Florida: Count Our Delegates Or We Won't Vote

The Buzz:

Howard Dean and Barack Obama may insist Florida's Democratic presidential primary was meaningless, but a new poll shows Florida Democrats aren't buying it, and one in four may not back their party's nominee in November if Florida winds up with no voice in the nomination....

...More than three out of four Florida Democrats say it's "very important" that Florida's delegates count toward the nomination, and one in four said they would be less likely to support the ultimate Democratic nominee if Florida's delegates don't count.

Read the whole story: The Buzz

Comments

[liberal]

12:57 PM on 03/19/2008

Barack Obama may insist Florida's Democratic presidential primary was meaningless.
Of course he insists it's meaningless, it will change the delegate count.
He may insist it's meaningless but it's not meaningless to the people of Florida who voted.

[SCG]

12:52 PM on 03/19/2008

Facts:

1) A person who would fly by night to Florida, to crown themselves victorious in an uncontested election which they earlier agreed would not be recognized, is not someone interested in the voter's voice being heard.


2) Nor is someone who argues that Superdeligates should overturn the results of a election. They not interested in the voter's voice being heard.


Please, she's so transparent , it's really embarrassing.....

[liberal]

12:50 PM on 03/19/2008

I am a Florida voter. I voted in the primary and I want my vote counted. If we lose our delegates I will not contribute to the democratic party and will not vote in the presidential election. It's a shame because I would of voted for Mickey Mouse before I would of voted for a Republican.
UNHAPPY AND DISEiNFRANCHISED AGAIN !

[Bobbygoode]

01:28 PM on 03/19/2008

THEY SAID THE VOTES WOULDN'T COUNT AS EARLY AS OCTOBER 07 if they moved the primary up. SO?? Or are you just another bitter, divisive Clintonista? Yeah, vote for McCain in November. Or, hey, how about Nader?? That will show us. You did it to us once, I'm sure you can do it again. PS How's the "cleansing" of the voter rolls going over there?
I'm in Cali, and I just WISH we could secede from the union so we don't have to suffer because of dorkmeister voters in places like Florida. (Yes, we elected Swartzenegger and Feinstein; nobody's perfect).

[JoshMiami]

02:00 PM on 03/19/2008

DO YOU REALLY THINK HERE IN FLORIDA WE CARE THAT THE DNC DECIDED THAT ?????

how good is it going to be for the democrats to lose florida AGAIN ???
... and thank you for placing the blame on us the voters and calling us names.....
that is very constructive just like the rest of your posting

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

02:39 PM on 03/19/2008

Feinstein, like Clinton, is DLC.

[GeorgeKaplan]

05:22 PM on 03/19/2008

This year - for some reason - we can piss off the voters in Florida and throw away their votes. We will have so many votes coming in it won't be a problem. And the elections in Florida are usually landslides for the Democrats it just won't matter. Ah, we Democrats are geniuses at winning elections!

[EinChicago]

12:16 PM on 03/19/2008

So, for teh sake of truth in advertising, will Dean and Obama start referring to their startegy as the "48 State Plan" Or is it teh "Caucus State Plan" or the "Red state only Plan".


How about a new catchy name for the strategy such as "No swing state left unalienated?"

[ChristopherLib]

12:16 PM on 03/19/2008

All I have to say is thank you Howard Dean and the DNC for this mess you have made. You may have cost us two critical swing states in the General Election. There's plenty of blame to go around, but those at the Democratic National Comittee have to be the most culpable. For one they could have halved the delegate counts as punishment like the Republicans did. Or they could try to address the issue central to this, which is Iowa and New Hampshire having way too much power in the primary process.

Here's what the DNC should do now. Count FL delegates as they were alocated in late January, but halve them. Support a revote in MI which looks like it could happen, and force the Obama campaign who has stalled on this issue to support it. Get this done at all costs. The Democrats can't be the party of disenfranchisement.

[olderdem]

11:43 AM on 03/19/2008

If we can stop pandering to special interests in Florida, then maybe we can have a sane policy towards Cuba. I will be glad when Dems stop worrying about Florida - until Florida is no longer controlled by those special interests.

[Nonamnesiac]

11:27 AM on 03/19/2008

There are lessons for everyone here, but the bottom line is there has to be a fair way agreed to by the state, the DNC, Hillary and Obama so that fairly chosen delegations from FL and MI are seated at the Convention -- or the Dems are almost certainly going to lose in November. Michigan has been a very close, blue state, and FL in 2000 was a close blue state that counted as red. If their delegates are not seated -- if the Dems don't figure a way to select delegations from FL and MI that are considered by all to be fair, MI and FL will go for McCain. It's that simple.

