Today's ruling by the DNC Rules & Bylaws committee is a great step forward in healing the Democratic Party, and a great step forward in restoring a sense of integrity into the voting process.
Let me begin this diary by stating that I know that none of us need to be reminded of the fiasco of 2000 in Florida. If you can't resist, of course, there is a film running on HBO right now, that will do just that.
While I understand that there are plenty who are still angered over the ruling today, to me, today's ruling is a great victory for Americans, and restoring Democracy to all Americans.
To argue that only restoring Michigan and Florida's delegates to half strength will cause voters to feel disenfranchised, and turn to the Republican candidate John McCain is a flawed argument. That argument is flawed because, as you will recall, the RNC voted to strip Florida, Michigan, and three other states of half of their delegates. Shunning one party for stripping half of its delegates to cast a vote for another party that stripped half of its delegates is not merely hypocrisy, you are telling yourself an outright lie.
As Carl Levin pointed out in his testimony today, nothing was done to punish the state of New Hampshire for moving their primary up. According to the rules and the circumstances, the RBC could have just as easily voted to strip half of New Hampshire's delegates, as well. Obviously, since Senator Clinton won New Hampshire, punishing that state would only hurt her campaign further. No one from the Obama camp ever called for any such sanctions, though it would have certainly been punishable by the DNC, under the rules that they set out.
While the Michigan resolution may be flawed, the simple fact is that this is the best that could be done under the circumstances. OK, I'll take back my word and discuss Florida 2000 for a moment. Remember the argument that we should be examining hanging and dimpled chad closely, to determine voter intent?
Many of us would still agree that, if the votes were counted in that election accurately and fairly, Al Gore would have been the President. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court stepped in and struck down the process of Democracy, and we all know the result.
Today, the DNC was faced with a similar parallel. Only the most ardent of Clinton supporters would argue that Barack Obama received zero votes in the Michigan primary. The uncommitted votes were Michigan's hanging chad. Unlike the scenario in Florida in 2000, though, Michigan worked diligently to do the right thing. The state of Michigan came up with a formula to reflect the intent of all of its voters, all of its voters, in its compromise, which passed the RBC today.
That is the most important thing to note here, this compromise for Michigan was agreed upon by the Michigan representatives themselves, who are answerable to the voters of Michigan. Unlike the Florida situation in 2000, where the election results where decided by a group of judges who do not answer to voters.
If you still feel that the decision today was unjust, I first ask you to keep in mind that this was identical to the RNC's punishments in those states. So, in that sense of the idea of fairness, the two parties ultimately played those two states by the same rules. Also, keep in mind that the DNC could have ruled on further punishments for New Hampshire, but did not.
The DNC is not the body to unleash upon, nor is Barack Obama. This was not a proposal set forth by either the Obama camp or the DNC. You can redress your grievances directly with your Michigan and Florida elected officials, because these were the proposals that they set forth, in attempting to best represent the wishes of those voters, of ALL of your voters.
And that is why I consider the ruling today to be a great victory for America, a great victory for Democracy. The representatives in those two states stepped up to resolve a difficult situation, and they did just that. In doing so, they took a great leap in restoring accountability to the Democratic process, and you can address your grievances directly with them.
Now, if we can only get the Supreme Court justices accountable to the voters by November...