New low in American democracy:Obama's site encouraging voters to pressure the DNC to NOT count votes

[Iceburg]

http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/organizing/4bpt

snip...

Call or write the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee before May 31st (Organizing)

..
Ideas for text of message to DNC:

Dear (DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee member):

I'm sure you recognize that the implications of your decision regarding the Michigan and Florida Primaries are much greater than the 2008 presidential election. Doing the right thing might be hard, but justice must prevail if our Party is to survive and thrive.

Rules are rules and the outcome of the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee must serve justice and fairness. If Michigan Delegates are seated (Pledged Delegates AND Superdelegates) then it must reflect no gain for either candidate. It must be a wash. In other words, the result must be a 50/50 split to be fair and just to all of the citizens of Michigan.

As you know, votes are suppressed substantially when a candidate's name does not appear on the ballot, a travesty that was compounded by to the fact that citizens were told the our votes would not count as a penalty for our Democratic Leadership defying the rules of the national party organization.

The results of the illegitimate Michigan primary does not remotely reflect the will of the people. Every vote was not counted because countless votes were not cast and countless others were miscast when citizens "wrote in" their candidate, thus spoiling their ballots and suppressing the vote further yet.

The presidential candidates agreed to abide by the rules and the penalties, and had no control over the decision made that led to the penalties imposed on Michigan and Florida. Michigan Democratic Leaders knew what they were doing, knew the consequences and moved forward with their plan to disenfranchise Michigan citizens. In so doing, they subverted the democratic process and threw the entire Democratic Party into turmoil.

Please take the long view and do the right thing for our party, for justice and for democracy.

Thank you,

(your name)

/snip

[GarbagemanLB]

1. You mean they want to follow the rules that Hillary agreed to? PREPOSTEROUS!!

[roguevalley]

51. asking that the rules be followed in the face of a shrill protest by

the loser is not a bad thing. sending oranges, shoes and banging pots is actually the outrageous thing. Hillary is McSaming it by changing her mind when it suits her. Rules? Those are for little people.

[polpilot]

53. NOT CHANGE THE RULES FOR THE CLINTONS!!! I'M OUTRAGED!!

[lisa58]

2. You don't get the "rules are rules" part of the letter...

...they agreed to run their campaigns under these specific rules and now a candidate wants to change them?

[mod mom]

3. This is a suggested "event" by a supporter not put out by the campaign.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

5. This is the same thing as when they said Obama was supported by the Black Panthers

And then suddenly Sean Hannity and Clinton "supported" him too.

[Mike L]

4. COUNT EVERY VOTE!!!!!!!!! em

[SemiCharmedQuark]

6. Yes, we must be saved from that "far left" candidate Obama, right?

[Qutzupalotl]

36. COUNT EVERY CAUCUS!

too

[Lucky 13]

7. Hmm. Nice spin, but a judge agrees with him.

The DNC has the right to select their nominee in anyway they choose... including imposing punishments on states. I'm afraid Hillary is running out of arguments.

[iamthebandfanman]

8. yeah, rules and laws suck!

count the vote!

bwahaha!


if this was the GE, id be right there with u 'count the vote' people
but its a primary. the party decides the rules. the rules were broken. deal with it.

p.s.

ive written to the DNC twice already saying I was proud of them for upholding the rules. after 8 years of an administration who makes everything up as they go and has no regard for rules or law, its nice to see an organisation stand up 'em

[stevietheman]

9. Enough. n/t

n/t

[Forkboy]

10. You're making me dizzy.

[Raine1967]

11. The title is rather

disengenuous.

Actually, it is rather slanderous and not true.

[Bensthename]

12. "Rules are rules" thanks, sending my name on this now.

This is true

[suston96]

13. The long view? How about just abiding by the Democratic Party Charter.....?

Section 4.

The National Convention shall be composed of delegates equally divided between men and
women. The delegates shall be chosen through processes which:

(a) assure all Democratic voters full, timely and equal opportunity to participate........

(b) assure that delegations fairly reflect the division of preferences expressed by those who
participate in the Presidential nominating process.....

"Rules" cannot violate that. Deals cannot be made that dilute these guarantees, especially for those 2.3 million voters who "participated".

Are we really taking about the Democratic Party?

[canucksawbones]

38. How about reading the whole charter

cherry picking 2 lines doesn't cut it, also the DNC did assure a full, timely and equal opportunity to participate, the state parties broke those rules, Article 2 section 4(f) states that the standards of selection must be done in accord with the charter AND the Bylaws AND the delegate selection rules. The bylaws I assure you are the department of the rules and bylaws committee.

