If Michigan doesn't count, WHY is CNN putting it for Clinton then?

[berni_mccoy]

Check out CNN's home page:

www.cnn.com

They have the following for the Dem candidates:

Democrats, States Won, Del
Obama, IA, 25
Clinton, MI, NH, 24
Edwards, -, 18

[vi5]

1. To create a sense of momentum...

...Most people don't follow closely enough to know what the hell was going on with Michigan or the fact that they don't get delegates. So all the media needs to do is create a "CLINTON WON MICHIGAN!!!" vibe and it gives her the momentum they want her to have going into the other primaries.

[RB TexLa]

2. How about a category of Delegates from states too uppity for Howard Dean

Or "Too urban"

or "Too black"

or "Too hispanic"

[berni_mccoy]

5. It's more like the DLC has corrupted Michigan into stupidity. It has nothing to do with

Dean. MI DLCers broke the rules to give favor to Clinton (a DLCer) and to drive a wedge into the party. Same with Florida.

[Tesha]

3. It was an election, whether or not delegates are awarded.

It certainly provided some sense of who Michigan supports.

Tesha

[TheWatcher]

4. Since she was the only one on the ballot

That's a bit of a stretch.

[robbedvoter]

10. There were 3 candidates on the ballot.

[Freddie Stubbs]

12. She was not the only one on the ballot

Dennis Kucinich, Christopher Dodd, and Mike Gravel were also on the ballot. Kucinich got a whopping 4%!

[berni_mccoy]

19. Dodd is out of the race, Kucinich tried to get his name off the ballot. Gravel is insane.

[Freddie Stubbs]

26. Kucinich actually campaigned in Michigan:

January 15, 2008
Kucinich Pitches Higher-Education Plan to Wolverines

During a campaign stop yesterday at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, the Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich sought to sell students on his plan to make a college education free for anyone who then goes to work for the government.

The Michigan Daily reports that Mr. Kucinich characterized his education plan as distinguishing him from other candidates, and challenged his opponents to commit to offer tuition-free college educations. “If students go out there and vote for me, they’ll send a message: Start talking about education,” he said.

more: http://chronicle.com/blogs/election/1436/kucinich-pitches-higher-education-plan-to-wolverines

[berni_mccoy]

6. Not when nearly half the votes were uncommitted. Having real choices on the ballot

Would have made a difference to voters. The DLC has corrupted this state.

[Tesha]

7. The error was the other candidates removing their names.

There should have been an agreement that either
everyone removed their names from the ballot
(effectively canceling the election) or everyone
stayed on the ballot.

Instead, Clinton (typically) punked them all,
but it was still an election, whether in the
style of a banana republic or not.

Tesha

[berni_mccoy]

9. So basically, Clinton Cheated? No surprise there. She's been using Rovian tactics all along.

[spoony]

28. That's what it's really about isn't it?

You don't give a shit about rules or that a whole state was just told to fuck off. You just don't like that Clinton got a lay up. I voted for Kucinich yesterday, but I appreciate that Clinton didn't participate in this cowardly lynching of Michigan's vote.

[robbedvoter]

8. Because...she got the most votes? i thought that's how it works...

At least when Edwards got a fraction of a percent more than Hillary in Iowa couldn't be stopped from saying: "I came in second! I beat Hillary!" every chance he got

[berni_mccoy]

11. Because... she was the only major candidate on the ballot more like it. And she broke party rules

as well by not removing her name.

[Freddie Stubbs]

13. Which specific rule did she break?

:shrug:

[berni_mccoy]

16. The Dem candidates agreed to bypass Michigan since it broke the rules... Hillary didn't

Read it and weep:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/09/michigan.primary/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Five Democratic presidential candidates Tuesday sought to officially withdraw from Michigan's January 15 primary, rendering the event virtually insignificant.

Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio all announced the move Tuesday, the deadline for filing such paperwork.

Under Democratic National Committee rules, only Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina are allowed to hold primaries before February 5.

Apparently, Clinton doesn't respect DNC rules.

[Freddie Stubbs]

20. You still haven't cited the rule

Under Democratic National Committee rules, only Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina are allowed to hold primaries before February 5.

What does the rule say that candidates are allowed/not allowed/required to do?

[berni_mccoy]

21. She is not agreeing to DNC rules by staying on the ballot of a primary that is invalid.

Like it or not, she is validating the Michigan primary and therefore agreeing that the DNC rules were OK to break. She did not agree with the other Dems to pull out of the election. She is a total Rovian hack.

[Freddie Stubbs]

25. Did the DNC rules require candidates to withdraw their names, or simply prohibit them from

campaigning in the state?

[spoony]

15. If party rules dictate disenfranchising millions of Democrats

then fuck party rules.

[berni_mccoy]

18. It's the Michigan DNC (aka DLC) disenfranchising voters. Not the DNC.

They are the ones that moved the primary and broke the rules, not the DNC.

[spoony]

23. Yeah yeah I've seen you pimp that shit all over these threads

and it doesn't smell any better after the tenth time reading it. The decision was the DNC's, and these arbitrary rules do NOT justify robbing millions of people of their vote.

[madrchsod]

22. give me a break....fuck the rules?

because the party enforces it`s rules you say fuck them? if they did`t there would`t be a party.

[spoony]

24. I trust you support the death penalty for jaywalking.

Stop acting like they're standing up for some noble principle. What they're doing is depriving millions of people a voice in an election because they don't like anyone challenging the primacy of two small and nonrepresentative states. So yeah. Fuck them. Give you a break? Fuck that too. How about giving a break to Michigan and Florida Democrats who were just summarily thrown in the trash.

[Blackhatjack]

14. You did notice the delegate count did not change, right?

Clinton should have gotten a lot of grief for keeping her name on the ballot there, considering that Michigan clearly violated the rules established by the National Democratic Party.

[riverdale]

30. I disagree

The candidates who took their names off the ballot deserve the grief. If the Dem candidate is anyone but Hillary, he will have a rough time winning MI because of this.

[Blackhatjack]

31. This has nothing to do with Michigan voters... but rather the State MI Dem Party. n/t

[madrchsod]

17. if there is one lesson to learn from last night

is that the media controls this election. it tells us who to vote for and what the outcome is going to be. there is no reason at all to include michigan but they do because they expect you to believe. do you really care what any talking asshole says about who won or any focus group after the debate. it`s a dog show where they parade the candidate in front of our tv screens and they expect us to decide.

hillary did`t win anything, none of those "numbers" have any creditability,and if we believe them then we deserve what they tell us to believe

[leftchick]

27. and who controls the media?

Hill's new/old best pals! The Corporations she has been working for these last few decades.

:puke:

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

29. Cause She Won. The Election Wasn't Cancelled. Makes Sense To Me.

I'm amazed though that Kucinich still only managed 4%. I think that kind of says something.