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What is cheating?
Why are there rules?
If there is no penalty for breaking the rules, then the rules are useless. How do you explain to your children the stance that the Clinton camp is making to seat the Michigan and Florida delegations as currently constituted?
When attempting to answer these questions that your children inevitably bring up, the Michigan and Florida primaries and delegations make a great example.
Although both states have been pushing the DNC to change the timing of the primary cycle for years, they were unable to get the DNC to change the rules.
So they broke them.
There must be consequences for breaking rules, or they have no meaning.
Senator Obama removed his name from the Michigan ballot, and neither candidate campaigned in earnest in either state.
The rules were clear, and accepted by both candidates, although Senator Clinton failed to remove her name from the Michigan ballot as Obama did.
No one thought much of the fact that the DNC insisted, up front, that these delegates would NOT be seated.
So now, in a desperate ploy, the Clinton campaign is trying to move the goal posts to include those delegates in the count for the nomination.
This will be decided by the rules or credentials committees, whose job it is to determine the fate of those delegations.
To agree to a set of rules, then, when things don’t go your way, you attempt to change the rules is cheating.
Even a child understands this.
12 Comments
May 7, 2008 at 2:37 pm
RUC,
The Florida Democratic party had two choices – either go along and be in the state primary, funded by the state, by rules dictated by the controlling Republican party or bankrupting the state Democratic party by obeying a Democratic convention committee rule that would require that they finance their own primary. They opted for the former.
May 7, 2008 at 3:35 pm
I don’t think the Clinton’s have a firm grasp on the whole “cheating” thing, ifyaknowhwhatImean.
May 7, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Hillary started out in political life as a Republican, and now in her later years is regressing back to same.
May 7, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Nice one, RUC. Thanks for posting it here.
May 7, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Walt, I know the circumstances, but the had an option to caucus instead, didn’t they? Those cost much less…
May 7, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Hillary needs to just drop. She is just ruining what is left of her reputation with her republican dirty trick styled campaign.
I am sick of seeing articles like this bringing down the reputation of the Democratic Party with Bill and Hill trahing themselves. with unethical crap.
North Carolina superdelegate says she told Clinton camp: ‘I know I didn’t hear you imply that my vote was for sale’
Rawstory
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Pressure_Mounting_on_IN_and_NC_0506.html
May 7, 2008 at 5:25 pm
“So now, in a desperate ploy, the Clinton campaign is trying to move the goal posts to include those delegates in the count for the nomination.”
I say let Clinton have 60% of Florida and Michigan delegates, and 40% for Obama.
She will lose anyway, and it’s worth it if she will then shut her pie hole.
May 7, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Nothing will shut that pie hole, gorn.
May 7, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Guess that explains Monica.
May 7, 2008 at 5:37 pm
I’ve been giving that fiasco a bit of thought lately, and I see now why Bill turned outside his marriage. Who wouldn’t?
May 7, 2008 at 6:50 pm
RUC,
A caucus in Florida – isn’t that one of those thingies that sort of looks like a tiny lobster and tastes great when dipped in pepper sauce? I live in the midst of Klan (redneck = Republican) territory.
May 7, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Walt, that may be a crawdad, or crawmom. If a Klan member shows up at a democratic caucus, would they have to check their pointy white hat and robe?