Michigan and Florida "Do Overs" Are Absurd

James Carville, former Democratic strategist and current Clinton supporter said that the Democratic Party is going to look "absolutely absurd if they don't have primaries and let these people in Florida and Michigan vote." The Clinton campaign is trying to get "do over" elections in Florida and Michigan because of penalties assessed by the Democratic Party in response to these two states scheduling their primaries earlier than they were supposed to. Officials from the Obama campaign are refusing to go along with these plans.

What I believe is absurd is that anyone would even think of allowing any kind of "do over" voting. Not only is this a kindergarten concept (even as kids we didn't believe in "do overs"), but it is sheer manipulation on the part of the Clinton campaign. If Hillary and company wanted to do something about the fact that Florida and Michigan, in an attempt to be "relevant" and get their voices heard early, scheduled their primaries early in the face of Democratic Party sanctions, the time to do it was BEFORE the primaries of these states took place.

To refresh the memory of anyone not familiar with the issues at hand, Michigan and Florida (and a smattering of other states), decided to hold their primaries prior to the Democratic Party sanctioned schedule. They did so because they basically wanted to be important in this election, to be relevant enough to the candidates for them to heed their issues. The response to these early votes by the Democratic Party was to reduce, or completely take away, the delegates being sent to the Convention.

The states went ahead with their early elections and the Party went ahead with the penalties.

Now everyone is crying foul and the states want to have a "do over" election.

This would not be happening if the Democratic contest was not so close. It is yet another attempt by Florida and Michigan Democratic Party officials to be important in this election. And it is pure political maneuvering by Clinton, who is falling way behind and grasping at any straw she can in order to not lose.

In my opinion, I think all the voters are relevant, all the votes should have the same weight and anyone who doesn't play by the rules should live with the consequences of their decisions. I also believe that Party Primaries and Caucuses should all be held on the same day, so that no one can have "bragging rights" and claim their state is more important to the Presidency than any other state.

I call on the Democratic and Republican Parties to each pick a day in future elections that their Primaries and Caucuses will be held on and stick to it. (It would be unfair to the poor poll workers to demand that the Republicans and Democrats have the same day. Maybe they can be a week or two apart.)

I further condemn the Clinton campaign and James Carville (the ultimate spin doctor in his day) for playing politics with this issue. Furthermore, if Clinton and Obama, or anyone else (James) want to toss away $10 million each (or $15 million, as suggested by Carville), I know of lots of single moms who need money for diapers or kids on poverty who need milk and cereal for breakfast. It is incredibly unconscionable for someone to flaunt money like this just to boost someone's ego (figure out for yourself if I mean the state's Dems or Hillary), when it could be used to satisfy more desperate needs.

Sources
Detroit Free Press
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080308/NEWS06/803080308/&imw=Y