REALITY CHECK: Democrats: The race is ours to lose
by David Litvak
Columnists | 3/25/08
Posted online at 2:16 AM EST on 3/25/08
Howard Dean sure knows how to crash a good party. Since this election cycle began about a year ago, the consensus has been that this November's upcoming presidential election is securely in Democratic hands. This sentiment, however, hasn't stopped the party from taking every opportunity to sabotage itself, whether through vitriolic infighting, campaign scandals or draconian party regulations. Last May, Florida's governor, Charlie Crist, signed a bill moving Florida's presidential primaries up to January 29 in violation of both Democratic and Republican party rules, which prohibit most states from moving up their primary date to before February 5th. Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm signed a similar bill last year, moving her state's primaries up to January 15. The two states-which together would have yielded an additional 313 delegates in the Democratic primary race and 174 delegates in the Republican race-have since been penalized by both parties for their transgressions.
But again, the great furor thus far has been solely on the Democratic side, and with good reason. While the Republican National Committee stripped each state of half its delegates, the Democratic National Committee simply dropped Florida and Michigan's delegates in full. Unwilling to foresee the firestorm of discontent that would erupt the moment it did so, Howard Dean and the DNC declared that neither state would be allowed to seat its delegates at the convention in Denver this August.
Since January, it has become clear that any attempts to rectify the problem are either politically disadvantageous to a particular candidate or too expensive to be feasible. Thankfully, at least one thing is clear: It is impossible for the DNC to renege on its own rules and seat Florida and Michigan's delegates as is. To do so would be patently absurd, tantamount to changing the rules of a baseball game midway through an inning. But beyond what is not on the table, such as seating the current delegation, lies a myriad of other options over which no one can seem to reach an agreement. In a race as hotly contested and emotionally powerful as this one, the Democratic Party can hardly afford to suggest to voters in two states that their votes will not be counted, but that is precisely what it is doing.
But again, the great furor thus far has been solely on the Democratic side, and with good reason. While the Republican National Committee stripped each state of half its delegates, the Democratic National Committee simply dropped Florida and Michigan's delegates in full. Unwilling to foresee the firestorm of discontent that would erupt the moment it did so, Howard Dean and the DNC declared that neither state would be allowed to seat its delegates at the convention in Denver this August.
Since January, it has become clear that any attempts to rectify the problem are either politically disadvantageous to a particular candidate or too expensive to be feasible. Thankfully, at least one thing is clear: It is impossible for the DNC to renege on its own rules and seat Florida and Michigan's delegates as is. To do so would be patently absurd, tantamount to changing the rules of a baseball game midway through an inning. But beyond what is not on the table, such as seating the current delegation, lies a myriad of other options over which no one can seem to reach an agreement. In a race as hotly contested and emotionally powerful as this one, the Democratic Party can hardly afford to suggest to voters in two states that their votes will not be counted, but that is precisely what it is doing.
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Cheree
posted 3/25/08 @ 6:06 AM EST
Thanks for a well witten and informative article about a very important and overlooked subject.
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