Consensus Nears For Mail-In Revote In Florida

AP via Los Angeles Times:

A consensus began to emerge today that the best way to give Florida's Democrats a voice in electing a candidate for president lies with the U.S. Postal Service.

The Democratic National Committee stripped Florida and Michigan of all their convention delegates -- a total of 313 -- for holding their primaries too early, making both contests meaningless. New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won both states, but no delegates. Her rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, did not appear on Michigan's ballot.

But the disqualification of Florida and Michigan has created a headache for the Democratic party due to the unexpected closeness of the race between Obama and Clinton. Officials from both states are trying to figure out how best to resolve the issue before the national convention in August.

DNC Chairman Howard Dean said a mail-in primary is "actually a very good process."

"Every voter gets a ballot in the mail," the former Vermont governor said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "It's comprehensive, you get to vote if you're in Iraq or in a nursing home. It's not a bad way to do this."

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Read the whole story: AP via Los Angeles Times

Comments

[anthonylee]

D. Brazile - “Laws and rules are not suggestions. When we decide to break the laws and rules governing our society, we do so knowing that we risk paying the price for it. Florida and Michigan elected officials as well as party leaders knew the price for breaking the rules. If they don't pay it, there will be no rules governing the 2012 election process. There will only be suggestions and chaos.”

This is a "slippery slope" - It's why the RNC has "trumped" the DNC in past elections. No matter how corrupt, Republicans have a "code" by which they govern themselves - "rules of engagement" their "party's authority" is beyond reproach.

You're corrupting the "Moral Authority" of the DNC by changing rules in the middle of the game, and more importantly without liability/­responsibi­lity on the part of MI & FL.

Solution: Seat the Delegates from each state 50/50 - so that they can participate at the Convention - anything else slides the Party into the water and "most" is lost.

[unimpossible]

WHAT IF Barack's campaign came up with the funds to pay for the Primaries by mail?
To me there couldn't be a better way to demonstrate his willingness and ability to creatively solve a problem.
IMO He could raise the money in a few days and it would be the best possible way to demonstrate his deep commitment to do what is best for ALL ... and his ability to access a place in consciousness where workable solutions become evident.

[simplify]

There is no way Obama is going to agree to a nightmare scenario like a mail in vote.

[samuraijack]

John Dean, the Neville Chamberlain of the Democratic party.

[Susan1968]

Hillary has 1400 elected delegates from these primaries.

No candidate in the history of this country ever dropped out of a race with over 100 delegates.

Ronald Reagan had a similar situation with his first shot at the presidency in the REP primary -- he took it all the way to the convention.

Other candidates have too. Read your history. This is not the first time this has happened.

You have no right to push Hillary out of this race. And if their positions were revesed, I'd defend Obama's right to go to the convention, even though I supoort Hillary.

As fractured as it is at times, this is a democracy.

It's not American Idol.

[OrcinusOrca]

The easiest way would be to count Florida as it voted in January but strip away 50% of the Florida delegates. And to hold a caucus in Michigan because the Michigan vote in January is basically unaccountable because only Clinton had enough lack of character to remain on the ballot. That would give both candidates a little sugar (Clinton would net 19 delegates out of Florida and Obama would most probably net a decent amount of delegates out of Michigan) and we all could live happily everafter. Stop fussing about details, Democrats! November is the main target!

[Mercedes]

A simple solution:

If Barack and Hillary want Florida and Michigan to vote again, preferably (and less expensive) by mail, let each pay half the costs in both states.

[Shannon2008]

A mail-in vote clearly favors Hilary Clinton. Younger voters do not have static mailing addresses, especially college students. Young voters are less like to even check their mailboxes for snail mail. They're more likely to pay their bills electronically as well as communicate with others online.

Blacks are also more likely to be renters and have less static addresses than other ethnic groups.

A mail-in ballot clearly will disenfranchise the voters of Obama's base.

And, what will the rules be? Will there be time for a ground operation to register new voters or are the ballots only going to be sent to the voters that have previously registered to vote.

A caucus or primary would be far fairer than a mail-in ballot unless there is no requirement to have the ballot mailed to the home address of the registered voter.

A PRIMARY IS THE ONLY WAY TO PLAY BY THE RULES THAT WERE ESTABLISHED IN THE BEGINING. THE RULES SHOULD NOT CHANGE.

[jazzman]

This is the wrong way to go. Moving the goal posts and changing the rules in midstream during this primary is going to create more problems then it is going to solve. If Howard Dean and the DNC had half a brain they would split the delegates of both Florida and Michigan and allow them to participate in the Democratic Convention but not allow them to play a major role in deciding the nomination. Right now they are about to be rewarded for breaking the rules by being the major players in the nomination which is what they were after when they defied the Party and held early primaries.

[dykalg]

Excellent summation: they break the rules in order to become major players based on the Clinton's "judgement" that it would all be over by super tuesday. It wasn't. They are wrong. And for reasons no sane person can understand the DNC says it has a problem. Barack Obama doesn't see a problem.
Just follow the rules.

Can it be that the Clintons unceasing phone calls are flattering the vanity of "our leaders" ? Remember Senator Kerry, Senator Kennedy and Senator Dodd all had the "cajones" and the character to endorse Obama. Where is Al Gore? Where is John Edwards? Where is Richardson?

