Obama & Michigan & Florida & the New Politics: Anything to win

[Karmadillo]

http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/012178.php

Anything to win
by Turkana

The Michigan legislature adjourned without having voted on a proposed primary revote. The revote is likely dead. The DNC was on board. Clinton donors offered to fund it. Barack Obama was reported to have opposed it, and was piling on legal objections, to prevent it. The Obama camp had already made clear that they would prefer the delegates be split 50/50, and the campaign today repeated that they would consider such a split to be fair. Of course they would. Not because they're evil or bad people or don't think Michigan voters are relevant (as the dishonest bloggers at dishonest blogs would frame it, were Clinton playing this game), but because they're a political team playing politics-as-usual. And as is the case with most politicians, they will do anything to win.

In Florida, plans for a revote also collapsed, this week, and after the same basic dynamic had played out: Clinton was open to a revote, Obama was opposed, with Obama suggesting a 50/50 split of the delegates. Meanwhile, a St. Petersburg Times/Bay News 9 poll showed one in four Florida Democrats may abandon the Party, if the results of the already held primary are not counted. I'm guessing those wavering Democrats will not be convinced to support a candidate who even obstructed efforts for a fair revote.

In Indiana, today, Clinton made clear that she sees a political advantage in this Obama obstructionism. As reported by The Hill:

“I do not understand what Sen. Obama☼ is afraid of, but it is going to hurt our party and our chances in November and so I would call on him, once again, to join me in giving the people of Florida and Michigan the chance to be counted as we move forward in this nominating process,” the former first lady said at the outset of an Indiana press conference.

<edit>

I'll restate what I've been saying all along: I do not support seating the delegates as voted on in the original primaries. I do support revotes. Many Obama supporters have claimed that it was Clinton who would try to block revotes. That has now been proven false. Will these Obama supporters now have the courage and candor to call on their candidate to respect the will of the people, and turn around and help support revote efforts? Is preventing revotes in two states that demographically favor Clinton worth throwing away those states' electoral votes, in November? Is preventing revotes in two states that demographically favor Clinton worth throwing away the concept of abiding by the will of the people? Politics-as-usual should not be political suicide.

[AX10]

1. What this proves is that Obama is just another politician.

He claims and acts as he is above all of this, but he is just one of them. He is a hypocrit and a fraud.
He should remember that before throwing stones in his glass house. Just ask Eliot Spitzer how well that turned out.

[tabatha]

2. Did you read this post?

According to Governor Granholm's statement (published on TPM) the DNC was on-board with the proposed Michigan re-vote. What failed is that the Michigan Senate adjourned without voting on the proposed re-vote. Now Senator Obama may have had objections to the form of the proposed re-vote, particularly about barring from voting those Democrats who voted in the Republican primary when the Democratic primary was meaningless. But those objections did not stop the DNC from approving the proposed re-vote. Once the DNC approved the re-vote, it was up to the Michigan Legislature -- not Senator Obama -- to pass or not pass the needed legislation. The Michigan Senate -- not Senator Obama -- failed to do so.

Is there any evidence that the Obama campaign lobbied hard to stop the Michigan Senate from passing legislation authorizing the re-vote? If so, I'd like to see it.

Raising concerns about the format of the proposed re-vote is one thing. Actively trying to block it once the DNC approved it is quite another.

[goclark]

5. He is doing exactly what HC would do

in his position.

She doesn't like it because she knows this is the only way she can
come close to winning.

And,what gives her the right to have some of her "supporters" volunteer to pay for the entire election, sorry, I meant "Crowning" of Queen Billary.

That seems truly un-American.

In other words, she wants to BUY the election as well as play dirty politics.

[polichick]

3. What a load!

Where's the part about Dems and indies who voted in the Republican primary, and now can't revote in Michigan ~ and their lawsuit???

[tokenlib]

4. Good Point!--that is being ignored...

..just what we need..another unfair primary

[PATRICK]

6. The net gain

as long as he prevails is for Obama. He can repair all of this by simply allowing the votes to count as cast after he secures the total win.

In the meantime, he can match the Clinton hardball with his own. She would use a redo to win and argue for the superdelegates to stay with her. Florida can't be trusted in its system, Michigan has state organization probably backing Hillary. Obama has more to lose than gain by keep accepting these new challenges from a putably defeated opponent and the hostile, gaming media.

The total hypocrisy and manipulation of these two states is owned by the Clinton campaign even if the perception is not. There should have been talk of a revote long before. At that time Hillary would have gained victories but she could not at that time risk losing percentages or the numbers she had in her back pocket. Now that the back pocket is not enough she wants to milk those two states again for more delegates and a symbolic late win to at the last moment rock the Obama campaign- with GOP media help especially.

Obama's counter move is patient and hardcore smart and if he wavered in letting the rules keep shifting at the whim of his opponents he would not be our man for the fall. In this dilemma he made the only choice.

Is it the best? Thanks to the state party leadership and others, we the people are played off against each other like fools. Nor is this entire primary season very good. It was not intended to be tested and revealed like the more horrific 2000 general election sham. It must be remembered it is the process
that is not clean or able to be ignored and if you have the pure perfect giant that can sweep it all aside with no politics or wisdom needed to be applied, it is not too late to bring him/her/? forward(and no, that most unfortunately is not Al Gore).

If someone thinks the political campaigns spend the wee hours trying to put principles over winning, that person might very well worry more that we cannot win in November with such easy rubes. Obama can heal the harm done. Hillary is still too preoccupied with burning the path back to the nomination to worry about the aftermath. I suppose the "victory" will so awe everyone they will think her all the stronger and tested, but her argument for improving the aftermath is weaker than her current math, way weaker. Let the pros test all principles and methods. So far the worst is losing, all the flaws are coming out for scrutiny and possible later reform, and we can deal with the real November now instead of innocent platitudes and blind spot attitudes.