Florida Revote: Mail-In Primary Likely

[joeysky18]

http://www.newsweek.com/id/119901

Dan McLaughlin, a spokesman for Senator Nelson, tells NEWSWEEK that
the beginning of a new model for Florida's primary vote came into
focus earlier this week with a conversation between Nelson and Crist
in which they agreed on three common points. First, that a revote was
in order. Second, that the second primary should be conducted via
mail-in balloting. Finally, both agreed that Floridians should not pay
the tab. As Crist went out to praise these three common principles in
public, McLaughlin says Nelson approached Dean, who in turn sought
counsel from the DNC's lawyers as to how soft money might be raised
for the mail-in primary. McLaughlin says Dean responded to Nelson's
camp Friday with news that the DNC's legal counsel had determined that
the state party in Florida could raise soft money. "There is some
form, some shape coming into the cross-hairs, so to speak," McLaughlin
says. "Now there's consensus on a revote, on mail-in balloting and on
fund-raising."


This is the best news so far from DNC. We are getting somewhere civilized.

[skc1976]

Yeah, but the question is who gets ballots and how beneficial is it to Hillary?

[joeysky18]

This is GREAT news for us. We will crush Obama with a mail-in campaign.

The best part about mail-in is can all be virtual, by mail and phone.
It favors us with the elderly, with workers, with casual voters, with
non-English speakers.

[Patsy]

I'll be happy to head to the Sunshine State if they need it. Anything to get the voter's will out.

[Renee in Florida]

Howard Dean sit our delegates NOW or we will defect and ruin the Democratic party in November!!

Not a threat. A promise!!!

The window of time to hold a primary has closed as of Monday.

No one is willing to pay for a mail-in.

Disefranchise us now or there will be drastic consequences : a Republican president !!

You cannot win the GE without FLORIDA!!!! HEAR that Howard Dean, screw your damn rules!!!! HOW dare you!!!!!

[RayinAR]

Amen Renee. Florida should not have to do anything. All names were on the ballot and no one campaigned. Exept a illegally by Obama and CNN. And Hillary won fair and square. Seat them as is. And rendor your resignation Howard Dean. You are a discrace to the Democratic party.

[RAFREE]

Howard Dean sit our delegates NOW or we will defect and ruin the Democratic party in November!!

Not a threat. A promise!!!

The window of time to hold a primary has closed as of Monday.

No one is willing to pay for a mail-in.

Disefranchise us now or there will be drastic consequences : a Republican president !!

You cannot win the GE without FLORIDA!!!! HEAR that Howard Dean, screw your damn rules!!!! HOW dare you!!!!!

Renee, did you sign the petition on here yesterday to get rid of Dean?? I did!!! He needs to go. He has done nothing but, sit on his hands while this election went from bad to worse. He has alienated core democratic voters who are likely going to end up leaving the party. He has no sense anymore about how to unify ANYONE. If his goal is to lose core dems, to make millions of people feel left out then he's doing a great job.

He should have suggested a split ticket a while ago. AND he should realize it was a republican government that disenfranchised Florida voters. AND it was Donna Brazile who erroneously turned down the democratic voters appeal in Florida. No way, they did not follow procedure. They were counted out by first a republican local government and then by their own party.

[CGP]

As long as it's secure and not vulnerable to abuse, i'd tolerate a mail-in vote if it means that Florida will finally count.

[RayinAR]

I signed it RAFREE

[Renee in Florida]

And Murray i dont particulary trust a mail-in.

Yes i did sign the petition Rafree.

I have also called Howard Deans office several times, telling them ignore us now and we wont be here in November for the Dems!!!

They have to stop this nonsense about rules, and if Obama ever wants anyone to think he has any credibility, considering he advertised for our votes, he has to stop this hypocrisy as well and tell Howard Dean to seat the Florida and Mi delegates!!!!

[rhinegold]

I live in Florida (the Tampa Bay area), and there is currently A LOT of press coverage concerning the re-vote. There was a front-page article in the St. Petersburg Times (the most-circulated, influential newspaper in the state) yesterday and today concerning the re-vote, as that is where is seems it is headed.

Just wanted to fill you guys in from the inside!

Jack

FL is Clinton country!

[LetsHelpAmerica]

As long as it's secure and not vulnerable to abuse, i'd tolerate a mail-in vote if it means that Florida will finally count.

Here in Oregon ALL voting is done by mail. I miss getting out to your precinct and voting! I know of alot of people who just allow their spouses/partners to vote for them!! I DO think it is open to fraud.
It's main advantage is the convenience and that calculates to a much
better turn out. In my oppinion, it is NOT the best way to vote.

[CGP]

We have seen what has gone on at caucuses. It's all part of a pattern of unethical conduct. I would be concerned about the mail-in-vote being abused by the opponent's campaign and/or his supporters.

And heck. Hillary won the original vote fair and square. Why do we even have to having this unfair conversation!!?

[RAFREE]

Here in Oregon ALL voting is done by mail. I miss getting out to your precinct and voting! I know of alot of people who just allow their spouses/partners to vote for them!! I DO think it is open to fraud.
It's main advantage is the convenience and that calculates to a much
better turn out. In my oppinion, it is NOT the best way to vote.

