The January 29th Florida PPP should NOT count!

[ddeclue]

I was one of those people last year jumping up and down and yelling at important people in the FDP and the Edwards campaign (I sent emails to the DNC too but they never were answered other than with a form response) about how the Florida delegates should be counted BEFORE the January 29th election.

I would have loved more than anything to see our delegates seated and the results of the January 29th PPP to have counted.

I do NOT now.

The problem is that the DNC's ruling that the delegates don't count and the Four State pledge forced on the candidates by the four early states had already disenfranchised Florida's voters during what should have been an active campaign season here in the Sunshine State. They were disengaged from Presidential politics and there was no real campaign to engage them, to educate them, or to get them to make any kind of critical decision.

The candidates stayed away in droves (including my guy John Edwards) once the pledge was signed (and they had no upside to breaking the pledge since there were no delegates at the end of the tunnel). The result was that it destroyed the motivation and morale of the various activists for each campaign and more generally of the Florida Democratic voters.

Don't believe the Clinton campaign propaganda after the fact about the Florida PPP - The Democratic voters who showed up to vote on January 29th were far more motivated by Amendment 1, a Constitutional amendment to lower Florida's property taxes than they were by the Presidential candidates whom they hadn't seen in the state since July of last year.

What we saw in the Florida PPP was the result of a LACK of a campaign season there. Hillary Clinton won on name recognition and the absence of any real campaigning or debate in Florida in the 6 months prior to the PPP. She didn't win because she honestly competed against her opponents in a real campaign season.

Now, AFTER the results of the January 29th PPP are known to Senator Clinton and her campaign, she has suddenly developed convictions about seating our Florida delegates and wants them seated. Well where were her convictions SIX MONTHS AGO when she signed the Four State pledge?

That she now wants the results of the January 29th PPP to count while she is trailing Obama, has lost the last 8 primaries and the momentum is swinging his way is the height of self serving hypocrisy and is such utterly transparent gamesmanship that it only serves to disgust Florida Democrats, not impress us.

If Howard Dean and the Democratic National Committee that caused this whole mess in the first place when it decided to punish Florida's voters for the actions of a Republican controlled state legislature wants to hold a "do over" and have a FL-MI primary day that occurs in March or April after allowing the remaining candidates to actually campaign in person here in Florida (and in MI) and to conduct debates in FL and MI, then the results of THAT primary ought to count - not some "preseason practice game" that everyone was told wasn't going to count.

Doug De Clue
Formerly an Edwards grassroots organizer, now an Obama supporter
Orlando, FL

[Bicoastal]

1. Where did this come from?

[Bicoastal]

2. Oh--did you author this yourself?

It's VERY well written. Consider submitting it to your local paper as a LTTE.

[ddeclue]

3. Thanks... yes I wrote it myself...

I am a fairly good writer (although not for a living) and have been featured regularly as a guest blogger at www.brainshrub.com (see: http://www.brainshrub.com/drupal/blog/121 ) and was recently featured in an Op-Ed in the Orlando Sentinel.

[dailykoff]

4. Thanks Doug

but what does PPP mean again?

[ddeclue]

5. PPP=Presidential Preference Primary n/t

[dailykoff]

6. thanks, K/R

:thumbsup:

[Ravy]

7. Name recognition? Don't you people in Orlando have TVs yet?

We have had them in Spring Hill for years and years.

[ddeclue]

8. Why yes we do but....

1) No FL campaign means no TV ads.
2) No FL campaign means no radio ads.
3) No FL campaign means no billboards.
4) No FL campaign means no local news coverage.
5) No FL campaign means no local activism.
6) No FL campaign means no local campaign events.

The reality is most voters are very lazy and don't get excited about the candidates when they are on the national news for 3 minutes a night in a far away state. They are much more interested by 10 minutes on the local news.

The truth is that if you don't have a campaign in a state, the voters are much less engaged and will vote for the big name they've heard before.

[Ravy]

9. It was kind of refreshing.

People who vote for candidates based on the number of billboards puzzle me.

I am not saying for all years, but this year there were plenty of debates and lots of opportunity to get to know the candidates. It would suprise me if anyone drawn to go to a local campaign event wouldn't have been curious enough to catch a few of those.

People in my neighborhood certainly seemed to know the candidates positions, but Spring Hill could be thought of as a suburb of New York, non-geographically.

[ddeclue]

10. People care a lot more about local events than national or worldwide ones.

It may not make sense in an age of the internet and television but it is still true.