back and forth between three candidates; Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards. “It’s going to be a very big year,” George said. “Having a presidential race always increases voter turnout and interest.”

In Ada County, the caucus will be held in Boise, at the Qwest Arena. It is the largest single county caucus in the nation, and they are expecting about 5,000 people to turnout. Press, and networks such as CNN, will be onsite. Idaho has 23 national delegates, and although this is less than five percent of what California has, the people of Idaho are VERY pumped up to show support for their candidates. People will be coming together to make a change about the issues they care so deeply about. Idaho is one of the reddest states in the nation, and thousands will be participating in the lively democratic caucus process in support of Hillary and Obama. Speaking of the two…  

OBAMARAMA!!! Obama will be in Boise (Ada County) on Saturday, February 2^nd for a rally in the Taco Bell Arena at Boise State University. Currently, his supporters have five offices throughout Idaho. I had a chance to speak with Kootenai County resident and superdelegate, Jeanne Buehl on Monday. She has worked in politics for 25 years, and when asked what kind of influence Obama’s Saturday appearance may have on the people of Idaho. She replied: “a lot of influence if you know the people.” Buehl said she will pledge after Super Tuesday. She said that she will pledge to whichever candidate made it to Idaho first. When asked why she was trending toward Obama, she said there were 3 reasons: 1) I’m a woman of my word  2) He was instrumental in the 50 State Partnership Program and bringing back Congress and the Senate to Democrats,  3) He’d make a helluva president.  Buehl added: “I’m from Idaho, we tell it like it is.” For more, Obama in Idaho, click here: http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/idhome

TEAM HILLARY!!! Hillary is currently not scheduled at this time to make any appearance in Idaho prior to Super Tuesday. I was not able to locate any physical offices for Hillary in Idaho, however she does representation. And of course, thousands of supporters in Idaho. For more, Hillary in Idaho, click here:http://www.hillaryclinton.com/hq/idaho/So….I will be updating when I get to the Kootenai County Caucus in the North Idaho College gym on Super Tuesday. I will be capturing this record turnout, speaking with Idahoans, and sharing the Kootenai Caucus with you as I experience it myself……….

Read more at my other blog at www.seattlepoliticore.org which goes live on Friday, Feb 1st, 2008.

Heated Republican Debate 1/30

Did I see steam coming out of Romneys ears tonight? Maybe not. But there was obvious tension tonight between Romney and McCain. The two couldn’t leave each other alone. They were back and forth with each other all night. And it was a heated debate. Super Tuesday is right around the corner. Huckabee and Paul didn’t get nearly an equal amount of time as McCain and Romney. At one point, Janet Hook from the Los Angeles Times told Huckabee she was going to shower him with questions, Huckabee replied, “Well, good. I’d like to be here tonight.”

So what in the world were Romney and McCain going back and forth about tonight? The WAR, and a timetable for withdrawl. Read the entire transcript of the debate for yourself:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/30/GOPdebate.transcript/index.html

Or you can read a small clip right here:

“MCCAIN: Well, of course, he said he wanted a timetable. Before that, we have to understand that we lost the 2006 election and the Democrats thought that they had a mandate. They thought they had a mandate to get us out of Iraq.

And I was prepared to sacrifice whatever was necessary in order to stand up for what I believed in.

Now, in December of 2006, after the election, Governor Romney was won’t weigh in. I’m a governor.”

At the time, he didn’t want to weigh in because he was a governor, I was out there on the front lines with my friends saying, “We not only can’t withdraw, but we’ve got to have additional troops over there in order for us to have a chance to succeed.”

Then in April, April was a very interesting year (sic) in 2007. That’s when Harry Reid said the war is lost and we’ve got to get out. And the buzzword was “timetables, timetables.”

Governor, the right answer to that question was “no,” not what you said, and that was we don’t want to have them lay in the weeds until we leave and Maliki and the president should enter into some kind of agreement for, quote, “timetables.”

