Obama to urge Fla., Mich. delegates be allowed full votes at convention

[Faygo Kid]

Source: Palm Beach Post

By MICHAEL C. BENDER

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Presumed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is expected to release a letter as soon as today calling for Florida and Michigan delegates to receive full votes at the national convention, sources told the Palm Beach Post.

Such a letter would bring closure to a normally technical issue for party insiders that this year exploded into a months-long embarrassment for Democrats.

The question over Florida's delegation, which arose because the state legislature approved a primary that violated Democratic National Committee rules, forced state party leaders to consider a "do-over" primary to be conducted through the mail. It also forced a contentious meeting of top Democrats across the country to determine how — and if — Florida and Michigan should be allowed to participate at the presidential nominating convention.

The letter from Obama would be sent to party leaders in each state as well as to Democratic officials in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada — the four states that urged presidential candidates to avoid the early Florida and Michigan primaries, sources said . . .

Read more: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/politics/content/state/epaper/2008/08/03/0803floridademocrats.html

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Inevitable.

[Zynx]

1. This only has positive consequences, so it is a good move.

[LiberalFighter]

13. It's a good move to put out a letter

Bad move for it to go through.

I was a Gore supporter first, then Clinton and finally Obama.

Florida and Michigan need to pay the price for refusing to follow the rules. I didn't agree with them both losing all their votes and not entirely in agreement with current status of 1/2 votes.

I would had supported either super delegates lose all voting rights and all regular delegates have full voting rights OR 50%. Hold the super delegates accountable because they have the most impact on election legislation in their state.


If they are not going to have consequences for breaking the rules then the rules should be thrown out.

[Zhade]

27. Absolutely a terrible move to follow through with it -- we shouldn't reward rulebreakers!

NT!

[lynnertic]

2. All roads lead to VP Clinton n/t

[TheWraith]

8. What could make you conclude that?

There's absolutely no evidence Clinton is going to be the VP. A lot of evidence to the contrary, in fact.

[lynnertic]

11. It's a hunch

based on what I've read in the news since she suspended her campaign, including this current development. That's all.

[shadowknows69]

21. Bwah ha ha ha ha ha ha

I'll eat my hat. If I wore a hat.

[Zhade]

26. Keep dreaming. She's not going to see the inside of the White House again, unless on a tour.

A majority of registered voters do not want her on the ticket.

[bluestateguy]

3. The PUMA people will find something else to bitch about

I applaud this move.

Florida and Michigan have now hopefully learned their lesson.

[Spouting Horn]

5. What lessons have they learned?

They defied party rules, and paid no consequence.

Considering that the nomination is safely in hand, this is a smart move for Obama nonetheless.

[bluestateguy]

7. They were shunned during the primaries

Seeing as how they would have been real battlegrounds in February if they had just waited their turn, I think they really missed the boat.

[Alexander]

6. Nah, they'll just make up racist bullshit like they always do.

It's all the PUMAs have.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

9. I was reading an article the other day.

Seems PUMA has a lot of Larouchies all through the organization. Which explains a lot.

[Faygo Kid]

10. Yes, LaRouche has sent out his minions to post there. Frightening.

They do as they are told.

But I worry about the level of hate they are whipping up. Far worse than the Freepers. Pumites are obsessed. And I think some could be dangerous. I have never seen such hatred, and I was born during the Truman administration.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

12. I tend to think of the PUMA's like this:

These are people who, during the Clinton administration, enjoyed the best, most productive and and most monetarily rewarding time of their lives. They really thought that we could turn back the clock and revisit that time, bag and baggage, by just nominating Sen. Clinton. They are older now, less open to a changing of the guard, some of them very ageist so to speak, and have lived with the frustration of watching the gains of the Clinton era being systematically dismantled, piece by every little piece. They have, in some strange pathology, identified Obama as a symbol of all that has gone wrong with the county and a symbol of their inability to revisit those "golden years".

Add to that mix doctrinaire proto-feminists who felt that Sen. Clinton deserved the nomination simply on the basis of her chomosomal makeup, that this election was The One, and that Obama is the symbol for All That Is Evil for having beaten her, mix in some poorly-disguised racism on the part of some of them, and add a soucon' of crazy from the Larouchies and you have PUMA.

They missed a golden opportunity for a name for the organization, based upon another animal. COOON: Cutting Off Our Own Noses. It might have encapsulated the whole thing a lot more accurately.

