Disenfranchised, my sweet Irish. . .

. . .well, you know.   I've been cracking up listening to the sad, serious Dems worrying about MI and FL voters being "disenfranchised" and the millions whose "votes won't count".   And I got one question for all the prominent Dems who've been wringing their hands about it. . .

WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?  Voters in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida and other big "must win" states have been disenfranchised for decades.   What else do you call it when you never even SEE a candidate before a combination swap meet/church supper in Iowa and a teeny tiny New England state picks the nominee?

My vote and Florida's votes and Michigan's votes never count.  Hey, we eat disenfranchisement for breakfast.    

Don't get me wrong - I empathize with the voters of FL & MI, because  their fate is especially cruel.  Instead of the usual "please vote in the primary even though it doesn't matter, hahahaha" contest, they were actually given the illusion that this year was different and their vote WOULD matter.  Oooh, but maybe not - Lucy is poised to yank the football.   Talk about MEAN.

Hey, do ya think there may be a silver lining in this mess and that it could spur fundamental changes in the way we do primaries?  

Nah, I don't either.

eileen from OH

•  I'm a Florida resident, and during the 2000

  presidential election debacle much was made of approximately 26,000 votes "not being counted" in a collection of majority black precints.  The funny thing about it, approximately 26,000 votes were "not being counted" in these precints in elections going back to 1976.  I agree with diarist's point, "I'm shocked that voter disenfranchisment is going on here".

  by lordcopper on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 10:16:39 AM PDT

•  the whole thing is so ironic

  they voted to go early in order to feel as if they had influence in the primary process...but by breaking the rules, they achieved the exact opposite.

  I'm in PA, so I know what you mean about disenfranchised.  I voted every primary, even tho I knew my vote was essentially meaningless - until this year, it was all over by the time they got to PA.

  by Pandoras Box on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 11:13:33 AM PDT

•  I'm Floridiot since 1964. My Overton Window

  shifter is vibrating.  We NEED to change the focus of this manufactured argument.  Because it is silly, and as pointed out above, because many other states "did not count" anymore than we ever did in past years either.

  USE THIS SPOTLIGHT to point out all the ways voters have been, and still are, being cheated.  USE IT AS A CIVICS LESSON.

  Let's talk about the CAGING which will steal NOVEMBER VOTES from poor folks who moved and don't get a "mail ballot"  even if they "voted" in January.  

  Let's talk our US Citizens  deprived, wrongly, of voting in NATIONAL elections for PRESIDENT by state law here that STILL excludes ex-felons. Jim Crow residue.  From convictions by white jurors which excluded ex-felons as non-voters. From getting arrested to integrate this segregated state.

  These taxpayers are still "without representation." It is not "equal justice for all" when some states even let felons vote in jail, and ours are still punished for life -- a second sentence based illegally on their "previous condition of servitude"
  in prison.

  Wiping out this WRONG -- even if only for national election (avoiding state's rights kerfluffles) -- would probably favor Senator Obama more than Senator Clinton in the primary.  It would favor DEMOCRATS over Republicans in November, I'm guessing.

  SO,  I challenge Hillary supporters and other handwringers about "disenfranchisement" to INSIST and PROVE they care.   No REVOTE unless we ALL VOTE.

  Renounce, reject, and refuse to accept spending one dollar for a phony show vote.  Punish our state Dem leaders by making them sit out this dance as NON DELEGATES -- no matter how SUPER they are. Let THEM see what it feels like to have their vote taken away.
  Do this, "for the least of these", and you will have done it for me -- a fellow Democrat who would rather "not count" again until our long suffering invisible citizens get back their basic right.  Do this for yourself, because it is the right thing to do. Do this to change the MINDSET that some voters count more than others. Do this to help wipe the STAINS OF JIM CROW off our ballots.

  by Neon Mama on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 12:08:44 PM PDT