If Hillary wants to take it to the convention she requires a majority of the delegates and a majority of the DNC or a 2/3 majority of delegates to overturn this Saturday's ruling.

linky to document below.

http://www.democrats.org/a/2006/01/dnc_charter_and.php

[2rth2pwr]

14. That's sick. Is this what we will can expect from him? Party rules over the voices of the people?

[George_Bonanza]

15. Many in FL didn't vote. Obama wasn't on the ballot in MI.

Republican turnout in Florida OUTNUMBERED the Democratic one. This bucks the entire national trend, and that's proof that there was a huge Democratic electorate that did not turn out b/c they believed the likes of Harold Ickes and Hillary Clinton when they said that Florida wasn't going to count. And as for Michigan? Don't even get me started on that one.

[2rth2pwr]

Record numbers turned out in FL and if people didn't go out, it affected every candidate.

The delegates will be seated, bank on it.

[symbolman]

55. What about all the voices of those people that COULDN'T Vote for Obama

Because his Name Was NOT on the Ballot? The first RULE would seem to be that in a Democracy YOU would Demand that ALL candidates Names be ON the Ballot so that ALL the People's Voices be HEARD..

How can you even intimate that it was FAIR and Democratic at ALL?

That is just VILE, and we've heard just about enough of this Obvious Ploy that you creeps keep Pushing.

STOP IT.

[Doityourself]

16. DNC lawyers already said, only half can be seated legally...that's what gonna happen, watch.

[susankh4]

17. This will not play well for Dems in November.

Or for years to come, in fact.

Crist is blabbering all over the airwaves today... about how great the RNC is for giving Floridians their say.

Obama is shooting us in the foot by sending the message that "rules matter more than votes."

[GarbagemanLB]

21. The RNC punished Florida by cutting their delegation in half. The DNC will likely do the same. What

is your point?

[susankh4]

23. My point is: GET THE F*** ON WITH IT!

And quit the disenfranchisement.

What is Obama trying to prove by arguing against seating Florida?

[RaleighNCDUer]

26. He is not arguing against seating them.

He is arguing against seating them "as is" which is what Hillary is insisting on.

BTW, what the fuck is wrong with spelling out "fuck"? Just wondering.

[cyndensco]

44. Just wondering..

Do you think Hillary would be clamoring to seat FL and MI if she were not behind? Do you think she was wrong to agree with the penalty before the actual "vote?" Shouldn't she have realized in the beginning, as she feels now, that penalizing FL and MI would disenfranchise voters.

I don't think her argument is at all honorable. She is changing the rules, moving the goalposts.

[MattBaggins]

56. He hasn't argued against it

Because you Hillary supporters hear say the stupidest things; should I attribute all of them to her?

[Andy823]

18. Hillary already hit that low

When she agreed that the votes in Michigan and Florida would not count, but then when she knew she was losing, decided they "should" count! So in my book you don't get any lower than that!

[doublethink]

19. Remember that game 'Twister" ?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

20. So what is their position on Florida?

Do they actually have the balls to say what their position on Florida is?

Come on, at least show your cards, folks.

I honestly want to know what the campaign thinks about my vote. It will determine the level of my participation in the general election.

[kid a]

22. i protested a speeding ticket once...had two lawyers and even took the day off

I had to pay the ticket!!!
AND...can you believe I couldn't use my sick leave for the day off???

Rules suck!

[RaleighNCDUer]

24. Hey, thanks!

A letter I can send to dissuade the SD's from fucking up the 2012 elections by allowing FL and MI to get away with their un-democratic vote spoiling.

I'm glad that you recognize that if there is no penalty this year, next time out will be absolute chaos.

Appreciate it!

[endarkenment]

25. Pittsburg Penguins demand to count 'shots on goal' rather than 'goals'.

Make every shot count!

[SeaLyons]

27. Obama is so going to lose the GE....

what a pathetic situation.

[Cheap_Trick]

40. if hillary can't win the nomination

how could she stand a chance of winning the GE? Talk about pathetic. The last stand of the hillbots.

[SeaLyons]

45. She beats McSame hands down in the GE..

Obama is the one with the problem. He's gotten as far as he has with inflated delegates. That's not going to help in the GE. No caucuses in the GE. Uh-oh.

[Cheap_Trick]

46. the GE hasn't happened yet

so she hasn't beaten him "hands down". more wishful thinking from cherry-picked polls. hillary can't take the heat in the primaries. she'd wither away completely from the scorching she'd take from the right in the GE. they've been easy on her to this point, hoping to take her on in the GE where they'll unleash with extreme prejudice. either get behind the DEMOCRATIC nominee, or get lost. next stop for the disgruntled hillbots, freeperville.

[SeaLyons]

52. I will be behind the nominee.....and I hope it's Hillary

so throw your "Cheap" shots at someone else. Who put you in charge of tellng DU'ers to get lost?

[Cheap_Trick]

63. anyone who votes against the Democratic party DOESN'T belong here

and I'm sure that in 2004, you would have agreed. Of course, now that it's hillary involved, well that's different.

