Well here we are……Michigan and Florida as states of confusion within the Democratic Party.  The Clinton campaign, Michigan governor and Clinton supporter Jennifer Granholm, republican governor of Florida who is a staunch supporter of John McCain and serious contender for the VP spot on the McCain ticket,  Bill Crist,  and Clinton supporter Bill Nelson, are all pushing for Florida and Michigan to be seated at the convention in Denver.  As mentioned in earlier writing, a decision as to how to deal with this issue should have been released long ago.  Further, there is no way that Michigan and Florida can be seated without it being patently unfair not only to the Obama campaign but to all the voters of other states that worked within the rules of the DNC.  Regarding Michigan, Clinton’s name was the only one on the ballot and there is no way that anyone can legitimately argue that it was a fair race, end of story.  As for Florida, millions of voters did not vote and thereby will be disenfranchised because they were informed by the DNC, and the state government, that their vote will not count.  Therefore, the Florida result does not represent the will of all the citizens of Florida.  To seat Florida according to the primary that was held in January would be patently unfair to citizens who did not vote based on incorrect information.  How can anyone argue that it would be fair?  How is that the democratic process?  This is not a situation were voters made an informed decision and decided not to vote. If Florida is seated, the voters of Florida were essentially lied to, the voters relied on that lie when they did not show up at the polls and will be severely damaged as a result.  Last I heard we are suppose to trust that our government will not punish us for listening to the rules and making decisions based on such rules.  Howard Dean said yesterday that the rules will not be changed in the middle of the game.  The DNC Chairman went on to say that to change the rules in the middle of the game would not be fair to either candidate.  Further, Dean said that the candidates agreed to or were aware of the rules with respect to Michigan and Florida before each of them began their run for the presidency. Dean concluded by saying that if Michigan and Florida wants to be seated at the convention in Denver, both states will have to work within the rules that were in place at the beginning of the 2008 presidential campaign.  What that means is that the states will either have to host another primary or appeal to the credentials committee at the Denver  Convention.   Dean also said that there is no way that Florida and Michigan can break the rules and then be rewarded by being given the power to decide this election.  I agree.  All the other states were aware of the rules and worked within them.  The official statement from DNC Chairman Howard Dean went as follows:

The rules, which were agreed to by the full DNC including representatives from Florida and Michigan over 18 months ago, allow for two options. First, either state can choose to resubmit a plan and run a process to select delegates to the convention [another primary or caucus]; second, they can wait until this summer and appeal to the Convention Credentials Committee, which determines and resolves any outstanding questions about the seating of delegates. We look forward to receiving their proposals should they decide to submit new delegate selection plans and will review those plans at that time. The Democratic Nominee will be determined in accordance with party rules, and out of respect for the presidential campaigns and the states that did not violate party rules, we are not going to change the rules in the middle of the game.  “Through all the speculation, we should also remember the overwhelming enthusiasm and turnout that we have already seen, and respect the voters of the twelve states and territories who have yet to have their say. 

Most are estimating that the cost of hosting another primary will be $25 million dollars for each state.  The Florida and Michigan governors are pushing for the DNC to pay for new primaries.  So the republican governor, and John McCain supporter, Bill Crist would like the DNC to go into it’s war chest for the general election and fix a problem that such governor and the republican controlled legislature created.  I am quite sure that the Republican Party of Florida is an a back room chuckling hysterically at the pickle that they have put the democratic party in.  Whatever money the democratic party throws at the Florida and Michigan situation is money that cannot be used in the general election race against John McCain.  Because Florida and Michigan violated the rules, each state should be financially responsible for for hosting a re-do in its respective states.  I am sure that all the voters who have donated funds to the DNC from all over the “United States” are not interested in encouraging the temper-tantrum bad behavior of Michigan and Florida by financing a do-over.