Dem Delegate Fight Pits Sharpton Vs. NAACP

What is important to America and all of the people in all of the states who have the constitutional right to vote is to UPHOLD THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION. It is common knowledge that the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA takes precedence over the constitution of any political party.
Florida and Michigan cannot for any unconstitutional reason be DISENFRANCHISED.
If for one reason or another someone made a wrong decision at PARTY LEVEL and there is now confusion and debate AT CONSTITUTIONAL LEVEL about the pros and cons about Florida and Michigan voting in the primaries too early or too soon. FLORIDA AND MICHIGAN need to vote for their party choice of their best candidate for the highest office in the land and the right CONSTITUTIONAL approach to the FLORIDA AND MICHIGAN situation will guide AMERICAN'S to vote for the RIGHT PERSON to be the next PRESIDENT OF AMERICA.

The Book of Judges chapters 4 and 5 in the Old Testament Holy Bible, speak of BARAK (a valiant man) and DEBORAH (a prophetess, a righteous woman) that were raised and used by GOD to deliver Israel against overwhelming odds in a time when there was great sin by the people of Israel.
BARAK is a name of HEBREW ORIGIN and means "FLASH OF LIGHTENING".
DEBORAH and BARAK worked together.( see chapters 4 and 5 in the Book of Judges).Errol Smythe.

Julian Bond's (and Mary Frances Henderson and Wade Berry) public outcry on behalf of disenfranchised voters is a day late and a dollar short. Why now? Moreover, if Henderson and Berry assisted in writing the letter to the DNC together with Mr. Bond, why did they not sign it with him? Why hide in the shadows if this is indeed a sincere effort to bring about justice and equality for Florida and Michigan voters? Why did these three individuals feel it necessary to come out without the full knowledge, and more importantly, the full support, of the NAACP Board and the organizations that they head. Doing so surely would have had a greater impact and, were it done in a timely manner when the battle was at hand.

Quite frankly, Mr. Bond's public outcry on behalf of all the disenfranchised voters is so far after the battle, it is disingenuous and embarrassing, at best.

This is exactly the kind of politics that folks all across America are demanding a departure from. This is why one hears over and over again, "We Want Change! Change that We Can Believe In!"

Further, this begs the question: If Florida and Michigan voters were allowed to go first, would their voters -- the people not the party leaders -- be any better off than if they stuck with the party rules? What is in it for the people -- the orange grove pickers, the working folks, the service industry employees, the school bus drivers, the firemen, the policemen, the garbage collectors, the teachers? What do they get out of all of this? Is this going to increase their wages, improve their living conditions and provide them with decent health care? No. It is just politics as usual.

As for Hillary Clinton -- first we had hanging chads, now we have illegal delegate gathering. Sen. Clinton's statement saying that she was going to do everything she can to get Florida and Michigan delegates seated -- but without a new primary -- speaks well of her campaign tactics to date.

DNC Chairman Dean's offer of a new primary is, under these circumstances, fair and equitable. If Sen. Clinton is so concerned with the people being disenfranchised, she would have jumped at this opportunity. Instead, she wrongfully claims that she won these two contests. What contests? In the case of Michigan, we all know that she was the only candidate on the ballot -- that's not a contest, that's stealing delegates. It is obvious that Sen. Clinton is not in tune with the people she so desperately is trying to become Commander in Chief of. People want change from this kind of politics.

There is an old saying that if you want to know the true nature of a person, watch what they do when faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles. To date, when faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Sen. Clinton has either cried or stretched the truth into something that is not recognizable as anything of truth or value.

This is exactly why people all across this nation are voting for change that they can believe in. I am confident that given the opportunity, the people of Florida and Michigan will also vote for change that they too can believe in -- and not just on a national level.

Obama basically wants to disenfranchise Florida's and Michigan's voters and delegates. The DNC in those states broke a rule and the party judged by giving the voters and delegates the death penalty basically stripping them of their rights and voices in this all important primary. The voters still went to the polls in record number and voted anyway, and that says alot about them. Obama should be for re-instating these votes or at least for a month of campaigning and a new polling date. Democrats do not stand for disenfranchising voters and taking away their rights to vote and for their votes to COUNT. I think it is quite obvious why Obama is against it, because he knows they all voted for Hillary. Obama is a hypocrite and self serving, honest question, if they were all black voters voting for him what do you think he would have to say about it then? As a life long Democrat, I will NEVER vote for this guy, he is a liar, a hypocrite and a charlatan.

Hillary All the Way.

