OpEdNews » Headed for a Train Wreck

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Tag(s): Delegates; Democratic; Money; Polls; Rules; Senate; State; Wisdom
Group(s): Old-timersAdd to My Group

February 11, 2008 at 10:38:22

Headlined on 2/11/08:
Headed for a Train Wreck

by Kenneth Briggs

www.opednews.com

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Democratic campaign not going as planned-
With the Democratic Party nomination chase headed toward a train wreck, there’s a growing sense of disaster among Democrats that the primaries in two of the largest states of the country-Florida and Michigan- didn’t count toward delegates because of their rule-breaking primaries.

How to resolve the problem without raising a larger issue is the question facing state and national party leaders because it wasn’t supposed to happen this way. Democratic leaders assumed that when Florida broke the rules, a front-runner would quickly emerge, bulldoze through the remaining presidential primaries, and go through motions of accepting the nomination at the convention and by that time Florida’s transgressions would be forgotten.
Instead Super Tuesday came and went, and the upcoming states look to split down the middle. This campaign has been defying all custom, The polls have been wrong, money hasn’t always been decisive, and political machines haven’t always worked. It throws all the conventional wisdom out the window.
Short of Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama unexpectedly surging to a win in the coming weeks, the Democratic party, as Florida Senator Bill Nelson said Friday on the Senate Floor, is headed toward a “train wreck” if Florida and Michigan don’t count.
Source:
Beth Reinhard, Miami Herald, Bradenton Herald, August 10, p.9a

Born-03/20/1934, BA Pol. Sci.-U of Washington-1956, MBA-Seattle U-1970, Boeing-Program Control-1957-1971, State of Oregon-Mental Health Division-Deputy Admistrator-1971-1979, llinois Association of Community MH Agencies[IACHMA]-Executive Director-1980-1987, District of Columbia Government-MH Division-Chief MH System Development-1987-1989, Illinois Real Estate-Associate Broker-1989-1995, Ohio-Retired-1995-1999, Florida-Retired- 1999-?
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8 comments

Nobody special.
WatchingNobody special.

And who was it

who decided that Florida and Michigan would not count? The Democratic National Committee!! They can moan and complain all they like, but not counting Florida and Michigan is a decision that the Democrats made, not anyone else.

by Watching (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 313 comments) on Monday, February 11, 2008 at 3:01:09 PM

Having lived six decades now, I've had a lot of experiences! Grew up in a family often oppressed because of our faith - we stood for peace and against war, and for the rights of all regardless of ethnic background. Active from youth in peace and civil rights. Vietnam-era draft resister. Worked for a while for peace and social justice groups, and then became a civil servant. Felt a call to a consistent life ethic, and am currently serving as President of Consistent Life. All this is out of Chr...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Bill SamuelHaving lived six decades now, I've had a lot of experiences! Grew up in a family often oppressed because of our faith - we stood for peace and against war, and for the rights of all regardless of ethnic background. Active from youth in peace and civil rights. Vietnam-era draft resister. Worked for a while for peace and social justice groups, and then became a civil servant. Felt a call to a consistent life ethic, and am currently serving as President of Consistent Life. All this is out of Chr...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Can Wreck Be Prevented?

Perhaps it's not too late to make a final offer to the two states to come up with another means to select delegates in a fair contest. The results of the primaries should not be counted because candidates avoided campaigning due to the Party rules, so they can not be considered fair contests. Don't know if the parties in those states would take advantage of an offer, but they should be given every opportunity. It's not really fair to the voters in those states to be disenfranchised due to actions of Party leaders.

by Bill Samuel (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 270 comments) on Monday, February 11, 2008 at 3:03:48 PM

Retire high school English teacher. Grandmother of eight grandchildren, six of them Muslim. Love to travel. Have been to Russia, Spain, Morocco, Crete and Santorini, Cosumel and Chichen Itza. Alas, not enough places. However, the ocean anywhere satisfies the soul.
ChristieRetire high school English teacher. Grandmother of eight grandchildren, six of them Muslim. Love to travel. Have been to Russia, Spain, Morocco, Crete and Santorini, Cosumel and Chichen Itza. Alas, not enough places. However, the ocean anywhere satisfies the soul.

