Former populist candidate Howard Dean is going to make sure no other populist candidate challenges the Democratic party machine. Stating a floor fight at the convention would be bad for the party, Dean says if Obama and Clinton are tied going into March, he's force them to make a deal in some smoke-free back room. I can't imagine he would have said this if he was neck and neck with a machine politician like HRC in his own bid for the Presidency.
http://rawstory.com/...
As reported in Raw Story, Dean sez
"The idea that we can afford to have a big fight at the convention and then win the race in the next eight weeks, I think, is not a good scenario," Dean said according to excerpts of an interview with NY1 television.
"I think we will have a nominee sometime in the middle of March or April. But if we don't, then we're going to have to get the candidates together and make some kind of an arrangement," said Dean, who failed in his bid for the party's nomination in 2004.
Like millions of other democrats I donated money to my candidate, worked for him/her and voted for him/her. Dean would make a mockery of all that and render all our time, work, money and votes meaningless. That will not fly with me and I suspect will not fly with a great many other voters who are busily having their faith in our system restored after eight years of Bush.
I support Obama. My choice. And I normally would support any Democrat. But f the candidates are tied in a few months and The Democratic Party in their wisdom shortcuts the floor fight and chooses HRC, I would experience major flashbacks of Bush v Gore and the Supreme Court deciding the 2000 election for us in favor of Bush.
And I won't vote for her. I know it's suicidal. I know McCain is a nightmare according to many. But if my vote is taken from me by the party then fuck it. My ability to have a voice is at the core of our democratic system and if my voice nd the voices of many others are silenced by Howard Dean and the Party then I'll consider President Clinton 2 as illegitimate as Bush.
This is the same Howard Dean by the way, who's been making rumblings about reinstating Florida and Michigan delegates, changing the rules midstream - which favors Hillary. Populist hero Howard's turned faster than horse meat in the sun and his pro HRC moves smell about as good.
Would I say the same thing if Howard and his machine buddies decided it in favor of Obama? For me that's like asking, would I have objected if the Supremes had picked Gore over Bush. No. But as was the case with Bush v Gore, if the democratic process is stopped by the machine, you can bank on it being to favor the machine candidate in danger of losing, in this case HRC.