None of the Super Delegates should vote for Obama, he is out to get them all fired, even the Clintons who are among the top tier of successful Democrats in the party's history. I think the fact Obama wants Florida and Michigan voters to be disenfranchised, to discount their votes is quite obvious, because he lost both states to Hillary. Florida and Michigan voters should demand to be counted and their delegates seated at the convention in this all important primary. Why should the voters be punished for what the DNC in their states did? The DNC has sentenced the voters to the death penalty over a simple rule, that is just wrong. I think the solution to be totally fair to the voters and candidates alike is to let the candidates campaign for one month in the two states and then do another vote. That is what democracy is all about, that is what the Democratic Party is supposed to stand for. Even the Republicans weren't this harsh on their voters, delegates and candidates!

Hillary All the Way!!!!!

Both the Florida and Michigan votes should count. Why did Obama pull his name of the Michigan ballot knowing at the end of the day the delegates wouldn't count. Obviously he knew Hillary was going to take that state and was advised to do this in order to have a case if he lost it. You people also fail to recognise that Obama cheated in the Florida primary. All candidates were asked not to campaign in Florida, but still Obama did. What was his intention for campaigning there if he knew the delegates there weren't going to count? I believe every single American vote is important, thus my reason for supporting Hillary's stands on this issue

I was a Clinton supporter, but these low campaign tactics are really getting to me. The fact of the matter is, with the proportional delegate count, Clinton will not receive significantly more delegates than Obama-certainly not enough to take over his lead in pledged delegates. Additionally, if you take into account both Michigan (where Obama's name was not on the ballot) and Florida, he will still maintain a lead in popular vote. It's about principles, and theses tactics are showing her lack thereof.

Votes must be counted if they will make a DIFFERENCE of outcome. Obama pull off his name off Michigan, yet did not pull it off Florida, just like hes "present" votes, he wants to play it both way.

Had Hillary lost in Michigan/Florida you wouldn't be hearing a peep about the "great concern at the prospect that million of voters in Michigan and Florida could ultimately have their votes completely discounted."

I don't see how one can agree to something and then want to go back on it.

For all the people saying: 'count every vote', if the situation was reversed, I can guarantee you Hillary would NOT want those delegates seated and many of you wouldn't either.

The simple fact of the matter is this: people cannot blame the Republican controlled legislature down there. The REST of the country knew what was going to happen last year. So, the people of Florida and Michigan must have known as well. Why didn't ANY OF THEM STAND UP and PROTEST THEN? The PEOPLE have a voice and they should have used it THEN, now is to late.

Where were the citizens of these states last year? Where were the civil rights leaders last year? If they would have had a massive amount of people STANDING UP and on their a--es crying foul, both the Republican legislature and the DNC would have come up with solutions to the problem then. But, now is to late. However, it has been reported that Dean offered a re-do of Florida but the Clinton camp said no.

Again though, how can one agree to something and then want to go back on it? And how can people think it is ok to do so? This is akin to signing a lease agreement or any contract, if you break the lease or don't pay your rent, there will be consequences. And you better believe they won't be favorable consequences.......

Is it fair that the people suffer those consequences? They should if they didn't say anything then.

Posted by: bobby,
I doesn't matter which party is in control. The PEOPLE of ANY state have a voice. The PEOPLE themselves should have stood up and said NO. People can't blame their lack of action on the Republicans. What-ever happened to taking responsibility? The people that are now complaining (citizens, Hillary camp, civil rights people, etc.) should have complained THEN, it's far to late for crying foul.

I wish they'd go ahead and give her the delegates. I'm sick of hearing about them. And, I bet if she gets awarded the delegates it will only increase his level of support. In other words, she better be careful what she wish for.

There are still many of us out here that would be happy with either of them. But, when one pulls a power move such as this, we take notice. We have to take notice because it makes us wonder what an administration with such a person would be like.
When I go and vote next month, this will be floating around in the back of my mind.

It's total BS to compare this to GWB's win in Florida. We foolishly elected him President, fair and square.

The Michigan votes must be ignored, since Clinton was the only one on the ballot. Shrewd move by Obama if Clinton was going to win anyway and he pulled his name off the ballot...

As for Florida, Sharpton's argument makes sense. They needed to make this argument (more forcefully) PRIOR to the vote. It's too late, now.

If Obama wins the presidency, I hope he's ready (and that there's no hidden agenda). We'd be electing him on far slimmer evidence than we elected GWB, and we know how THAT turned out.

McCain is a mixed bag, but at least we know what we're getting, and he (almost always) tells the truth, even when it's not in his interests to be truthful (like giving hard news). McCain is likely to work with both parties, and do what's in America's best interests.

Obama is pretty much a total mystery. He seems like a nice guy, but there's not much behind the rhetoric. He doesn't lay out a policy or say what he's going to do. He just derides those who participate in politics that he eschews (which is hypocritical, when you think about it). Obama is pretty left leaning, and sticks to the liberal side of things, or refrains from voting in certain cases. (What is THAT about?!?)

Clinton, we know what we're getting, and it's not that good. It's more of the same -- divisive, party politics; zero-sum game.