“Timetables” was the buzzword for the…

ROMNEY: Why don’t you use the whole quote, Senator?

MCCAIN: … withdrawal. That…

ROMNEY: Why don’t you use the whole quote? Why do you insist on…

MCCAIN: I’m using the whole quote, where you said “I won’t”…

ROMNEY: … not using the actual quote? That’s not what I said.

MCCAIN: The actual quote is, “We don’t want them to lay in the weeds until we leave.” That is the actual quote and I’m sure…

ROMNEY: What does that mean?

MCCAIN: … fact-checkers –

ROMNEY: What is the meaning?

MCCAIN: It means a timetable until we leave.

ROMNEY: Listen, Senator, let’s…

COOPER: Let me jump in, because the quote that I have…

ROMNEY: Is it not fair — is it not fair to have the person who’s being accused of having a position he doesn’t have be the expert on what his position is?

How is it that you’re the expert on my position, when my position has been very clear?

(APPLAUSE)

I’ll tell you, this is…

MCCAIN: I’m the expert. I’m the expert on this. When you said…

ROMNEY: This is the kind — this is the kind — this is…

MCCAIN: … “I won’t weigh in. I’m a governor.” You couldn’t weigh in because you were a governor…

ROMNEY: That’s a separate point.

MCCAIN: … back when we were having the fight over it.

ROMNEY: That’s a separate point.

MCCAIN: The fact is…

ROMNEY: That’s a separate point.

MCCAIN: … that I have fought for this surge. I have said we need to have this succeed. I know the situation in Iraq and I am proud to have supported this president and supported the fact that we are succeeding in Iraq today.

ROMNEY: There’s…

MCCAIN: If we had done — if we had waited and laid in the weeds until we leave, then al Qaeda would have won and we would be facing a disastrous situation in the…

It seemed like Romney and McCain got caught up in the media hype and what they really did was a diservice to the american people at home watching. Why? Because there is only a limited amount of time for them to discuss where they stand on issues such as the economy, energy and the environment, education, homeland security and foreign policy, poverty, civil rights. Feds cut rates again today. The economy is unstable. I know some of this was touched on but it seems to me that more time could have been devoted to these issues. Could different questions could of been asked to avoid this back and forth between McCain so more time could have been given to other issues or to Huckabee and Paul? Maybe. 

The fight is on. They both are trying to clarify where they stand but it was definately obvious they were not going at this lightly. Not when Super Tuesday is only days away.

Huckabee on the other hand I think did well in the debate. He was the only one who gave his a different response at the end of the debate when Anderson Cooper asked: “

“Would, and if so, why — why would Ronald Reagan endorse you? Would Ronald Reagan endorse you? And if so, why?”

Here is what Huckabee said and how the debate ended:

HUCKABEE: I think it would be incredibly presumptuous and even arrogant for me to try to suggest what Ronald Reagan would do, that he would endorse any of us against the others.

Let me just say this, I’m not going to pretend he would endorse me. I wish he would. I would love that, but I endorse him, and I’m going to tell you why.

It wasn’t just his specific policies, but Ronald Reagan was something more than just a policy wonk. He was a man who loved this country, and he inspired this country to believe in itself again.

What made Ronald Reagan a great president was not just the intricacies of his policies, though they were good policies. It was that he loved America and saw it as a good nation and a great nation because of the greatness of its people.

And if we can recapture that, that’s when we recapture the Reagan spirit. It’s that spirit that has a can-do attitude about America’s futures and that makes us love our country whether we’re Democrats or Republicans. And that’s what I believe Ronald Reagan did — he brought this country back together and made us believe in ourselves.

And whether he believes in us, I hope we still believe in those things which made him a great leader and a great American.

(APPLAUSE)

It seems the debate was heated, the gloves were on, and the energy was a buzzin’ and although Huckabee didn’t get as much in as he would have liked…he got the last word in.