Will MI, FL Sabotage Democratic Party?

Democrats to MI, FL - “Go Away!”

After a long and grueling 2008 primary campaign, most Democrats are probably wishing that Michigan and Florida would just go away and leave the party alone.  Of all the times for the states to get defiant and challenge the DNC rules, now is the worst possible time.  Americans are coming off of what many at home and abroad call the worst American presidency in history.  During this shameful period in our storied history, the United States mantra became “you’re either with us or against us” and “join us or the terrorists win!”

In fact, the terrorists did win!

John McCain and the pundits on the right like to tie terrorist victory or defeat with our policy decisions in the middle east.   In 2004, the Presidency tilted to the right not over policy or spending habits, not over family values or limited government, but over FEAR.  That’s right, the terrorists have won and it’s not because Al Qaida beat us.  The terrorists won because the U.S. government has been held hostage by super patriots with agendas.  They have become the terrorists and until they are removed from our government, the terrorists will continue to win this battle.

So what are Michigan and Florida fighting for, exactly? 

Relevance.  They’re arguing over DNC rules that created a tradition that put the spotlight on the small states, for once.  The big media markets always get the publicity, they get all of the money and America’s eyeballs are always on them.  Iowa and New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina on the other hand, not so much.  Of course, there’s more to this “tradition” than fairness to smaller states and markets, there is history that Michigan and Florida are trying to fight against.

So states want to be relevant, and this year in particular when three or four Democrats could easily win the presidency against the party of fear-mongers, these states decide it’s time to make a statement.  Fantastic.  Part of the problem the Democratic party is facing is leadership.  Howard Dean shouldn’t have allowed this problem to get this far.  Think about how simple this would have been to avert!  For one, the party could have run ads in those states to explain to the people that their votes won’t matter because their state leadership is breaking the DNC rules.  Second, even without notice, why didn’t Howard Dean cut the amount of delegates needed to win?

It’s simple math and even now, it’s as simple as removing the states and their delegate count from the equation.  Why does 2024 have to be set in stone when we know that the two rogue states are needed for a victory.

“People are now looking to Florida and Michigan as overtime, that we’re going to finish a sense in a tie, and Florida and Michigan could actually help tip the balance one way or the other,” Democratic strategist Dan Gerstein said.

Is that so Mr. Gerstein?  Who are these people, perhaps you’re talking about residents of Michigan and Florida and maybe Hillary Clinton supporters want a second chance at the Democratic nomination they’ve already lost.  However, the rest of America that believes in fairness is not going to take kindly to another vote.  The costs could soar to well over thirty million dollars for a new election in Florida and Michigan, this is money that the democratic nominee could be using to begin outlining their general election strategy against John McCain.

Everyone wants to be relevant, but now is not the time to pick a fight.  There is too much at stake, the Democrats have too much to lose and America’s future is hanging in the balance.  To make matters worse, if we do succumb to the temptation to allow these states back into the equation, an argument can be made that the states that followed were already influenced by those 2 states even thought they were in the penalty box.  Additionally, because Barack Obama was NOT on the ballot in Michigan and we all know Hillary Clinton broke her promise not to campaign in FL and MI, why should she get an advantage?  She’d essentially have these states in the palm of her hands because of a decision by her to court them when she shouldn’t have.  So not only are you rewarding rogue states, but you are rewarding a presidential contender who thought it would be prudent to also bend the rules.

My advice to Obama’s camp is fight it.  Force this into the courts, do not accept a do-over.  “Overtime” the latest media buzz word is just another word for injustice and allowing Hillary Clinton a bigger chance to disrupt the Democratic process come convention time.

Fred Soto is an Attorney and Entrepreneur from the Silicon Valley.
Email this author | All posts by Fred Soto