This whole discussion is a triumph of Clintonesque manipulation. She loved to watch her father's friends, big john and fat albert, turn over the pinochle table when they were losing at cards. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

[Camel54]

Keep in mind, the primary was moved by the Republicans and not the Democrats in Florida. The FL legislature is 2:1 majority of Republicans and they chose to uphold that vote knowing full well what it would do to the Democratic party. They then tacked on a vote-tracking measure that no Democrat in FL could vote against without ending their careers and practically handing another seat to a Republican. We can't blame the FL Democratic voters for something Republicans did.

It would be insane to seat the delegates as they are, though, since no one campaigned in FL aside from Clinton--and let's be honest, she did campaign there. She also did not take her name off the ballot in Michigan like the other Democratic front-runners did.

Florida, at least, cannot be ignored in the convention. This mail-in caucus their talking about, would this allow everyone in Florida to vote? Even Republicans? Do they have an open or closed primary system. They need to give more details before they make a move that essentially annoints one of the candidates.

[EinChicago]

If tehy split teh delegates than they're not allowing them to participate because they're effectively worthless votes. Making a token gesture like that would be idiotic and insulting to the people of either state.

[treadway123]

I don't care how you look at it, this is not fair! The only reason clinton wants this is because she can't win fair and square. If Obama was to lose , because they seat Florida and Michitgan, I can guarantee you the Demacratic party willl lose in November. We republicans who jumped shipt o vote for Obama will not vote Hillary.Millions of young people across this Nation will never come out to vote again is this election is STOLENs! Forida an Michigan is so wrong for doing this to our country. If I lived there, I;d be ashamed of myself, and my state! They are the one's who broke the rules, and when people break rule's and laws they often go to jail or prison---------they don't just say it's ok we can just do it over and maybe we will get it right this time-----------and it won't hurt now one the second time around. SHAME ON THESE STATES FOR DOING THIS TO THE DEMACRATE PARTY, AND TO THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA! You'll never be forgiven for stealling an election again. YOU JUST HAD TO GET IT WRONG AGAIN FLORIDA, DID'T YA!

[VOTER]

PREVENT VOTE STEALING AND THE NEED TO RAISE $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Split the delegates 50-50 between Clinton and Obama.

[jfoxx]

I don't think they should split the delegates, because that's a false representation of the will of the people. Instead, they need to send the clear message that the will of the people will be inconsequential due to the belligerence of state government officials.

Instead, I think the DNC should subtract 50% of these states' delegates from the number needed for nomination.

[WorkingClass]

Lets hold primaries in Michigan and Florida for the election in 2012.

[NotMyPrez]

Florida, again with Florida.....
How can you win a state but no delegates? That's a non-win.

[bobbski]

The salient point being missed in the Michigan-Florida mess is this: Why does the DNC (or RNC for that matter) have any say whatsoever over when the primaries are held?

If they are paying for them, perhaps I can see it but unless I am mistaken, it is the states who foot the bill for the primary.

So why shouldn't the states decide when to have their primaries?

[Trollstakeyourmeds]

This is a good question...one I've been wondering about myself.

[Camel54]

Without writing a textbook here, it's because if you allowed states to control it on their own, they'd all be fighting to go first so they could get the majority of ad-share dollars from campaigns. Yeah, they like to tell you it's about prestige and being part of the process, but it's really all about $$$.

Down the line of things that are important, there is also the issue of balance. You can't have a number of states all from one area, all with one demographic voting on the same day b/c they would all vote similarly enough to give a candidate, not necessarily the best candidate for the party or for the general election, a massive head start and all the Mo'. That's why they need a 100% national primary or they need to be divided up according the DNC's rules to maintain balance throughout the process.

[EinChicago]

Exactly! Why should the DNC get to decide that an ice cream parlor social in South Carolina is more important than a legitimate vote in Florida? It's insane.

[Silpat]

Humm.. I wonder how the over-sight for that potential fiasco will work out.

[dykalg]

If we all soft focus for a moment we will see the "problem" of Florida and Michigan as the same "problem" that faced the neocons when they needed to get Iraq's vast oil reserves and had to manufacture a reason to go to war to get it. There is no problem for the dems that time and a few more legitimate primaries and caucuses won't resolve. Obama or Hillary will lead in delegates, and the superdelegates will confirm the winner. simple. The problem the Clintons saw was Obama leading. The solution to THEIR problem is to spook the democatic leadership into "supporting the war" in the interests of "fairness".

This is a replay of the muddled thinking that led to Iraq. I was ashamed and frightened to see the tactics of the Supreme Court stopping the vote count in Florida in 2000. And I am shocked to see the DNC maneuvering and deceiving itself to get the nomination for Hillary. Lizard brains !

[nurseattorney]

You really can't believe that Howard Dean and the DNC are trying to "get the nomination for Hillary." In fact, the reason the CLinton's are screaming their heads off about MI and FL is that Dean has refused to kowtow to their demands and change party rules. After all, the Clinton's believe THEY are the REAL leaders of the Democratic Party. They should get to decide these things. Just ask them...their surrogate Hillary Rosen was trashing Howard Dean the other day on MSNBC. She said "if we didn't have such a WEAK DNC chairman, the FL and MI primaries would never have been a problem."