It is inconveivable to me that someone in Florida or Michigan would think about the primary in Nov

[theboss]

Granted, I'm "only" 34, but until this year, I don't think I have ever once voted in a primary that mattered in the large scheme of things. In WV, our primay was always too late to really matter (Hell, I voted for Jerry Brown, if I recally correctly). In 2000, in Virginia, Gore was going to stomp Bradley like a Narc at a bike rally...so I voted for Bradley. In 2004, I may have been drunk. I know I voted for Edwards but I think I wanted him to have enough votes to make a valid case for VP.

I was rather stunned to be involved in a real race this year.

Now, I admit that I am probably just drawing on narrow personal experience, but I've never linked my primary vote and my general election vote. As I said, I voted for Brown in '92 for reasons that are no longer clear to me. I may have written in my buddy Jason in '96. I voted for Bradley in 2000. And Edwards in 2004.

As you can see, I have NEVER backed a winner. It's actually rather pathetic when you think about it.

But, I've always voted for the Dem in the General. Heck, in '92, I went from being openly hostile to Clinton in February to working at his campaign rallies in the summer.

So....explain to me why a Florida voter is going to be so pissed come November that they will either stay home or vote for McCain. Are voters really that immature?

I need to stop giving people so much credit and assume - like the Clintons do - that everyone acts in a vengeful manner during every waking moment.

[Deep13]

1. I'm sure the R. 527s will be nice enough not to remind them. nt

[theboss]

2. About what exactly?

I still fail to see the great insult. My vote has NEVER mattered.

[Texas Hill Country]

9. "Why would you vote for a party that refused to count your vote?" sound about right?

[cali]

11. because I care more about my country and its future than about

the primary squabbles. In short, I'm a rational person. Because I know that there is no such thing as a legal franchise in a primary. Because I don't really give two hoots if my vote counts in the primary. It never has and it didn't matter much this year. Vermont will never matter much and we don't give a hoot about being early and "counting". We've always voted on town meeting day- the first Tuesday in March, and that's the way we like it. It's also the day we start our garden seeds around here.

[Texas Hill Country]

13. i admire your idealism.

[cali]

14. I don't know that it's so much idealism as hideboud Yankee tradition

and orneriness. But thanks.

:hi:

[papau]

19. Sorry - but Yankee tradition is get even - as it is in every group - & no Hill as VP race is "a go"

for "getting even" becoming the primary motivator

[Texas Hill Country]

8. LOL, yeah, I am sure the Repub attack machine is gonna send Obama teddy bears and rainbows

[theboss]

15. There are attacks and then there are attacks that work

I fail to see how a Republican attack on some arcane DNC rules is going to get THAT much traction.

[Jensen]

3. This Floridian and her family including her 86 year old mother will be voting DEM...

Period end of sentence!:patriot:

[charlie]

4. Imagine my surprise and fear

when us Texas yahoos not only mattered, but were momentarily important, being one of Hillary's early "firewalls." I've never gotten to vote for a prez I remotely wanted, let alone a nominee.

No one will own up to it, but it's largely partisanship. I've tracked a number of the "disenfranchisement" mavens and with a few exceptions, their fervor ebbs and wanes with Hillary's fortunes.

[HockeyMom]

5. This was my first primary vote

in the state of Florida and also since becoming a Democrat (30 year Independent). Yes, it p'od me that it wouldn't count, but I voted anyway and is/was resigned to the fact that it wouldn't count.

Rules are rules and at least I knew beforehand about it. It would upset me MORE if something underhanded were done to not count my vote in November.

[theboss]

6. There is no doubt that the situation is sucky

I just don't see how it could have cataclysmic implications with anyone.

[Texas Hill Country]

7. This one matters a lot.

[jsmirman]

10. Listen, if we lose because of this, or Hillary folks who cry sexism, we are the dumbest party ever

I hope that the people involved in this nonsense realize this. I hope that they know that Republicans are just sitting back, waiting for them to fulfill their most gleeful expectations. They think we're this dumb and undisciplined as a party and it's terrifying to think that they may be right.

But if we blow the election on this kind of petulance and stupidity, we will officially be the dumbest party ever. I hope that those who would lead us down that path would be proud of that.

I also hope that they each suffer impalement at the end of a wire hanger.

[suston96]

12. Not counting the votes of 2.3 million Democrats is NOT a petty "squabble" -

- It is an outrage!

See, that is the problem. Citizens willing to overlook assaults on their voting rights as long as such attacks benefit their candidate.

Pathetic, and fatally tragic in a democratic republic.

[RainDog]

16. It is not an assault on voting rights. It is being a part of the Democratic Party

and respecting the rules, as ALL the other states did.

Those two states did not have valid primaries b/c their state parties decided to go against the rules. they were punished for this. How is it possible that these two states did not shit on ALL the democrats who didn't vote in what was considered a sham primary?

How about the rest of us who sit here and think.. geez, did Katherine Harris game the democratic primary, too, so that only her candidate was on the ballot or something? How is it fair for only those who disobeyed the party rules get their votes counted?

How about that assault on voting rights?

Does that matter to you, no matter which candidate you support?

[theboss]

17. I just don't see the right to voting in a Primary as a sacred right

In the 1940s, 8 guys in a smoky room would have chosen the nominee.

[hfojvt]

18. kinda silly to be outraged

In 2004, how many states' votes didn't count in the primary? It was over after about 8 states, so the voters of 42 states didn't really have a choice in the matter.

What about 2000? How many states voted before it was all over? Two? Three? Five?

What about 1996? Did any state vote that year? Clinton had no real opponent in the primary.

Even this year, Hillary did not expect any vote to count after Feb. 5 (and neither did I, I thought she would clinch that day), and she was fine with Michigan and Florida not counting too, until she needed them to seem competetive. The Hillary campaign is trying to create the outrage for their benefit. Not for the voters of Florida nor of Michigan. Not for the benefit of the Democratic party. Purely for their own benefit and the benefit of their cronies.