How many shenanigans can we have and still call it democracy

The Democratic Party had agreed and the candidates had agreed that the order of the primaries in the individual states was what was best for each candidate. There's a perfectly sound reason. The candidates start out competing in several key selected states chosen for their demographics and region of the country to determine their appeal and because it allows those states with less money to be heard before being shut out of the conversation. MI and FL defied Party rules because they wanted to muscle in early to influence nationally who the nominee is. If the Democratic party lets MI and FL get away with it, next time ALL 50 states will insist on being first or early. The whole process starts to breakdown. The Democratic party officials are right to tell MI and FL, nope, you screwed the pooch! Go sit in the corner!

If they insist on seating the delegates in Florida or Michigan, it would be wise to do so only if they have a re-vote. You can't change the rules in the middle of the game, Many people did not go out and vote because they were told by the DNC that the votes would not count anyway. Hillary would be disenfranchising so many other voters if she chose to push for that. That would turn so many people against the belief that we have fair, democratic elections. We have enough distrust of touch screen voting machines, how many shenanigans can we have before most everyone realizes this is not a democracy?

by Christie (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 143 comments) on Monday, February 11, 2008 at 3:42:54 PM

I am a retired physicist and a progressive. I loathe GWB and the neocons. It is time to impeach him and purge the pseudo government of all neocons. Their ideas are treasonous.
Jerry LobdillI am a retired physicist and a progressive. I loathe GWB and the neocons. It is time to impeach him and purge the pseudo government of all neocons. Their ideas are treasonous.

A train wreck?

I wonder what the author thinks a train wreck consists of. IMO we had a train wreck when the DLC, assisted by the Republican machine, killed off Howard Dean's candidacy in Iowa in 2004.

We've had a train wreck in Congress under the direction of Pelosi and Reid. And we've already had a train wreck in the Democratic primary season this year with the suppression of any candidate who showed any populist (progressive) leanings.

If Hillary and Obama are our only choices, who really gives a damn which of them finally emerges from the corrupt process?

We needed a president who would make FDR look like a lightweight. We're going to get a wannabe. And that, my friends is the real train wreck.

by Jerry Lobdill (7 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 20 comments) on Monday, February 11, 2008 at 5:30:15 PM

Conservative prolife anti-death penalty tree hugger. Believe that less government is good government, government cannot solve anyone's personal problems, the government taking money from one group of people and giving it to another group of people is a crime, and that people should take responsibility for their own lives.
Mad JayhawkConservative prolife anti-death penalty tree hugger. Believe that less government is good government, government cannot solve anyone's personal problems, the government taking money from one group of people and giving it to another group of people is a crime, and that people should take responsibility for their own lives.

Very vote should count

I understood that the candidates agreed to not campaign in MI and FL and that those primaries would not count. If that is the case then its End of Story and time to Sit Down and Shut Up. It is almost criminal to try to change the rules for counting votes in the middle of an election. Who is trying to do that? Al Gore? But in this case I agree with Al, every vote should count and, of course, let Hillary do the counting.

Side Note: it is hilarious that those wonderful voters in Palm Beach County are still having problems with voting after all they have been through. Voters were showing up at their polling places on Super Tuesday wanting to vote. Someone should put up a new sign welcoming visitors to Palm Beach County: "Home of the Densest Voters in the United States". Pitiful.

by Mad Jayhawk (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 305 comments) on Monday, February 11, 2008 at 5:47:54 PM

Hater of Nazis above all. Hobbies include activism, military model building, military history, exciting and vital conversation with retired crooks. Retired
John HanksHater of Nazis above all. Hobbies include activism, military model building, military history, exciting and vital conversation with retired crooks. Retired

Treachery

Whenever such screw ups occur, the first thing is to check for Republicans or other subversives. The next thing is to make the Democrats pay for "Super Tuesdays in those two states. The just solution would be to tell those states to go to hell. But, it was their manipulative leadership that was at fault, not the Democratic voters. What is Florida's excuse for this outrage?

by John Hanks (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1191 comments) on Monday, February 11, 2008 at 7:55:46 PM

Another train wreck comment

Back in the 1840's Nathanial Hawthorne predicted that America would become a train with everyone sitting in the coaches and completely oblivious to the fact that a bridge was washed out ahead.

by John Hanks (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1191 comments) on Monday, February 11, 2008 at 8:15:52 PM