All right. That's enough. Let us speak no more of MI & FL Delegates.

[Hawkeye-X]

The Democratic Party of the state of Florida and Michigan violated the spirit of the rules that they AGREED to follow. And yet, there are demands to get them seated. I think Dean will work out on a compromise, either a do-over via caucuses or just ignore the two states that fucked themselves over. I don't think it is quite fair for people of MI or FL to demand that they be seated when we ALL know Hillary won the majority because she she was the only candidate (besides K) on the ballot in Michigan (which disenfranchises Obama), and nobody campaigned in Fl (except for a few goofs here and there by both campaigns).

I'm in the great state of Colorado, and we caucused after we FOLLOWED the rules, and we were allowed to select who we want to assign delegates to.

This is democracy in action, not dictatorship. If you want dictatorship, move to Sudan.

Hawkeye-X

[derby378]

1. In the long run, the best solution is to have all primaries on the same day

This way, no states are relegated to the political hinterlands, and the candidates will have to work hard for the delegates of each state.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

3. and who is going to pay for that?...a Primary costs Millions and x's2 that

[thoughtcrime1984]

15. Is it worth it to have a vote that counts?

If no, then forget it. Remember who needs to feel the wrath, and that's the Dem leaders in Mi and Fla who did not follow procedure and continue to resist to do what is right.

[Faygo Kid]

5. I disagree. We need to stagger them to consider the candidates.

I do think we need to break the Iowa-New Hampshire monopoly, though. My solution would be to rotate the opening states - maybe three states to get things started (four?) based on diverse characteristics (one large industrial, one rural, one Western, something like that). Four years later a new grouping would go first.

I would not like a single primary day done all-at-once. It may very well have been Clinton-Giuliani under those circumstances. Obama needed to let people get to know him to be competitive, and that has happened. No candidate would ever emerge from the pack; the richest and most famous would always be nominated in a single-day system.

No thanks.

[derby378]

14. I'd be willing to consider a rotating primary season

Your comments are sensible and promote fundamental change without getting totally radical.

I hate to see states left in the lurch, but maybe your ideas would work better towards giving everyone an equal shot in the decision process in the long run.

[Faygo Kid]

17. Thanks, Rotating is the word I was looking for.

Couldn't come up with it. Must have been that extra glass of cabernet last night.

[VolcanoJen]

6. Nope. The last thing we need is a 100% Television Campaign.

The best solution is what has already happened. Iowa and New Hampshire did NOT, in fact, end up deciding our nominee for us. Hell, even Super Tuesday didn't. It's been nothing if not fair.

States like Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania are now looking like the brightest of the bunch, waiting it out with their late primaries. :-)

[iamjoy]

11. How Can You Say It's Fair?

What if you were in any state but Iowa and wanted to vote for Biden or Dodd? What if you were in Nevada and wanted to vote for Richardson?

I know things can't always be completely fair. It would be more equitable however, if the first four states were rotated and other states had to spread their primaries out so no more than say 5 states went in the same week.

However, I think the days of underfunded candidates who are great at retail politics coming out of an early state and getting the notice needed to win are pretty much over regardless. If you look at which two of our candidates are still standing, it's the ones the media was paying attention to a year ago, and the ones who raised the most money throughout 2007.

[madfloridian]

2. I agree.

.

[Barack_America]

4. I agree, but...

As long as those delegates are the only thing giving a *certain* candidate hope for winning the nomination, we're going to keep hearing about them.

[iamjoy]

7. They Must Be Welcomed

To refuse to welcome them, the DNC would be shooting themselves in the foot. It would be very hard to win in November without Michigan and Florida. It would look very bad if we had chaos and division at our convention over these delegations not being seated. OTOH, Florida and Michigan broke the rules and shouldn't be pardoned simply because we're big and important.

They delegations should be welcomed as guests but not given full credentials. There should be space for them on the floor, just like other states, but other than that, they should be treated as guests. They would not be able to vote.

Another primary or caucus would be nearly impossible at this point - if nothing else for the expense. Voters may feel deceived that the votes cast in January aren't counting, which would destroy their faith in the state and national parties. Regardless of who is right and who is wrong, we don't need more division going into the convention, or the November election. But it's true also in many ways these rogue primaries weren't real primaries in that in Michigan, only one major candidate competed. In Florida, the competions was in name only - no votes were sought.

So, continue to say the primaries are invalid, but welcome guests from the state.

[Romulox]

8. Keep crowing about the "rules". The rules say the credential committee get to decide

if the delegates are seated. Not Howard Dean. Not GDP. :rofl:

[TexasObserver]

9. the best thing to do about Michigan and Florida is send them to their rooms

Until everything else is handled. If we have a nominee by May or June, THEN we'll decide what to do about them. They misbehaved. They were openly rebellious and brought this on themselves.

They should be at the convention, but not allowed to vote on the nominee unless it's already settled.

The party should literally ignore them until June. They made their choices, now they must live with the consequences.

[557188]

10. Obama took his name off the ballott willingly.

Hillary didn't hold a gun to his head.

It was a political mistake and shows that Obama makes boneheaded moves.

If the delegates don't get seated the Dems will lose Michigan and Florida in the GE.

[enki23]

13. shows he made the honorable decision, like most of the democratic candidates

that's one of the things that's really, really turned me off about the hillary campaign. to remind us of this is not a good idea. i want to like her, but underhanded bullshit like she pulled in michigan makes it really goddamned difficult, and lends credence to all the worst assessments of her character. not good. if she's dishonest in something like this, what else has she been dishonest in?

[Recursion]

12. It's amazing that your response to this is...

"Obama is a sucker" rather than "Clinton is a really dirty campaigner and liar"

[sailor65]

16. Michigan is the state

most devastated by Bush and Clinton, by far.

Ignoring us will prove costly, since I can tell you firsthand that even most of the union members here are not marching in lockstep with the leadership which typically tells them whom to vote for. The old "Vote your pocketbook" slogan which served so well for years doesn't anymore, and if you want to see Michigan turn an ugly shade of red in November, keep on ignoring it.

If the party was smarter, Michigan would have been one of the first already, instead of being tossed out like we have.

[Faygo Kid]

18. That's my home state. What a mess.

If they had stuck to the original primary date, it would have been yesterday, and possibly the decisive primary.

Michigan deserves better. Just awarding most of the delegates to Hillary is patently unfair, and would split the party irrevocably. They may have to revote.

Like I said, what a mess. I live outside DC now, but my goal is to return to Michigan and retire there in a few years. Traverse City area, which I love.