THE SYSTOCRAT PAPERS

There are at least two reasons why the DNC’s rules committee should not have met on Saturday to discuss Michigan and Florida. 

First of all, the DNC’s partial reversal of its previous decision not to seat these delegates is most troubling.  I’m not taking the position that the DNC shouldn’t have made some provision to ensure that delegates from these two important states are seated.  What I am saying is that it was eminently foreseeable that voters from these states might be more than a little pissed off at not having their votes counted.  I, for one, am wondering why the DNC didn’t fully explore the possible ramifications of this decision before it was made.  If it had done so, the DNC might have decided to exact a more reasonable penalty and this entire situation could have been avoided.  Instead, here we are.

Second, let’s all remember that Hillary had no problem with the fact that the Michigan and Florida delegates were not to be seated at the convention until her “inevitable” campaign strategy imploded somewhere between Iowa and Super Tuesday.  If Hillary cared so much about having these delegates seated, why didn’t she lobby these states to move their primaries to an acceptable date?  Just as important, why didn’t voters in these states raise more of a stink about this alleged “disenfranchisement” before these primaries took place?  Same goes for the protesters at the DNC event, both outside and inside.  Where were you folks before these primaries?

Should these delegates be seated?  Absolutely.  Should they be allocated in a manner that “fairly reflects” the votes cast, as argued by Harold Ickes?  Absolutely not, because as Senator Carl Levin correctly noted, these are “flawed” primaries - there’s no way that any rational, honest person can believe that those results accurately represent the actual will of the voters.  For example, in the days leading up to these two contests, the media relentlessly characterized them as “completely meaningless.” How many busy, hardworking Americans heeded this message and didn’t even bother making a trip to the polls?  We’ll never know, I suppose.

These delegates should have been divided 50/50 between Obama and Clinton, to allow the delegates to be seated but also recognizing the flawed nature of these primaries. The fact that the Clinton faction successfully lobbied for an arrangement that allowed her a net gain of twenty-four delegates between these two states is more than fair, and should be more than satisfactory to all rational Clinton supporters.  But as Florida State Rep. Arthenia Joyner succinctly put it, Clinton and her supporters “want it all.”  They want their candidate at the top of the ticket by any means possible, be it fair or unfair, right or wrong, divisive or not. 

As Democrats get ready to don their blue jerseys and take the field in the most important election of our generation, here’s my final scorecard with respect to Saturday’s event.  The very fact that this meeting was held counts as a loss for the DNC, who was forced by the Clinton faction into a reversal of its previous mandate and into a decision that Howard Dean acknowledged at the beginning of the day would not be satisfactory to everyone.  Although the goal was to promote party unity, at the end of the day it appeared that the party was as divided as ever.  Moreover, given the fact that it was the DNC’s ill-advised decision that caused this debacle in the first place, the blue team should be wondering whether a coaching change is advisable before they enter the general election arena. 

Saturday was also a bad day for Clinton, as it emphasized her worst qualities as a politician.  Although Howard Wolfson claimed victory for Clinton by the mere fact that the meeting took place at all, in the long run Saturday’s events are further evidence in support of the widely held opinion that Clinton will say or do anything to be elected.  Clinton is a tremendously talented politician who has run a tough, tenacious campaign and I’m hoping that by the end of this week, she’s gracefully exited the race and endorsed Obama so that we can all move forward together.  But we need to move forward, with Hillary, in a manner that doesn’t turn voters off.  Enough said.

Most importantly, however, Saturday was a loss for everyday voters who desperately want/need change in Washington, as it served as yet another distraction from the real issues facing this country today. 

A wise man once said that lessons learned from today’s loss help one to achieve victory tomorrow.  Let’s hope that’s the case for the Party and the people.