I have a story in today's paper detailing the Florida and Michigan delegate mess and how DNC rules panel members are getting a flood of letters — some written on oranges — about how they should rule and potentially decide the next Democratic presidential nominee.
The 30 members of the Democratic Party panel deciding the fate of Florida and Michigan's delegates to the nominating convention are being inundated with letters — and messages written on oranges — from party faithful eager for a resolution favorable to their presidential candidate or state.
Florida Demands Representation (FDR) is organizing the orange effort, and estimates more than 1,000 of the citrus fruits have been sent as part of "Project Orange Crush, Put the Squeeze on." The citizen effort — which has its own petition of more than 200,000 signatures, is not affiliated with a campaign.
"When you vote in the United States, your vote should count," said FDR's Jim Hannagan of Palm Harbor, Fla., who declined to say who he voted for Jan. 29. He said many Floridians think this is another example of their votes being "stolen."
"It was quite good, I have a cold and that was nice, but I don't think an orange or even a grapefruit is going to determine how I vote on these things," said Alice Germond, secretary of the Democratic National Committee and a member of the Rules and Bylaws Committee tasked with deciding how to resolve the delegate mess during a May 31 hearing.
Mrs. Germond is neutral in the fight between Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama for the nomination, but activists and bloggers are casting their judgments on the panel members who have picked sides — 13 for Mrs. Clinton and eight for Mr. Obama.
The panel members are hearing from Democrats imploring them to either count the votes or honor the rules and punish the rogue states for jumping the calendar.
Some are telling panel members it is unfair to count the votes because many did not go to the polls in January, choosing to stay home because they were told their votes would not matter. Mrs. Clinton told New Hampshire radio in October when she was the front-runner that the Michigan contest was "not going to count for anything."
Committee members said yesterday they are determined to show independence while crafting a situation that honors the millions who voted and is fair to both candidates. If that remains true during the hearing in Washington, it's a stance that is unlikely to swing the nomination in Mrs. Clinton's favor because Mr. Obama significantly leads her in the overall delegate count.
Read the full story here, and check out Hannagan's orange effort here.
Hannagan, who provides addresses for most of the RBC panel members on his site, is bringing a group of Floridians — including Obama supporters and — to the May 31 hearing.
The effort stems out of his genuine concern for the Democrats in the fall, he says. "People are leaving the party," Hannagan told me.
Some warned it was a bad idea: "ALL DON'T WASTE REAL FOOD ON THESE PEOPLE SEND THE PHOTO OF AN ORANGE YOU CAN DOWNLOAD IT FROM THE SITE!" wrote one commenter on Taylor Marsh's blog.
Here's an example of the notes committee members are getting along with their fruit:
"We learned to count apples and oranges
in the 3rd grade and we learned the
difference between the two.
Floridian votes are being treated
differently than those of
the other 48 states.
We are not rotten apples
we are the fruit of this country.
Count our votes!!!"
Karen M. Talarico RN MSN
Yulee, Florida
— Christina Bellantoni, national political reporter, The Washington Times
Comments (11)
Obama is playing by the rules - why can't the Clinton people do the same? Shame on Hillary and her supporters. That blonde congress woman from Florida (Hillary supporter, don't know her name but she is the curly hair one) I hope the people of Florida will vote her out in the next elections. From what I see, she is behind all these protests etc. Vote her out just like we are going to vote Hillary out. Play fair and don't change the rules because you are or your candidate is behind.
Posted by ob08 | May 23, 2008 11:58 AM
Let's see...Clinton goes to Florida, and a day later the DNC gets "inundated" with such letters.
Clinton has a history of astroturf movements - planting questions, and so on. I am beginning to think that the "Iron my Shirt" thing was planted as well, to pander to the female vote.
She agreed to not having FL and MI count, and now she says they should. Is that not a breach of contract or something?
Also, she blames Obama for the fact that FL and MI are not counted...it is not his fault, but seeing as most of her supporters are, "uneducated", they tend to believe her.
Posted by VoterGal | May 23, 2008 12:03 PM
I cannot believe this is still going on. How can Hillary in FAVOR of a rule when the odds are in her favor but when things change be against it. She has stirred up problems with the people thinking that their votes do not count. Their votes count but the voting process was NOT FAIR; or does that mean anything anymore. Hillary is not FAIR and do we really want that for out leadership. What if the odds were in her favor would we be going through this. Will this world ever change!!! Change is what we need not favortism, underhanded politics. STOP.
Posted by ps | May 23, 2008 12:37 PM
We as Floridians who voted in the Democratic Primary back in January not ask, but demand that our votes be counted.
It is hogwash that our votes are not included in the primary count. Every vote cast that day is valid and a true reflection of our sentiments. We will not be disenfranchised again!
If the DNC does not count our votes this time, they will be advised not to count our votes come November.
Posted by Rosaria | May 23, 2008 12:43 PM
It's the party elite who are to blame, not the voters. Absolve the voters by seating all of the pledged delegates, but eliminate the superdelegates (for both Florida and Michigan).
