Reply #72: ***(((((Part 1)))))*** [View All]

[indimuse]

READ AND LEARN OBAMA PEEPS!!!


On May 31st the DNC rules committee meets, and Clinton loyalists will need to present coherent, persuasive, and unimpeachable arguments to crush any attempt to further stall progress on Michigan and Florida.


SNIP

I’ve already debunked most arguments made by Axelrod’s camp claiming FL and MI deserve no hearing. I neglected a few more, which the likes of Donna Brazile plan on deploying on May 31st:

1) DNC rules were applied - and they will stand
2) Admitting FL and MI is unfair, and somehow “disenfranchises” other states, sets destructive precedent
3) The “Virtually disenfranchised” in FL and MI
4) Compromise

Before I get into into each argument, I’d just like to acknowledge what is already commonly known in Clinton circles.

DNC election rules apply only to delegates, not to the popular vote. When the popular vote is tallied, (RealClearPolitics measure will most likely be the benchmark), only fools will keep 2.3 - 2.5 million Florida and Michigan voters in the cupboard. I hope this descriptions applies to a limited number of Superdelegates (”independent delegates”).

1) DNC rules were applied.
No. They were not applied. The rules call for a 1/2 reduction of delegate totals. This option was not exercised - the rules were ignored. Nothing in the DNC rules allows for total disenfranchisement of FL and MI. Nothing. To claim that MI and FL were disenfranchised legally, is bombastic nonsense.

Neither Dean nor Pelosi, nor Clinton, ever maintained that FL and MI would not have their delegates seated in Denver. The implication all along, was that Primaries in MI and FL, would not be allowed to marginalize Primaries in four states previously scheduled ahead of MI and FL.

When Obama, Edwards, and Clinton signed a four-state pledge to honor the DNC position on Florida and Michigan, all this implied was to not allow Fl and MI to take precedence over Primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina. No candidate in any way, shape, or form, signed on to banning FL and MI delegates from the Convention in Denver.

What Obama signed, or how he interprets his signature, is an altogether different matter. Removing his name from the Michigan ballot, while relying on the neighboring media market of Illinois to advertise, and explicitly rally his supporters to vote Uncommitted in Michigan, sends a mixed signal on his intentions, and a clear signal on his incompetence.

The only binding aspect of candidates signatures in the four state pledge, came in the form of limiting their campaign activity. Candidates interpreted this to mean, a ban on physical appearances in either MI and FL. No more, and no less. Both Clinton and Obama appeared in FL, but for reasons which cannot be legally pinned down as “campaigning”, and there is no doubt on their staying true to their word.

To construe candidate signatures as binding on their policy stance on FL and MI delegates counts, is to spread disinformation. We see such disinformation every time FL and MI are mentioned in the media. It is plain wrong, and Obamacans need to get this through their heads, no matter how thick.

Continuing on the subject of DNC rules. Not only is the DNC not following the rules, in denying FL and MI the vote, they have absolutely no grounds to negotiate with FL and MI representatives, about 1/2 reductions of their delegate count.

DNC rules state that any state party which itself moves the voting date, will be penalized. As is well known in Clinton circles, neither the Florida nor Michigan Democrats chose to move their elections forward. The choosing was done by someone else! Republicans controlled both FL and MI State Legislatures, and when passing omnibus bills disbursing moneys for both Democratic and Republican Primaries, forced both of them forward.

Democrats fought against this in both states, but in both cases could not veto omnibus bills apportioning moneys for their own election! The DNC provided them with no alternative options or moneys for their elections, and carelessly left the Democratic parties of MI and FL, stranded!

Not even the finest reading of the DNC election rules, permit stripping or reducing in half state delegates, for actions committed under duress by the opposing party!