Reader Posts
« previous | TPM CAFÉ READER POSTS HOME | next »
Florida and Michigan Democrats: What Did You Do To Protect Your Primary Vote?
Democratic voters in FL and MI have a legitimate beef with the Democratic Party, particularly their state party leadership. They are the ones who led their constituents off the cliff by violating the national rules (written under the leadership of Clinton advisor Terry McAuliffe) that both states had approved just one year earlier.
But I think it's important to recognize that some responsibility for FL and MI debacles falls on the shoulders of the party rank and file as well.
These movements to hold earlier primaries did not happen in secret and they did not happen overnight. They were openly discussed and debated. There was an opportunity for public dissent. How many of you bitter TPM posters from FL and MI called or emailed their representatives to express their opinion on the matter? How many supported the idea of an earlier primary despite the warnings of the DNC?
It's easy to make moral claims to disenfranchisement but those words ring hollow without any action taken to protect your vote. Democracy requires more of its citizens than casting a ballot, electing representatives and tuning out while they make decisions on your behalf. It requires vigilance and active involvement.
The DNC, the state parties and the elected representatives of FL and MI have all let their party down by allowing this mess to happen. But Democratic voters enabled their leadership, either actively or passively, to violate party rules and risk their votes and must bear some responsibility for their own predicament.
Comments (4)
"Democratic voters in FL and MI have a legitimate beef with the Democratic Party, particularly their state party leadership."
Let's be accurate, and fair. It was the republican controlled legislature in Florida which moved up the primary in that state.
March 22, 2008 2:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Martin -
to my understanding, the Florida mess was [once again] created by Republican dirty tricks. The GOP-dominated legislature chose the date for state-wide primary, with full knowledge of (and shrieking Dem. objections to) the consequences re. DNC schedule penalty. Maybe there was a way for state D. party to self-finance a later primary, with long-advance planning?... don't know ... but whenever this story comes up we need to spread some of the blame to the gleeful-vote-destroyers of Florida GOP.
March 22, 2008 2:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
But it was the Democrats who disenfranchised their voters. It was also an infraction of rnc rules and the gop also punished , but only by taking away 1/2 the state's delegates. The Dem's current dilemma is not something we can blame on the gop. It is entirely self inflicted.
March 22, 2008 3:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not sure where this GOP dirty trick story is coming from. Do you have any sources on this? According to what I've read Florida Democrats went eagerly along with the plan to move up the primaries.
From The New York Times - May 7, 2007:
"The Florida House voted unanimously to move it up on Thursday, a week after the Senate approved the measure. In the same legislation, it approved Gov. Charlie Crist’s plan to replace the touch-screen voting machines used in many of Florida’s counties with paper ballots counted by scanning machines."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/us/politics/04florida.html
From the St. Petersburgh Times - October 7, 2007:
"Not only did Florida Democrats wrongly assume the national party was bluffing, they didn't see that the strongest hand belonged to those favored by the status quo - the party bosses in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.
Steve Geller, the Democratic leader of the state Senate, is still scratching his head. "I don't think any of us thought that the DNC would be stupid enough to punish the biggest swing state in the country to make South Carolina happy."
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/10/07/State/Florida_faces_a_prima.shtml
March 22, 2008 5:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Post a Comment