By Alice

May 21, 2008 2:29 PM | Link to this

Since when did I defend the DNC or Howard Dean? Since when did I say that FL and MI don’t count? The irony is that I have long been a critic of the democrat’s primary process. The DNC has a lot to review and change before the next election. The FL legislature shouldn’t have broken the rules, and the DNC shouldn’t have the rule to begin with. I agree! The rules are stupid! What’s more stupid is blaming Obama for the DNC rules, especially when Hillary and her husband have been involved with and have had more influence within the party than her opponent. I am glad Hillary is standing up for FL and MI to be counted, but she should have done it before it was convenient to her if she really believed it. Let’s revote - whatever - how to resolve FL and MI was not my point. My point is that she only gets a SLIGHT lead in popular vote if MI and FL is counted AS IS, but still trails in delegates. How can you argue that his candidacy is a sham and his success shouldn’t count? Do paper and electronic votes not count for him? Do his supporters need to be photographed and fingerprinted to prove to you that they exist? If you don’t respond, I will have to assume that the DDN is a part of the vast conspiracy against Hillary and her supporters.

By Mary

May 21, 2008 1:16 PM | Link to this

Alice, when a party picks and chooses which votes or states to throw in or out, quit pretending it is a supporter of democracy. From what I can tell about the democratic rules,Howard Dean’s leadership, and the caucus rules which overly benefitted Obama’s campaign, they are a threat to democracy. It is a “game”, not a democracy. A campaign might win the battle, but the party and the country will lose the war. Since when do Florida and Michigan voters not count as popular vote. This is not a foos ball game.

By Alice

May 21, 2008 12:17 PM | Link to this

As someone that supports both democratic candidates, Barack Obama has won this primary. It has been a close race, and the only way Hillary even has the popular vote (let’s forget the delegates for a moment) is with counting FL and MI as is. Hillary was the only candidate on the ballot in MI. Her candidacy has been historic and triumphant in that Hillary is the first woman to prove that a woman can compete for the presidency, but coming close doesn’t count in the end. The “media” doesn’t vote for candidates, people do. It’s only “big news” about the media bias and the disenfranchisement to Hillary’s strongest supporters. A study done by the Project for Excellence in Journalism showed that in April Rev. Wright beat out Hillary as the central news subject among 48 news sources. Needless to say, it wasn’t flattering to Obama. Further, no one sought to disenfranchise FL and MI except for Florida Republicans when they chose when FL would hold it’s primary, before the DNC rules. We can debate that the DNC is to blame, or the FL legislature, and we can debate what should be done for the future, but one point that can’t be argued: Obama had absolutely nothing to do with disenfranchising voters. It is a discredit to Hillary to paint her as a victim. She is a strong, smart candidate that had it all but in the bag at the start of this primary. When Kerry lost in ‘04, I listened as the MSM reported on DNC’s anticipation of Hillary in ‘08. She was the frontrunner for four years, and bottom line, she lost this close fight because of the rising popularity of Obama and her campaign’s lack of preparedness to have to fight for the nomination or that Obama would have such an effective campaign. NO ONE thought a black man named Barack Obama could compete with the wife of one of the most popular dem presidents and a longtime party leader. I would have voted for Hillary had she won the nomination, but now I look forward to the general where the lines between the opponents will be more clearly drawn.

By Mary

May 20, 2008 12:26 PM | Link to this

These comments are resubmitted because of a “submission error”. (I wonder if that happens when someone does not like the comments.) Good for Governor Strickland. I am glad he is telling Hillary to hang in there. The biggest news about this campaign is not just how close it is, but how biased the media has been against her and her campaign and are so willing to ignore the disenfranchisement of Florida and Michigan voters. We have a less experienced, younger man being pushed ahead of a more qualified and experienced woman for the job based on some trumped up “rules” and processes that are not very relevant to the real world. Gee, where have we seen that before?