For Hillary, she has to learn there are consequences for failing to follow rules and for breaking the rules. The rules, as agreed to by all parties, were clear and all of the major candidates agreed to withdraw their names from consideration in MI, including her. Then she violated the rules to which she's agreed that any state conducting their primary prior to February 5, 2008 without DNC approval would not have their votes counted at the Convention and her word not to appear on the MI ballot. Just as the consequences of her voting in favor of invading Iraq was giving bi-partisan support to the unnecessary deaths and maimings of nearly 4000 US troops and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis against the interests of the United States, her decision to break the rules established by the Democratic Party to which she had agreed and her word also has devastating consequences.

The lesson for Obama is that he must practice the getting-beyond-confrontation that he preaches, as if he wins the nomination by excluding the votes of the MI and FL Democratic Party electorate, it is a Pyrrhic victory because he will lose the general election. It will infuriate a signficant enough number of Democratic voters and campaign workers in both states that the Dems will lose those states. If he continues to try to duck a popular vote because he fears it might threaten his slim popular vote lead over Hillary (which is obv ious to all but his most impassioned supporters), he shows himself to be just another two-bit, self-interested politician.

As for the state and national Democratic Parties, they need to learn to keep the big picture in mind when developing Convention rules. If the purpose is to win the Presidential election, they have no business getting into petty power conflicts that can cause the election to be lost because of them.

[Vergadoce]

10:47 AM on 03/19/2008

Why is this Florida thing so difficult? The Dems and Florida knew what would happen going into this thing. The Dems drew their stupid line in the sand and Florida crossed it. They voted to not count Florida. Yes, it was STUPID. However, the time to cry and make a stink about it was then. The fact is, all the Dems -- I think -- thought this primary would've been decided by now and Hillary would have the nomination so it was a moot point anyway. Howard Ickes, Hillary's pollster, even voted AGAINST Florida for violating party rules. Blame whoever you like but this fiasco aint Obama's fault. Blame the party, blame the state and Hillary can blame herself b/c she needs Fla. more than Obama does.

[Kurukulla]

10:41 AM on 03/19/2008

Florida doesn't know how to vote anyway, so it is not a big deal.

[SCG]

10:30 AM on 03/19/2008

Florida, I don't want break this to you, but voting seems to be a continual fiasco in your state. The rest of the country is a bit less than sympathic to your complants, since your own state government is the cause.

If you want nationwide support, perhaps a protest at the state capital would be a good place to start ?they created the problem....they can uncreate it.

[GQB]

12:07 PM on 03/19/2008

the last thing I want is ANOTHER florida election. As they say, florida could screw up a one car funeral.
Since its likely to be rigged in florida anyway, dems should consider it a lost cause and concentrate on stats with an actual election system, not run by Repubs.

[snowcat]

10:26 AM on 03/19/2008

Clinton never spoke up about Michigan and Florida until right before the South Carolina primary

[SCG]

10:32 AM on 03/19/2008

She promised Iowa that she would support the current primary order.....but that was then uh?

[Kurukulla]

10:42 AM on 03/19/2008

She needs the delegates now. States only matter to her if she thinks she can win.

[riverhouse]

10:08 AM on 03/19/2008

The rules are the rules and everyone knew what they were going in. If Floridians have a ax to grind, they need to talk to their local elected Democrats who made the goof. If FL had just kept its original primary date instead of trying to move it up to gain more importance in the game they would actually be having a legitimate primary right in the heat of battle where their outcome would have mattered. They were so eager to jump the gun that they shot themselves in the foot. No one should have any sympathy for them or give them any special consideration. They made the decision, they can live with it. It's called consequences.

[MichaelO]

09:56 AM on 03/19/2008

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN1824791220080319?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&rpc=22&sp=true

McCain will win if this party doesn't unite. The choices are obviously not ideal, but we need to bite the bullet or suffer another 4 to 8 years of War for Peace.

Obama/Clinton, '08

[hydenorhare]

09:49 AM on 03/19/2008

Speaking of preachers, this is great. You've got to see this. You can trust me.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=khuu-RhOBDU&feature=bz301

[beerguy]

09:40 AM on 03/19/2008

Looks like Florida could be the Dems worst nightmare again! Thanks DNC

[Trollstakeyourmeds]

10:03 AM on 03/19/2008

So what else is new!!!