[Faygo Kid]

14. Excellent, and thanks. They are not deep thinkers. To say the least.

Many of them are sad and bitter. But I do think more than a few are deranged, and dangerous. Their sites are way out there; the Freepers' madness looks tame in comparison.

I am glad that DU is now allowing a discussion of this phenomenon. It should not be laughed at. It is dangerous, and these people are sincere. Thank you for your thoughtful post.

[Zhade]

28. In other words, they're the conservative "Dems" who *didn't* suffer under bc's policies.

They didn't lose their jobs due to NAFTA, or face discrimination, homophobia and danger due to DOMA/DADT, didn't care that the news monopolies grew thanks to the Telecommunications Act, and didn't give a damn about half a million dead Iraqi kids.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

33. Most likely not.

Some of the most rabid PUMA types did very well in the years between 92-2K. They made their fortunes, so to speak. I think some of them thought that Sen. Clinton would walk into the White House, go to a secret pantry and flip a secret switch and we would be magically transported back to those salad years.

Sadly, too much damage has been done and besides, shit don't work like that. We need more than magical thinking and status quo to fix things. There is a lot to fix.

[Ian David]

31. Everything you said was wrong except for the COOON part which I would have stolen...

... except that it sounds racist (although I'm sure that was unintentional).

I prefer: Needlessly Excising Our Crazy Old Noses

N E O C O N

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

32. Ian:

The acronym was quite intentional. I think it goes far to encapsulate much of "what lies beneath" amongst those people and their motivations. I have read their postings and that nastiness, while unspoken except in "dog whistle" words, is unmistakable.

I have been many places, done many things, met and befriended many people in my life. I know one true thing: racist and ethnic prejudices, especially those based solely upon the melanin content of someone's epidermis, is the single most pig-stupid thing urge a human can nurture. It debases the person and everything he or she touches. It is unseemly and evinces far more about the racist than it does about the focus of racism. Even striped-assed baboons don't indulge in such debasement.

Note: I am not, nor ever have I been, a racist. I did use that acronym to make what, I strongly felt, was a salient point. In the strongest terms.

[Ian David]

35. Got it. The point being that the PUMA assholes are racists. I agree that most probably are.

And I was not being sarcastic when I said that I did not believe that YOU were being racist.

However, using something meant to sound racist as an accusation against someone else for being racist has the potential of being misinterpreted.

[Ian David]

30. The only thing I hate more than LaRouchebags are Paultards. n/t

[LiberalFighter]

15. PUMA is just a sham group

[cyclezealot]

18. I hope not.

I will urge my state's party leaders to continue the fight. The primary process stinks, its unrepresentative. Debbie Dingell is our Congressman's wife. We will tell her to fight on. The UAW has been a force behind demanding change. Go away. We've been in this fight for many years. And this punishment will not change things.

[bluestateguy]

19. I share your desire to change the rules for 2012

And I do not believe that Iowa and New Hampshire should get to automatically go first every year.

I also think that the Democrats need to start considering allowing states to adopt winner take all primaries if they choose to do so: proportional delegate allocations drag out the primary infighting and threaten party unity.

I would also abolish open primaries in states that have party registration. I don't like these indepdendents and Republicans sticking their mitts into our primaries.

Having said that, once the rules are made that is it. The rules must be obeyed or consequences will follow.

[Ian David]

29. Is Harriett Christian a delegate? n/t

[roseBudd]

4. is this one less thing for PUMAs to whine about?

[Phred42]

16. Another Mistake

[MilesColtrane]

17. Hot damn!

I'm officially starting the push to move the Texas 2012 primary up to first in the nation.

Seeing as how there's no downside...why not?

[shadowknows69]

20. Can the PUMA people please shut the fuck up now?

[BlueJac]

22. WTF?

[MaineDem]

23. Here we go again. I hope the sanctions stand.

They broke the rules and deserve the penalty. They should be happy they're even at the convention.

[knitter4democracy]

24. Nope. I'm still for stripping us of our superdelegates.

They're the ones who did this to us. Let us keep our regular delegates, and force the supers to face what they did.

[MaineDem]

25. Actually I agree with that

The Party leaders in those states should face the punishment; not the people who worked hard to be elected as delegates.

[knitter4democracy]

34. Exactly!

Many of us voted in the primary to send a message (we voted for Kucinich in this house) or because we felt it was our responsibility to, regardless of how messed up our party higher-ups were. They're the ones who messed this up, and they're the ones who should pay for it, not the people of Michigan.