As much as I'd like to see a President who happens to be a women or non-white, I'm still thinking McCain is our best bet.

Mr. Bond is correct. Seat the delegates.
We are talking about the disenfranchisement of nearly 3 MILLION voters who DID go out to vote even knowing their votes may not be counted. Howard Dean really is to blame for this mess, but so are the Dem leaders because they had to put him someplace and figured he wouldn't cause much trouble there. Oh, well!
As for who was on the ballot. Sen Obama originally put his name on the Michigan ballot, then withdrew it. He left it on the ballot in Florida and ran campaign ads,Hillary went down for a fund raiser, and after the election went down to thank the voters for voting. As for Edwards, his percentage of the vote would probably been the same as it had been, still giving the majority of the votes as they were.
I'm a 70 yr old South Carolinian, and I called the DNC both before the Florida primary and after. I was spoken to very rudely and told, quote"we can't have the states running around willy nilly setting their own primaries!" unquote. I asked about the rights of the voters to be represented and was told that the DNC ran things and it was just too bad.
Rather distasteful attitude, don't you think?
As far as Rev Sharpton is concerned, with his history in civil rights--since when was he so concerned about rules? Mr. Bond is correct, the voters should be represented. It is "we the people"!
And if Mr. Sharpton cares about civil rights--he would be for the civil rights of 3 million people of ALL backgrounds. His current attitude smacks greatly of the very thing he professes to be working so hard against-discrimination against ANY of us.
THREE MILLION VOTERS DESERVE REPRESENTATION! I certainly want MY vote to count, even if it is only one. And a do-over is not an option. Surely intelligent,civilizwd people can come to some agreement.

you have to count florida. they have a republican controlled congress, who moved the dates. this is almost like a setup by the republicans so the democrats wouldn't be allowed to vote. these votes need to be counted.

I think it fair for the Michigan not to be counted, but the Florida vote definitely should be counted. While it's true Obama did not campaign in Florida, nor did Clinton, and both of their names are on the ballot, it may be true many supporters of Obama did not cast a vote thinking the vote will not be counted, same thing can be said of Clinton supporters, so they are really on equal footing.

So why didn't Obama pull his name off the ballot in Florida like he did in Michigan? I'm sure he would be fighting for the vote to be counted if he had won Florida. You can not have it both way.

Bad news for those thinking this has any place in the courts. You have a right to vote, but you don't have a right to a party selection process.

Florida and Michigan parties CHOSE to have their votes before the date of a valid election. So that would be the same as me showing up at my polling place a week before the election and screaming "Ive been DISENFRANCHISED!" because no one was there to take my vote.

Can't the Democraps do anything right?
Or are they getting nervous about Obama.
Giving Hillary the delegates from Floria & Michigan will "give" her the lead.
This election is reminding me of ....
GWB.
Win anyway you can, even if you have to cheat.

I agree, the time to come out was last year. Now is not the time for protesting. Everyone can see this for what it is, a vote for Hillary. I don't have a problem with these so-called civil rights leaders and black ministers supporting the person of his/her choice. But, I take great offense to someone making it sound like they give a dam- about the disenfranchisement of the voter. If he or they cared, they would have done something a long time ago. I said the same thing Sharpton said, if anyone is disenfranchised, it is the non-voter who didn't vote b/c he/she didn't think their vote would count.

Again, it is to little to late for protesting. Now is the time for solutions. Others have written the DNC to encourage a quick resolve of the problem as well. The difference is they didn't say "how" the problem should be resolved. So, I think it is clear Bond’s affiliation and intent. These so-called “leaders”, and I use the term loosely, have out lived their usefullness in every possible way.....

I agree with Rev Sharpton because these people are only concerned about the people who did vote, because their candidate was on the ballot.
After these people had this huge rally with thousands of people and all of the top Black Congress in that district, setting up this event.

Hillary shows up at the airport as media shows her with two people greeting her as if she is unaware, there is a huge celebration already in play, yet hundreds and thousands of people did not even go to the polls because they were told Senator Obama was not on the ticket and that they could not write his name in. Roll the tapes folks, it was all over CNN and all the rest of big bad media.

These same people who have promoted this woman as the front runner sense the beginning of this campaign because she is the only Democratic candidate Republicans can and will beat.

I don't know what the hell Bonds is talking about and I think he may not have all the facts, because I am sure that he would not want to disenfranchise one group in favor of another especially when he has the responsibility of looking out for everyone that would be effected by this mess..

He is wrong and I hope that Howard Dean does not attempt to use that information to go ahead and disrespect those that did not get the opportunity.He will be dealing with a real back lash if he does and I hope he knows that.

Senator Obama is far too important to all of the people in this country that have stood behind him at this stage of the game and he will not be dealing with just the people of Florida, but people everywhere.