Dems: Florida and Michigan looming trouble...Lead Story Saturday WSJ (1 Viewer)

[Severum]

Couldn't that argument be extended to any vote in any election cast for a losing candidate or issue?

Not in Dem primaries and caucuses.

 

[Pure Energy]

Not in Dem primaries and caucuses.

Is your distinction because of proportional representation? Eventually, the Dems will select a candidate and the votes cast for the candidate not selected won't matter.

 

[Severum]

But the majority of votes do matter in the selection process. If Republicans didn't have WTA primaries then McCain and Romney might still be fighting for the nomination. Far more Republican votes have been "totally discounted" this year than Democratic votes.

I still think FL and MI will eventually be seated thanks to the winner having a large enough margin of victory.

 

[Pure Energy]

Are Michigan and Florida worth revisiting ?

 

[SaintsFan11]

Florida declared today that a revote is out of the question, and Michigan is unlikely for several reasons. The first is that they would need a supermajority in the Legislature to pass it and the pro-Obama crowd won't risk giving Hillary another shot and the Republicans don't want to get caught doling out millions for a Democratic primary redo. Another issue is that of those who voted in the Republican primary. It can be argued that many of the Democrats and Independents who voted in the GOP primary may have been Obama voters, even some Republicans. Michigan says none of those people can vote. On the other hand, if you let them vote then how many people get to vote twice, and how many Limbaugh listeners get to vote for their candidate and the skew the Democratic election?

I really don't see a revote happening anywhere. The superdelegates from both states will likely be seated though, from what I've read. That will boost Hillary slightly but without Florida and Michigan she's likely out of the running for delegate lead or popular vote.

 

[Pure Energy]

I really don't see a revote happening anywhere. The superdelegates from both states will likely be seated though, from what I've read. That will boost Hillary slightly but without Florida and Michigan she's likely out of the running for delegate lead or popular vote.

How they're seated could be very important. Assuming the SDs are seated as proxies for the election in the state that's 50 votes some interesting scenarios could play out. Say for example they decide (for whatever reason--as a protest of the DNC treatment of their state, dirty tricks by the Clintons, etc.) to be seated as a block, in a WTA fashion, that could be argued to represent 50 extra "pledged delegates" votes for Clinton.

If they're seated proportionally to the actual vote Clinton received, or by individual preference or say a 50/50 split the impact would be negligible.

 

[Sabine]

....One way to solve all of the jockeying states have been making to make their primaries/caucuses relevant would be a rotating system whereby five states vote every two weeks with a state from each region represented.

For example

1. Iowa, New Hampshire, Alabama, Arizona, Montana, DC
2. Kansas, Massachusetts, Virginia, Michigan, Oregon
3. S. Carolina, Vermont, Wisconsin, California, Idaho
4. Louisiana, Nevada, Alaska, Illinois, New York
5. Florida, Texas, Rhode Island, N. Dakota, W. Virginia
6. Mississippi, New Mexico, Washington, Ohio, New Jersey
7. Georgia, Utah, Minnesota, Indiana, Connecticut
8. Arkansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Kentucky, Maryland
9. N. Carolina, Colorado, Missouri, S. Dakota, Delaware
10. Tennessee, Hawaii, Nebraska, Maine, Pennsylvania

Every four years, a new group moves to the front of the line and the one that was first goes to the back of the line. Iowa and New Hampshire would cry about it, but it would be fair to all of the other states.

Humm, Senator Nelson may be a fan of the EE ... or of Richard's.

(CNN) -- Sen. Bill Nelson on Thursday proposed an overhaul of U.S. presidential election laws, saying the dispute over delegates in Florida and Michigan has exposed a flawed nominating system.n a speech on the floor of the Florida state Senate Thursday, Nelson said he formally will introduce legislation that will attempt to fix many of the problems exposed by this cycle's round of presidential primaries, adding that the "time for reform is now." "This country cannot afford to wait that long before we fix the flaws we still see in our election system," Nelson said. "The blessings of liberty cannot wait."
Specifically, Nelson said he will propose six rotating interregional primaries that "will give large and small states a fair say in the nomination process."
These primaries would be conducted on dates ranging from March to June, Nelson said, taking the place of the current early-voting states Iowa and New Hampshire -- which critics long have argued aren't representative of the American electorate.
The dates initially would be set by a lottery system for the 2012 election and would rotate positions in successive elections.



Senator calls for sweeping election overhaul - CNN.com

 

[Pure Energy]

Interesting article: Seems there's little or no confidence in DNC leadership leading at least one Superdelegate to propose a min-Superdelegate convention in advance of the August Convention. It'll be interesting to see if this idea has legs.

"Tennessee's governor wants undecided Democratic superdelegates — himself included — to get on with it and end the bickering about the presidential nominee that he says threatens the party's momentum.

Gov. Phil Bredesen has proposed a superdelegate mini convention in early June that would force a decision and allow either Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama to start wooing the other's supporters and campaigning for November.

A recent Gallup poll shows that sizeable chunks of both the Obama's and Clinton's camps would rather vote Republican than switch Democratic candidates. Bredesen said discontent will worsen if the increasingly contentious race stretches to the August convention in Denver.

"The party is . . . getting more divided," he said Thursday."



Governor urges superdelegates to make decision - The Denver Post