Petard Hoistmanship
Magnificent in its execution! If they keep up this level of performance through the August games in Denver, this judge will give them a perfect 10.
Turns out the punishment might hurt DNC more than it hurt Michigan and Florida. In stripping those states of their delegates for moving up their primaries, the DNC has created a crisis. Washington Post:
There is a growing sense of urgency about the need to deal with the Michigan-Florida issue, but no easy resolution. What happens could decide whether Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama becomes the party’s presidential nominee.
The Democratic National Committee sanctioned Michigan and Florida for moving up their nominating contests in violation of party rules; it declared their primaries unofficial and denied them the right to seat their delegations in Denver. At the time of the sanctions, there was a widespread assumption that the eventual nominee would relent and allow both states full participation at the convention.
That was when it was also assumed that there would be an early outcome to the Clinton-Obama contest and that the winner could appear magnanimous toward two states with pivotal roles in the general election. That was when it was assumed the delegates wouldn’t matter in the nomination battle. Today, it’s clear they could.
…
“The Florida and Michigan situation is untenable in its current form and unacceptable to go into a nominating convention [where Clinton and Obama] could be separated by the number of delegates in those states,” said Tad Devine, a Democratic strategist and veteran of presidential delegate wars. “If you go into the convention with that kind of cloud hanging over your head, it’s a very dangerous situation.”
…
The worst possibility for the Democrats would be failing to resolve the problem before everyone arrives in Denver. That could produce an ugly rules or credentials fight that would leave the loser’s supporters bitter and demoralized. The situation cries out for leadership. As one Florida Democratic Party official put it: “Anybody know what George Mitchell’s doing?”
If leadership is what the situation is crying out for, they’re screwed. This could be more fun than watching the Democratic Congress exercise its mandate. Народовластие, Да!
Приветствия, Instapundit, etal! Не будет красивейшим днем? Всегда настолько хорошо для того чтобы увидеть вас! Эта поэзия не улучшала с временем: Peace in our time. вахта куда вы указываете та вещь! Damned foot sharpshooter! Это будет песня, котор вы смогли спеть на русском языке, мой друг: Original guilt. Stalin знало бы сделать с этими людьми! With a fourth estate like this …*
* Don’t speak Russian? Me either.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:56 am on Saturday, February 9, 2008
7 Responses to “Petard Hoistmanship”
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February 9th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Howard Dean is the perfect leader for the DNC right now. He’s so incompetent that the Denver convention will make the battle for Stalingrad look like a pillow fight.
The more the Dhimmicrats shoot themselves in the foot, the better off America gets.
Go, Howie, go!!!!!!!!
February 9th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Excellent news. The more time Democrats spend in-fighting (their specialty), the more resources and credibility they have to spend against each other. Taking it to the convention would give them just 8 weeks to make their case to America, as opposed to the months our guy has.
February 9th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
And these people want to run the country?
February 9th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
For anyone interested in a fairly complete background on the flap, I’ve been writing about this self-inflicted wound for well over a year.
When Reid, Dean, and company decided to start diddling the primary schedule to (they assumed) give the Democrats some advantage by enabling a clear front-runner to emerge earlier in the schedule, they ignored the Law of Perverse Consequences. Now it’s biting them in the butt, as some of us have been prediciting all along.
February 9th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Good post! But in any discussion of this subject I think an important point should always be made regarding Michigan:
Hillary Clinton’s name was the only major candidate on the ballot when they voted. As I understand it, most of the others (including Obama) withdrew their names prior to the voting (because of the sanction.)
Major point being: Isn’t it patently unfair to include those votes for Hillary when the other candidates were persuaded to withdraw their names? If I were an Obama supporter from Michigan, and the Clintons tried to include those results to bolster their delegates, I’d be screaming bloody murder!
Best analogy I can think of: Announcing the cancellation of a baseball game, and then awarding the team that shows up a win based on forfeiture by the other team.
In my mind, this could wind up being Chicago ‘68 all over again.
February 9th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Dumb and Dumber: The Flowers of Florida and Michigan Bloom
As long predicted on this blog, the DNC’s decision to disenfranchise the voters of Florida and Michigan in the seeking of electoral advantage is coming back to bite them in their collective tuchis.
February 9th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
“they ignored the Law of Perverse Consequences”
Why shouldn’t they? They routinely ignore it when passing laws.