It's that time of year again, folks. The primary season is 1/2 way over and the Democrats have yet to firmly stand behing one of the two remaining candidates: Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.
Given that, suppose you voted for a candidate in your state's primary or caucas and he or she were eventually to lead in the delegate and overall vote count by the time the Democratic convention rolled into Denver from Aug 25-28, 2008.
What next? You'd expect that candidate to receive the support of the superdelegates, right?
No!
Not according to Edward Rendell, Governor of Pennsylvania.
Cut to Tom Daschle and what he said on March 9th on Meet the Press and I quote:
"I don't see how we could possibly do anything other than respect the will of the people who have voted in caucus and primary states all over the country," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "And what it would say to the world, to the country, that we'd overturn the verdict of those . . . elections would be travesty for . . . the party and for the country."
Now according to Edward G. Rendell, the governor of Pennsylvania and a Clinton supporter, on that very same show he countered that:
Well, number one, as Tom said, the, the Obama campaign wants to play by the rules. Those were the rules going in. That's number one. If we want to change them perspectively, change them. But those were the rules. Number two, superdelegates have always had the responsibility for fielding the strongest candidate, and I think everyone--African-Americans, young people, old people--everyone knows that we need a change in Washington, D.C. And I don't care if it's Senator Obama or Senator Clinton, we need a change. And we've got to get the strongest candidate. And if she wins Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida on top of all the other big states she won, if she wins the key states that are going to decide the election, let's go with our strongest hand because the issues are too important to risk losing.
This begs the question, "what about those voters in states not deemed to be worth the same as Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Florida?"
Are we going to sit by idly as Gov. Rendell essentially disenfranchises entire states and their populations because they are not part of the big states that Hillary Clinton won?
I call a personal foul on Gov. Rendell for gross incompetence and the sheer audacity for using this line of argument. Never have I ever heard, seen, or spoken with a politician who would use this line of argument that would disenfranchise entire states in order to dismiss their votes because they weren't a part of the campaign strategy of Hillary Clinton.
This is extremely disturbing and I seek to enlist the aid of my fellow Kossacks here in establishing an email, phone and letter writing campaign to stop this type of electioneering. It's bad for politics. It's bad for government. And it's bad for the Democratic Party.
Stand up! Shout! But, don't sit idly by and let this type of travesty go left unchecked. Please send your protestations to Gov. Rendell by contacting him using one of the methods below:
Governor Edward G. Rendell's Office
225 Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120
Phone: (717) 787-2500
Fax: (717) 772-8284
E-mail the Governor's Office.
Stop this madness before it's too late for the Democratic Party!