Hillary Clinton's Hyperbole 2008(c) campaign has recently compared not counting the Florida primary results to the election in Zimbabwe. Reports CBS News:
"We're seeing that right now in Zimbabwe," Clinton explained. "Tragically, an election was held, the president lost, they refused to abide by the will of the people," Clinton told the crowd of senior citizens at a retirement community in south Florida.
Now, as ridiculous as that comparison may be -- and I think it's pretty silly -- are there any points of resemblance between the Florida and Michigan primaries and elections in developing countries?
Yes. What happened in Florida and Michigan was akin to an election boycott, where candidates refuse to campaign because the rules are unfair. Election boycotts define the boycotted election itself as illegitimate, and are a key tool of democracy.
Example: Djibouti recently held a parliamentary election boycotted by the major opposition groups:
Only 65 candidates from a coalition loyal to President Ismael Omar Guelleh are running for the 65 seats in the legislature, and many voters have not bothered to register.
A better example: Chad in 2006 held an election boycotted by all of the opposition parties:
For the first time since multiparty politics came to Chad the main opposition has declined to put forth a contender in a presidential election, this time around unanimous in calling for citizens to shun the process.
As the deadline for candidates passed at midnight on Friday only the agriculture minister and three representatives of political parties more or less aligned with the ruling party had submitted their names - along with President Idriss Deby - for the 3 May poll.
Opposition heavyweights have opted out and are urging voters to do the same. "We staunchly reaffirm that we are not taking part and will not endorse this masquerade," opposition leader Lol Mahamat Choua said at a 1,000-strong rally in the capital N'djamena on Saturday.
The most shameful thing about the Chad election is not that it was held: it was that it was certified by the African Union despite its obvious illegality.
When an election is boycotted because the rules are unfair, it becomes illegitimate. Boycotts are a tool of democracy. To cry "disenfrancisement" because the results of a boycotted election are not certified is to spit in the face of democracy.
So no, Florida is not Zimbabwe 2008.
Neither is Michigan.
But if the delegates from those boycotted states are seated as Hillary Clinton wants, these states will look a lot like Chad circa 2006. And the Democratic National Committee would be playing the role of the African Union, certifying an obviously illegitimate election.
I trust the DNC is wiser than that.