I remember voting in the 2004 election. I wanted Wes Clark, but he had dropped out. It was early March. The only one left was freaking Kerry. The Kerry campaign asked us to vote in the primary to send a message of support. That is what the largest swing state was reduced to, sending a message of support while small, right, white states got to pick our nominee.
And a great job they did. They picked an unelectable wus who refused to allow anyone to attack Bush during the convention, left 14 million in the bank on election day, was so electably incompetent he just NOW decided its time to hit back against the Swiftboaters. Great.
The GOP legislature approved a plan to move the date to Jan. 29th. Many democrats opposed, but others didn't. Good for them!!
We are the largest, most diverse, and most populous swing state in the union. I knew that the DNC could take the delegates, but I would rather have a real voice in who are leader is than sending a delegate to a glorified coronation.
Dean went the extra mile and took the delegates, and supported the decision that they couldn't campaign (but allowed them to attend fundraisers set up by the wealthy elite here--nice). Again, don't care. MI really got screwed with the spit in the face of candidates removing their names. If they are smart, they wouldn't care either.
Because unlike the last several elections, we finally have a voice. And we made a difference.
JOHN MCCAIN is now going to be the GOP nominee. Out of a field featuring a thrice-divorced, racist psycho who exploits a national tragedy, a colossal panderer who loves Bush, and a right-wing Christian zealot--McCain is the only one that won't destroy our country if we lose. YOU ARE WELCOME.
MITT ROMNEY was close enough that he is going to stay in the race attacking the obvious frontrunner for us. YOU ARE WELCOME.
RUDY GUILIANI, who staked everything in this state. And I mean everything--was rejected by my fellow voters. He is finished now. Again-YOU ARE WELCOME.
Although I respect Obama and think he is an amazing orator, because Hillary won she now has the momentum to move on the big states, like California. She is real fighter, unlike Kerry, and is the only one strong enought to win. I know some of you hate her, but because of her win next November, we will have universal health care, begin moving out of Iraq instead of getting more entrenched, and John Paul Stevens will be able to retire on the Supreme Court knowing our rights will be protected. YOU ARE WELCOME.
If Edwards had used his head and campaigned here and in Michigan, he might have had a shot at the nomination. A win here and in MI would have made a difference, hell, MI single-handedly kept Romney in the race. The people here and in MI would have responded to someone who wants to win, but he put everything in three small states that all subsequently threw him under the bus. Even his own home state rejected him in every single county but one. Oh, John. We could have helped. What might have been.
In other words, we made a difference. A big difference in the GOP race and a real difference in our race. And I didn't mind the noncampaigning. I enjoyed not being bombarded with ads and push polls on the phone.
What was the drawback? Our delegates are going to be seated after all. Our nominee will win the general election despite Dean's best effort to divide us and the DNC's best effort to shoot themselves in the foot.
The only ones crying are a small minority of dumbass Kossaks who are used to losing.
This was a great move. And the DNC can fix the primary that right now has tiny states monopolizing the process, or they can deal with more and more relevant states moving their dates up.
There is no drawback, and I look forward to next time.