Posted by Kevin W. Parker | May 23, 2008 3:47 PM
I am a member of FDR, Florida Demands Representation. We are not supported nor do we support any candidate; we started in a livingroom in my neighborhood; there were eight of us. That was April 8th. Hillary certainly had nothing to do with our group. We are a grassroots coalition fighting to preserve our right to vote and have our vote count. In 2000 our votes were not counted; this year it's happened to FL and MI; in 2012 will it be FL, MI and CA? We have to stop the parties from doing things that end up costing us our votes! Punish the people who moved the date; don't take away the votes US citizens. WE ARE NOT a third-world country.
By the way, Hillary and Barack never agreed to not have our votes count. They both signed an agreement to not campaign here. Hillary kept her word; Barack happened to buy 10s of thousands of dollars of ads in Georgia the night before FL voted; and, gosh, most of FL saw the ads, including me, because "they were picked up by the airewaves." He's not the honest man he is pretending to be.
Posted by Shirley | May 24, 2008 11:17 AM
Regardless of ANYTHING ELSE the poplular vote should count!
Posted by Dawn | May 24, 2008 11:31 AM
Play by the rule? The DNC rules (similar to the RNC rules) state that 1/2 the delegates are to be seated and the other 1/2 to be determined by the credentials committee. Also, under the DNC rules, any candidate that removes their name from the ballot gets zero. Yes, please play by the rules and seat the FL and MI delegates (1/2 immeidately and the other half when the credentials committe realizes that it was a republican legislature that caused this).
It was a rogue group of people that decided to treat FL and MI differently. The DNC could have given FL and MI a waiver - like IA, NH, SC and NV. The DNC clearly discounts voters in FL and MI. It is a disgrace and the DNC is shameful.
Posted by kitkat | May 24, 2008 11:44 AM
I feel sorry for people who believe everything the big networks feed them...remember what happened with Bush?
Stop believing everything you hear, and RESEARCH!
Hillary is not nearly everything the media claims she is...she's a human being!
Rule 11.A specifically set the date for the primaries & caucuses for those three states as "no earlier than 22 days before the first Tuesday in February" (Iowa), "no earlier than 14 days before the first Tuesday in February" (New Hampshire), and "no earlier than 7 days before the first Tuesday in February" (South Carolina).
Iowa held their caucuses on January 3rd. That's more than 22 days before the first Tuesday in February.
New Hampshire held their primary on January 8th. That's more than 17 days before the first Tuesday in February.
And South Carolina held their primary on January 26th. That's more than 7 days before the first Tuesday in February.
Under Rule 11.A., five states were in violation of the Democratic National Committee's Delegate Selection Rules, and as such, all five states should have been punished under Rule 20.C.1.a.
Violation of timing: In the event the Delegate Selection Plan of a state party provides or permits a meeting, caucus, convention or primary which constitutes the first determining stage in the presidential nominating process to be held prior to or after the dates for the state as provided in Rule 11 of these rules, or in the event a state holds such a meeting, caucus, convention or primary prior to or after such dates, the number of pledged delegates elected in each category allocated to the state pursuant to the Call for the National Convention shall be reduced by fifty (50%) percent, and the number of alternates shall also be reduced by fifty (50%) percent.
In addition, none of the members of the Democratic National Committee and no other unpledged delegate allocated pursuant to Rule 8.A. from that state shall be permitted to vote as members of the state's delegation.
In determining the actual number of delegates or alternates by which the state's delegation is to be reduced, any fraction below .5 shall be rounded down to the nearest whole number, and any fraction of .5 or greater shall be rounded up to the next nearest whole number.
Yes, you read that right; under Rule 20.C.1.a., Florida, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, and South Carolina would have all lost their super delegates and had their pledged delegates reduced by half since they all violated Rule 11.A.
However, Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina weren't punished fairly. In fact, they weren't punished at all.
And what about Florida & Michigan?
Posted by Destardi | May 24, 2008 12:11 PM
It is OBAMA that wants rules changed to his benefit. If you actually were an informed voter you would know that. I'm not going to waste my time giving you the information. If you care one bit about the country you would be certain you know the facts - not just Obama talking points.
Posted by djjl | May 24, 2008 1:06 PM
Talk the Walk:
Tell the Democratic National Committee: Don't Walk Away From Our Winning Base, Walk A Mile In Our Shoes.
Send a pair of shoes to the DNC TODAY!
Participants in Walk A Mile In Our Shoes ask that the DNC acknowledge and act on:
1. Voters Rights
The DNC has a duty to support voter's rights for Florida and Michigan. We request that the DNC enfranchise the voters of MI and FL, who did not agree to give up their right for their votes to be counted. Please fully seat our MI & FL delegates. When the actions or decisions of a few individuals, regardless of their official roles can strip the citizens of the right to have cast votes counted - then we no longer live in a democracy.
2. Women & Families are Significant to the Democratic Party - Don't underestimate us!
The estimates of votes of caucus states disproportionately disenfranchised women, working Americans, families with children, the elderly, and others in Senator Clinton's significant supporters. Don't underestimate the importance of women, working Americans, families, the elderly, and others. We are concerned that the Democratic Party is walking away from us, from most of America.
3. The Good of the Party
It is in the Democratic Party's interest to take a clear look at Senator Clinton's phenomenal connection with the very same broad base that the party has sought to attract for decades. Don't walk away from the winning base! We are most of America! We are most of your constituents. Senator Clinton is winning the popular vote. She is winning the base we must have. She will win the general election.
Posted by marie | May 25, 2008 5:49 PM