[stillcool]

62. Hey Pathetic! Sorry to disappoint

but some of us are going to make sure our candidate wins in November.

[MethuenProgressive]

28. How could anyone in Florida who had their votes stolen in 2000 support BO in 2008?

Short term memory loss?

[KaryninMiami]

29. I live in FL, had my votes stolen in 2000, and 2002 and I assume in 2004

since we voted on DRE machines with no way to verify what actually got counted. It makes me furious to know that as an American my votes probably counted towards another candidate. Beyond furious frankly.

BUT- those have NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PRIMARY-- nothing at all- period. Florida Democratic leaders opted to ignore the rules of the DNC and change the date- and then ignored the offer from the DNC to help have another primary at the appropriate date which they refused. Many people- hundreds of thousands of people from the latest report - DID NOT VOTE because they/we were told our votes did not count. The rules were very clear- you don't change the rules after the game has been played. Counting all of the primary votes AS IS disenfranchises millions of voters who did not bother to vote or voted for a candidate knowing it would not count.

What it with the people that insist on linking the deliberate ignoring of the DNC rules by FL Democratic leaders (all Clinton supporters by the way)-- with the fraud and disenfranchisement in 2000, 2002 and 2004 on the General elections? GET OVER IT FOLKS-- our Florida Democratic party SCREWED US - GET IT-- and the DNC has no choice but to honor the rules they deliberately broke.

[VolcanoJen]

41. Yes! An intelligent post from a voter who was actually affected by the FL Dem Party's decision.

Thank you for the sanity, Karyn!

[LSK]

48. Obama forced FL dem legislatures to change the primary date???

:shrug:

[OneBlueSky]

30. this issue was settled long ago . . . and everyone agreed to the solution . . . next . . . n/t

.

[nichomachus]

31. If the positions were reversed, Hillary would be shrieking "rules are rules" until our ears bled

[Roxy66]

32. It's not Obama's Campaign...it's one of the millions of supporters!!!

who can hold their own event....don't spew this kind of crap suggesting it's the campaign!!!!!

[raebrek]

33. quit it n/t

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

34. I find it disgusting that you have the nerve to put Al Gore in your avatar

You dishonor everything he stands for!!!

[unblock]

35. hey let's tell people they're voting for american idol and then count the votes toward the primary!

that would make as much sense.

how many people didn't bother to vote in the michigan and florida contests because the party and the candidates all said it wouldn't count for anything?

david cook got more votes in one hour than obama and clinton combined!!!!!!

[Roxy66]

37. This should be alerted....it's grossly mis-leading!!!

It's a citizen supporter...not the campaign!!!

[dsomuah]

39. Look at this ole skool Hillary supporter **lol**

Clearly some of you Hillary supporters don't understand the role of the internet as an organizing tool.

Welcome to the 21st century.

The page the op linked to is in fact an event set up by an Obama supporter using the social network on Obama's site. It is not being organized by the Obama campaign nor is it being endorsed by the Obama campaign. Getting mad at the Obama campaign over this would be like getting mad at Facebook because you saw a profile you didn't like.

Y'all must seriously not be hip to the role of social networks as a political organizing tool to make such a huge mistake.

Wow.

[bvar22]

42. Thanks for the reminder!

I'm sending off a letter today.

Seating the delegates from BOGUS elections disenfranchises the Democratic voters from the 48 states who held valid elections.

[Faryn Balyncd]

43. Thanks. Every word of the posted letter is TRUE and most relevant.

[LSK]

47. what votes???????????????????

[malik flavors]

49. What about when Hillary agreed the votes shouldn't count. Was that also a new low?

[Perry Logan]

50. Unfair! Obama has given new hope to Republicans everywhere.

[SeaLyons]

54. Absolutely pathetic....

every vote should be counted - rules or no rules. Leadership caused this crisis, not the voters. It's shameful.

[symbolman]

57. Man, I swear if you Clinton supporters had a car break down

instead of calling a mechanic, you'd start screaming at the Bicycles passing you, jamming sticks in the spokes...

THIS is Exactly WHY Clinton should not be President, SHE Cannot properly Identify WHO the REAL Enemy IS!

Get it?

I thought not...

[SeaLyons]

60. typical arrogant reply ....

from a typical Obama supporter. Get it??????

[symbolman]

64. The fact that you are a sucker

does not make Me Arrogant..

[MattBaggins]

59. Would you mind if next time around

That all the states that stayed with the plan; wait for Florida and Michigan to announce their Primary dates, and then set theirs for two weeks before them? Just have every other state wait and then push both of them to the back of the line.

[stillcool]

61. that's hysterical...

rules or no rules!! No wonder why we are no longer a country ruled by laws.

[L0oniX]

58. Damn people who obey and respect rules,.how un-American.