Should the Clinton campaign succeed in its attempt to seat the Florida and Michigan delegations, its achievement will surely rank among the greatest election frauds in American political history. It is well-known that Florida and Michigan moved up their primary dates while giving the proverbial middle finger to well-established DNC rules and 48 sister states. It is not well-known that the primary calendar and applicable DNC rules were crafted by Clinton Campaign Chairman Terry McAuliffe and members of the DNC Commission on Presidential Timing and Scheduling - all of whom were appointed by McAuliffe.
On January 15, Clinton was asked on NPR about the decisions of Michigan and Florida to move up their primaries in violation of party rules. "It's clear, this election they're having is not going to count for anything," she remarked. Then came South Carolina and February 5.
Clinton readily aides admitted that they had no plan beyond February 5. It certainly showed. Senator Clinton cut a check for $5 million to buy time and a drawing board. Meanwhile, adviser Harold Ickes blamed Chief Strategist Mark Penn. Mark Penn blamed Campaign Manager Patti Solis Doyle and everyone else on staff. Campaign Chairman Terry McAulliffe told Penn to shut the f#$! up.
While the Michigan and Florida contests didn't "count for anything" in January, Clinton has since hatched a plan whereby Michigan and Florida could mean everything. So what if she promised New Hampshire that she would defend its time-honored status against the likes of Michigan and Florida? The media is no longer paying attention to New Hampshire. Otherwise, we surely would have heard about the scathing editorials coming out of that state. The Union Leader's January 29 editorial is illustrative:
Courting voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, last August Sen. Hillary Clinton signed a pledge not to "campaign or participate" in the Michigan or Florida Democratic primaries. She participated in both primaries and is campaigning in Florida. Which proves, again, that Hillary Clinton is a liar.
. . .
Clinton coldly and knowingly lied to New Hampshire and Iowa. Her promise was not a vague statement. It was a signed pledge with a clear and unequivocal meaning.
She signed it thinking that keeping the other candidates out of Michigan and Florida was to her advantage, but knowing she would break it if that proved beneficial later on. It did, and she did.
New Hampshire voters, you were played for suckers.
Bill Clinton proceeded down south to work some magic of his own (e.g. pulling Jesse Jackson out of thin air). South Carolina was unimpressed and handed his wife a crippling defeat. At that point, Senator Clinton desperately needed a win - even a fake one would do. Enter Florida.
While Clinton had signed a pledge not to campaign in Florida, Clinton campaigned in Florida anyway. As John Nichols of The Nation reported:
The Clinton campaign claims that the senator from New York is abiding by the no-campaigning pledge because Sunday's two Florida events were technically closed to the public. But the stops were treated as major news events in a state where many Democrats have expressed anger over the absence of the party's presidential candidates during a period when Florida is overrun by Republican contenders.
Clinton's Communications Director Howard Wolfson prepared an internal campaign memo (for general distribution), declaring that the voices of Florida voters would be heard "[d]espite efforts by the Obama campaign to ignore Florida." Nichols aptly described Senator Clinton's approach as, "You may follow the rules if you please, but I write the rules as I please. "
With a ratings-hungry media at their heels, the Clinton camp may well succeed in rigging the election for a second time. Will Democrats see through it? The future of the party and country hangs in the balance.
Cross-posted from Our Republic