Clinton's Suit Against Texas

[margotb822]

Here is the course of action a Clinton supporter suggested she may take in order to "reflect the will of the people." I'm absolutely sickened!

I asked the question: What would Clinton base the suit on? (I know, stupid to open that box)

I'm glad you ask. It's unfair because the caucuses in African American urban areas counted more than caucuses in Hispanic rural areas. What do you call it when votes count less in Hispanic areas? Do you see this as unconstitutional?

It was not "one person two votes." In rural and Hispanic areas it was "one person less than two votes." This process of "unequal representation" is not fair, and likely illegal. (Finding a fair judge is another issue.)

If it was "one person two votes," it would only discriminate against seniors, and people who work long hours or two jobs. So here we have another problem with a primary and caucus system.

In more rural areas, people must travel much more to get to a caucus. After voting in the morning, they expect people to drive across the county, and camp out for the rest of the day? I don't need to explain why this process makes it much more difficult for rural Hispanic voters to caucus compared to inner city African American areas.
I wouldn't call it the "Texas two-step," it's more like the Texas two-SLAP, if you are Hispanic.

In closing, the caucus was discriminatory to some voters, disenfranchised some voters, and gave unfair representation to urban, mostly AA, voters. This unfair process, called a caucus, was bias on racial lines. The biased and weighted caucus system was used to overturn the will of the people. You must admit, this unusual primary/caucus system looks like the work of Tom Delay. Like Delay's law changes, the voting was unfair to some voters.
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What do you think?

[gateley]

1. I think this is whack

and to offer a much-hackneyed phrase lately, "reeks of desperation." That's what I think.

[margotb822]

13. The thing that really pisses me off

is the idea of not counting votes under the guise of respecting the will of the people. Can that be a serious suggestion? Clinton would be laughed out of court for this suggestion.

[yellowcanine]

2. I think everyone knew the rules going in and this is whining.

Just like Florida and Michigan knew the rules going in. Changing the rules after the fact, when candidates adjusted their strategies to fit the rules that were in place, is not fair either.

[rurallib]

3. Guess it would be more legit if they had not waited until the

election year to try to change something that has been in place for decades.

[Cha]

17. And when she's losing..if she were winning she

would be calling for Obama's head on a silver platter.

[totodeinhere]

4. Typical Clinton campaign tactics

[nebula]

5. Exercising the Tonya Harding option

How Rovian of her.

[kevinmc]

6. Lesson for Hillary. Don't play the game if you don't know the rules. n/t

[LakeSamish706]

9. She knew the rules, just trying to change them mid game like Florida and Michigan. n/t

[Ino]

26. and Nevada! (nt)

[LakeSamish706]

7. In addition to all of that, they will do anything to destroy the Democratic Party...

whether it be a State Democratic party or the Federal one... These people are sick...

[Cali_Democrat]

8. African Americans in Texas are simply being rewarded for turning out in huge numbers in the past

It's not rocket science. They are the most loyal Dems, thank god for them.

[TomBall Democrat]

10. Odd to me that the Clintons have dipped into Texas politics

since George McGovern ran.

They have many friends here. I met Bill Clinton in 1992, and saw firsthand that he was well involved in and understood the workings of the Texas Democratic Party.

It is, therefore, foul that they suddenly feel the pain of poor Texas Latinos.

Yet another example of trying to change the rules to fit their needs.

I'm calling my state congressman to see if we can fence the Arkansas border instead of the Mexican border.

[Lucky 13]

11. OK super. Good thing to fix for next time around. NEXT.

[WolverineDG]

12. Where was her concern for the African Americans

2 & 4 years ago when the extra delegates were awarded to the Hispanic districts??? :crickets: Yeah, thought so.

She's complaining about rules that have been in place for decades. Everyone knows (especially the South Texas party bosses) that if you get a high turnout, you get rewarded with extra delegates to National. The South Texas party bosses sat on their asses in 2006, so it's a bit much for them to expect to get extra delegates from the State Party now.

dg

[tammywammy]

20. Exactly Wolverine

[City Lights]

14. I think she's nutzo.

The Texas two-step has been in place for decades and worked fine when her hubby ran. Miss Ready On Day One was unprepared for the Democratic primary to continue beyond Super Tuesday, which is the only reason the Texas system is suddenly a "problem."

Enough with the drama already, Hill'ry!

[anigbrowl]

15. It's idiotic, and wrong.

The delegate apportionment system is based entirely on the turnouts from previous elections. If Latino-majority districts had lined up strongly behind Kerry in 2004 and voted strongly Dem during congressional elections in 06, then they'd have had more state convention delegates in these primaries.

The objections to the Texas system are just whining rationalization. The reality for the Clinton campaign is that they didn't have a very good gameplan for Texas because it seems like they never expected to have to compete there.

[pop goes the weasel]

16. such a suit presupposes

That the Dem. party back in the 1970s was able to foresee demographic trends with astounding clarity. Back when the primary was established, rural areas were Democratic strongholds and no one would have purposely punished them.

[IndianaGreen]

18. Texas rewards districts that voted Democratic with more delegates

a practice not uncommon across this country.

Hillary is full of shit!

[VolcanoJen]

19. Goofy as all get-out. The time to file lawsuits would have been *before* Texas voted.

The caucus excuses are so tired, they really are. Obama's supremacy in the caucuses shows a new tidal wave toward a bottom-up movement in our democracy, and no candidate will ever discount this again. Top-down politics are over. This is good for the nation, regardless of which candidate figured it out first and built a campaign around that tenet.

No candidate for president will ever again run a campaign the way Clinton has run hers.

This article is an excellent read for those who want to understand more clearly how Obama's organization has worked, so please read through it if you're interested, but this is the money quote:

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/obamamachineryofhope/page/5

Clinton has since complained that caucuses are "dominated by activists" who "don't represent the electorate." But that bellyaching, says Trippi, "is pure cover for 'We blew it.' If you can win a precinct just by getting ten people there — and that's true — then why the hell didn't she get ten people there?"

Adds Moulitsas of Daily Kos, "I don't know how a candidate can say she'll be ready to lead on Day One, when she can't even organize a simple caucus."

[cloudbase]

21. That ought to cost her campaign a few dollars

that she reportedly can't spare. If I were a contributor to her campaign, I'd be a bit irate.







(Can one be a bit irate?)

[tammywammy]

22. And it'll piss off the TDP

Boyd Richie already came out before the conventions when there was whispering from the Clinton campaign that they were going to sue to delay them.

If she won the nomination, the last thing she'd have wanted to do is piss off good Texas dems.

[L0oniX]

23. Spider Clinton, spider Clinton, doing what ever a spider Clinton does.

:mad:

[Gothmog]

24. Delegate allocation based on 2006 votes for Governor

The Party rules are clear. The allocation of delegates was based on the 2006 vote for governor. Many African American precincts did the right thing and voted for Chris Bell in 2006 for governaor and got more delegates. Other precincts either did not vote or voted for other candidates which was bad for the party.

These rules were established well in advanced and were not based on racial decisions but on actual votes in the 2006 Texas governors race. Trying to claim unequal treatment is just plain silly here.

[SoCalDem]

25. I think that her husband used the same system TWICE, won and liked it just fine

She's a whiny baby, who cannot accept the fact that people are not as "into her" as they are him :)