I don't know how many of you read Daily Kos, but I would guess that at least the elected Democratic officials have somebody checking over here every once in awhile. Please help spread the word.
Our Party is in danger of fracturing because our nominating process is almost certain to result in a train wreck (see also here) in which no candidate has a sufficient majority of pledged delegates to win the nomination going into the National Convention in August. This train wreck will only intensify as credentials fights loom over seating the Michigan and Florida delegations.
It is now almost certain that your votes will decide the nomination. Supporters of each candidate will cry "foul!" as unelected individuals, entitled to a vote by virtue of their positions only, decide who our nominee is going to be. Follow me over the flip to find out how you can save the Party.
It's simple, really. If you overturn the will of the Democratic primary electorate, and especially if you overturn the will of the people and make Hillary Clinton the nominee over Barack Obama, who has built a movement of extremely enthusiastic (some Hillary supporters would say "brainwashed") supporters, you will do lasting damage to our Party. You've seen inklings of this here on dKos. Members of what has been built as a mass grassroots movement to support Barack Obama have promised to turn out in Denver in protest. We will not go into the fall as a united party. The result of this will almost inevitably be the election of John McCain as the next President of the United States. Supporters of one candidate, regardless of whether that candidate is Clinton or Obama, will be so disheartened and disaffected that they are likely not to show up to staff phone banks, lick envelopes, and walk precincts. What's more, and perhaps more important, they are less likely to open their wallets.
Yes, they will be less likely to open their wallets, and this may not only affect the ability of our Presidential nominee to compete with McCain, whom the corporate PACs will line up behind regardless of who our nominee is. Anger with the process that selected our nominee will hurt races downticket, including possibly your own reelection. Those of you who are DNC members rather than elected officials, you will face a grassroots effort for your replacement as charges of subverting the will of the electorate and comparisons to Bush v. Gore swirl around your heads.
Josh Marshall has been writing joshingly these last few days of the "Mittpocalypse". Make no mistake, this will be the Dempocalypse. How many of you have been around long enough to remember this?
Democrats started this primary season with every chance in the world to win the White House and put the adults back in charge after eight years of the most incompetent, irresponsible administration in U.S. history. We're on the verge of again snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory. The future of the Party is in your hands.
There is one fair way to resolve this. At least 400-450 of you must agree well in advance of the Convention -- preferably in time to announce it on June 8, the day after Puerto Rico's primary, the last of the season -- to vote as a bloc for whichever of our two fine Democratic candidates is ahead in pledged delegates at the end of the primary season. This will guarantee that the will of Democratic primary voters is respected. Supporters of the other candidate can scarcely complain.
But this is not all. Delegations from Michigan and Florida must be seated, especially if the nominee is not Hillary Clinton, because there is still danger of intraparty strife, disunity, and cries of unrepresentative selection of our nominee. Also, failing to seat delegations from Michigan and Florida will start us off behind the 8 ball in the general election, as Democratic voters in those states, which represent 44 electoral votes, 16 percent of the critical 270 necessary to win, are less likely to turn out as a whole, and independent voters may be more likely to vote for John McCain, because they will feel that they are not respected by the Democratic Party. It was not the voters but the state legislatures who decided to violate Party rules.
Of course, it is not acceptable to seat the delegations as they are right now. The Michigan and Florida primaries were not fair fights. Clinton was the only candidate on the ballot in Michigan, and there was not a fair opportunity for the candidates to put themselves before the voters in Florida. This is not completely within your control, but you can certainly have a voice in solving this problem. The fairest solution is for the state parties, with help from the DNC, to fund caucuses in these states, perhaps immediately after Puerto Rico votes; perhaps a little earlier.
Our Party leaders owe it to us not to fracture the Democratic Party by partaking in a process that is both antidemocratic and anti-Democratic. We cannot lay claim to the moral high ground over the Republicans by refusing to respect the will of the voters, as George W. Bush did in 2000. We must be the party of fairness. You must respect the will of the Democratic primary electorate and vote to uphold it. This duty supersedes any duty you may feel to either of the candidates. It is a duty to our process and to our democracy.