We would point out that the "unfortunate circumstances" referred to in the plan were caused by the Democratic Party.
Rules? What Rules? This is Politics
Republicans who are falling all over themselves laughing at the vicious infighting of the Democratic Presidential candidates should get a grip on themselves and pay attention to the far more serious issue of what the Democrats are up to, at least in Florida.
As most people know, Florida and Michigan moved their presidential primaries way forward in this year's schedule. That violated the Democratic Party's protectionist rules, resulting in the loss of both state's delegates, elected and super, in the count toward the nomination.
Hillary Clinton won both contests, and now needs the delegates of both states, elected and super, if she is going to make any real claim at all to the nomination against Barack Obama who now holds a virtually insurmountable lead in elected delegates.
It has also belatedly come to the attention of the Democrats that not counting the votes of two major states (through no fault of those state's Democratic voters) just might not be one of those really good ideas if those states' voters are going to be motivated to vote against John McCain in the general election.
Cries of revote are everywhere, with as many opinions as there are Democrats.
This week, the Florida Democratic Party submitted the draft of a plan for a mail-in ballot revote.
For the purpose of this discussion, we omit all the gritty details and focus solely on the last section of the plan, titled "Benefits" and reprinted in full, as follows:
"The benefits of this particular Vote by Mail election are immense. The Party will be making it easier for Democrats to vote. The process eliminates almost every traditional voting obstacle. Every registered Democratic voter will be given the opportunity to be part of the process. No one group will have an advantage. There is no direct or indirect fee to vote.
"Some people will vote for the first time. Many people will vote by mail for the first time. Both are important to Democratic victories in the future. If the Party increases the number of Democrats who vote and the number of people who vote by mail, we can get that much closer to victory in November.
"The omnibus election bill that changed the primary to January 29th included several positive measures. In addition to the guaranteed paper trail for the 2008 elections, the new law allows for a voter to request an absentee ballot for the 2008 general election and every election through 2010. These voters will never miss an election, no matter how small. This increases turnout and helps Democrats up and down the ballot.
"The Party plans to include an optional party-building component, which voters may submit [with] their ballots. Survey/issue questions could also be added, and email addresses will be requested. One question that will be asked is whether the voter would like to vote absentee in future elections. If the voter would like to request an absentee ballot for the next four years, he or she can fill out that information, and it will be forwarded to the appropriate Supervisor of Elections following the primary.
"Never before has the Florida Democratic Party been able to communicate with every registered Democrat in the state. The unfortunate circumstances that led us to where we are now, ironically, provide us with an incredible opportunity to reach voters and build the party like never before."
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We would point out that the "unfortunate circumstances" referred to in the plan were caused by the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party has every right to try to remedy, in reasonable ways, the "unfortunate circumstances" that it caused.
It does not have the right to turn a revote into a massive party-building advantage.
We can only hope that Florida Governor Charlie Crist and Attorney General Bill McCollum and about 5,000 lawyers from both parties are paying attention.
March 13, 2008