Bill and Hillary Clinton like to say that they're committed to fighting for people "who work hard and play by the rules". The Clintons may work hard, but their bending of the spirit, if not the letter, of Democratic Party rules which they agreed to follow in Michigan and Florida, demonstrate that playing by the rules is not something the Clintons believe applies to them.
Both the Democratic and Republican National Committees were put in a difficult position by Michigan and Florida, which moved up their primary dates in violation of Party rules meant to give some order to the voting process. Given the importance of Michigan and Florida to the fall election, the Republican National Committee probably played it smarter than the DNC. The RNC allowed Republicans to campaign in Michigan and Florida primaries, while denying those states half their Convention delegates. The DNC stripped those states of all of their delegates and prohibited candidates from campaigning there. The DNC was particularly harsh with the Florida Democratic Party, which was effectively forced to move up its primary date by the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Nevertheless, all of the Democratic candidates pledged to abide by their party's rules. Only Hillary Clinton tried to gain an extra advantage by flaunting those rules. In Michigan, Hillary was the only Democrat who did not take her name off the ballot. Even with no other Democrat's name on the ballot, "uncommitted" got almost as many votes as Hillary.
Now, in an effort to break Obama's momentum towards Super Tuesday coming off his more than 2-1 victory in South Carolina on Saturday, Hillary broke the spirit, if not the letter of the Party's rules by jetting into Florida on Sunday.
According to The Orlando Sentinel, "With a wink at the deal, Clinton carefully staged her arrival [in Florida] so she left her airplane with palm trees in the background for photographers. Asked if she was happy to be in Florida, she said, 'How could you not be. It is absolutely glorious. It is a perfect day here in Florida.'" She then attended a fundraiser in Sarasota. Later, Clinton was greeted by Miami Mayor Manny Diaz outside the Lucky Strike Lanes, a bowling ally on South Beach, then spoke for 30 minutes at a $500 per head fundraiser inside the Lucky Strike, before heading to a real estate developer's house for another fundraiser. She also announced that she's returning to Florida for a victory celebration on Tuesday night, as soon as the polls close.
If Clinton wins a substantial victory in the Florida beauty contest, it will be a result, in addition to her suspect campaigning, of her greater fame among Florida voters. Clinton was leading by about 20 points in the polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina a month before the contests in those states. Once Obama, Edwards, and the other candidates had a chance to campaign in those states and gave the voters an opportunity to get to know them better, Hillary came in third to Obama and Edwards in Iowa, defeated Obama by 7,000 votes in New Hampshire, won a small victory in the Nevada caucuses but lost to Obama in the delegate count, and was defeated by Obama by more than a 2-1 margin in South Carolina. Any significant victory that Clinton may win in Florida will be sullied by the fact that no other Democratic candidate campaigned there and gave Florida voters a chance to see them up close.
Even more serious, if going into the August Democratic Convention in Denver, the race is still so close that Hillary can only gain the nomination by seating the Michigan and Florida delegates, she will enter the fall race against the Republican nominee as a damaged candidate. Michigan and Florida are key to a Democratic victory in the fall, and the Convention will probably eventually vote to seat their delegates. But if Hillary wins the nomination only because she was the sole Democratic candidate to flaunt the rules, she will dubbed correctly as a candidate who cannot be trusted to keep her word and believes the rules apply to other people, but not to her.