Tom Harkin: "Bending primary rules for 2 states would be disastrous"

madfloridian

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Fri Mar-07-08 10:19 PM
Original message

Tom Harkin: "Bending primary rules for 2 states would be disastrous"

He is truly angry about this issue, just as I am. Harkin sees the dangers of the division. One of the local DEC members here who was sharply critical of us for not completely supporting Hillary from the start told my hubby she was now supporting Obama. She thinks rules should be followed. Attitudes of others are changing a little now.

Bending primary rules for 2 states would be disastrous, Harkin says

Washington, D.C. - Michigan and Florida "decided to step out of the line" by breaking rules on the dates of party primaries, and seating their delegates now could be disastrous for Democrats, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Ia., warned Thursday.

"I think this could be one of the most devastating things for the Democratic Party going into this election," he said. Harkin, in a conference call with Iowa reporters, was sharply critical of claims by the two states that they have been unfairly penalized by the Democratic National Committee.

..."Rules are rules," said Harkin, who is an uncommitted superdelegate. He said that "Michigan, even knowing they would not be seated, and Florida, decided to step out of the line. They are the ones that created the situation, not the DNC, and now they have to live with the consequences."

He continued.

"If Michigan and Florida and the Clinton supporters in those states, if they continue to push to have those delegates seated, it will create an uproar in the Democratic Party around the country," predicted Harkin. "If we let that happen, we would have no DNC in the future. No rules."

Harkin said he has talked to Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, and he said Dean and other Democrats are "adamant" that the Michigan and Florida delegates will not be seated.

Hillary said the rules of the DNC are not her rules.

The rules the party has put in place to choose its nominee are not the rules of the Clinton campaign and, just like the Obama campaign, we are doing what we can under those rules to secure the requisite number of delegates for the nomination. One way to avoid the situation described above is to figure out some way to honor the votes of Michigan and Florida, where there was record turnout. Counting the delegates in Florida and Michigan is a civil rights issue, and a solution needs to be figured out before the convention.

She has recently said she does not want a revote in Florida, she wants the delegates seated as is.

http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/campaign-2008/2008/03/06/exclusive-interview-clinton-looks-ahead-to-mississippi.html

'On a "do-over" in Florida and Michigan, which held nominating contests that
broke Democratic Party rules.

I would not accept a caucus. I think that would be a great disservice to the
2 million people who turned out and voted. I think that they want their
votes counted. And you know a lot of people would be disenfranchised because
of the timing and whatever the particular rules were. This is really going
to be a serious challenge for the Democratic Party because the voters in
Michigan and Florida are the ones being hurt, and certainly with respect to
Florida the Democrats were dragged into doing what they did by a Republican
governor and a Republican Legislature. They didn't have any choice
whatsoever. And I don't think that there should be any do-over or any kind
of a second run in Florida. I think Florida should be seated.'

I have begun to realize lately that if FL and MI had not been sanctioned, the whole tenor of the race would have changed. Voters who are being heard now would not have been heard. Howard Dean did what was right and put himself on the firing line again. There were others who would not have done so as chair.

In case you don't connect the dots of the lawsuits in Florida to a certain campaign goals...you need to know this. On March 17 a lawsuit will heard in an Atlanta appellate court. It is about getting Florida's delegates seated.

The plaintiff hopes it will decide "who the next President could be."

Now to connect some dots. This same Victor DiMaio announced this week that:

No FL revote...injunction.

Dunn heads up the civil rights organization PULSE. The group has urged the DNC not to count Florida's delegates. He says despite the Democrats agreement to stay away from Florida, Hillary Clinton campaigned in Florida on two occasions while Obama did not. Now, months after the Florida primary, Dunn says the latest uproar to make Florida's votes count is really "a ploy to give an assist to Hillary Clinton."

But not everyone agrees with that view. Julian Bond, the chairman of the NAACP, has written to the DNC urging them to uphold the rights of all voters in Florida and Michigan and schedule a re-vote in the coming months. But it may not be that easy. Victor Dimaio, of Tampa, announced Thursday he may file a legal injunction that would prevent Florida from holding a re-vote. Just last year, Dimaio sued to have Florida's delegates seated at the convention.

Will his lawsuit determine the next president? Will he file an injunction if Bill Nelson works out a revote?

Meanwhile today I have actually seen some others besides Harkin, the LA Times for one....saying that Dean was right to enforce the rules.

Florida and Michigan have a very tangled web of deceit. They seem to be divided within the states, and they seem to have trouble remembering which tale to tell their state Democrats on any given day.