I agree, it's open to fraud...I'm a dem abroad. We mail in our votes and I cannot believe after all the people I talked to that Obama won??? When we mailed in our votes no one even knew who he was hardly AT ALL.

[Disfranchised]

Howard Dean sit our delegates NOW or we will defect and ruin the Democratic party in November!!

Not a threat. A promise!!!

The window of time to hold a primary has closed as of Monday.

No one is willing to pay for a mail-in.

Disefranchise us now or there will be drastic consequences : a Republican president !!

You cannot win the GE without FLORIDA!!!! HEAR that Howard Dean, screw your damn rules!!!! HOW dare you!!!!!


I agree. I do not see the necessity for the State of Florida or the Florida Democratic Party to pay for a mail-in election. We already had one with the largest number of voter turn out. A mail in election will be just to satisfy one MAN ego. He should be ashamed of himself and his bias treatment. He treated 1.7 million Florida voter like crap that he is so he can just serve the nomination to OBAMA on a silver plater. Time for him to go. Please if you have not signed the petition sign it and send it to anyone who cares.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/65/petition-for-howard-dean-to-resign-as-dnc-chair

[xfiles]

I'm registered to vote in FL (I travel the country in my RV) so if this is the case (an absentee vote), I will request ballots and my husband and I will definitely vote for Hillary.

I think the current votes/delegates should count however since Hillary didn't campaign there per the rules but Obama ran some ads in violation of the rules I hear.

[Soaring Eagle]

I would like to have my family's already cast votes in Michigan to stand. Unfortunately, unlike Florida Oblahma's name was not on the ballot. I think Florida's primary should stand and be counted since Obama was on the ballot! In my home state of Michigan we may have to do the mail in ballot.:( If that is the only way my vote will count then i am for it. I just hope that all Obama's minions aren't able to go use Obama tactics to get people to change there previously votes casted for our girl Hillary! Am i making any sense here?

[Jake501]

It is better than nothing I suppose...

[citikitty]

It is better than nothing I suppose...

what are the pitfalls of a redo via mail in both florida and michigan?

[skc1976]

I think the current votes/delegates should count however since Hillary didn't campaign there per the rules but Obama ran some ads in violation of the rules I hear.

Obama broke the rules? GASP! What a shock! :D:D

[emmyCA]

PLEASE READ (I will not disappoint!): This is the single dumbest political analysis I've ever read. First, those who are now saying that the superdelegates cannot overrule the "people's choice" (I'll get to that misnomer in a moment), are the very people who set the system up to give party insiders a 20% voting bloc in the process. Hence, the superdelegates very much can choose whomever they want, regardless of who the "people" choose-- indeed, that is their purpose. Note that the DNC gives party insiders double the influence that their counterpart (the RNC) gives the Republican party insiders.

Second, Obama has repeatedly failed to win the big states, the blue states, the swing states and, ironically enough, the states that are prone to embrace the kind of progressive movements that he purports to represent. I'm talking, specifically, of Obama's double-digit losses in the big and/or blue and/or swing and/or progressive-prone states of ARKANSAS, CALIFORNIA, FLORIDA, MASSACHUSETTS, MICHIGAN, NEW JERSEY, NEW YORK, OHIO, RHODE ISLAND, and TENNESSEE. Remember that no Republican nominee has EVER won the White House without winning Ohio! And, for those who say, "hey, but Michigan and Florida don't count," I say the following 3 things: (1) Obama and Edwards had their names on Florida's ballot and still got trounced by Clinton, who also got more votes than McCain despite the fact that it meant "nothing" to the Democrats and everything to the Republicans at that time; (2) Obama and Edwards chose to take their names off Michigan's ballot; and (3) the dismissive tone of the DNC and the media regarding Florida and Michigan is designed to make the party and the country not consider that Obama would have had zero momentum going into Super Tuesday and Clinton would have all but locked up the nomination on Super Tuesday if the millions of votes cast in Michigan and Florida had "counted."

Third, nearly all of Obama's wins were in caucus states and/or Fire Red states with a 0% chance of going Democratic in November. I'm speaking of ALABAMA, ALASKA, IDAHO, KANSAS, NEBRASKA, NORTH DAKOTA, SOUTH CAROLINA, UTAH, and WYOMING, some of which were touted by Obama and the media for weeks as part of his "11-state win-streak." Notice, also, how Obama and the media vascillate back and forth between saying "it's the delegates that count" and "Obama's won more states," depending on what suits his position better on any given day. Moreover, the important thing to remember about caucuses is that they are designed to give as many delegates as possible with the lowest voter turnout possible. In fact, the caucus system is designed to give advantage to party insiders and field organizers -- not "the people" -- precisely the outcome that Obama, the DNC, and the media deride as a possibility with the superdelegates at the Convention! It's an act of unconscionable hypocrisy to say that the winner of tiny, caucus-based systems (Obama) represents the best chance of success in November, where all 50 states are up for grabs in primary (as opposed to caucus) systems, where the true will of the majority of voters is what counts-- especially when those caucuses are in mostly red states that Obama has no chance of carrying in November, no matter how much coddling he receives from the media. Indeed, Obama received 1 more delegate in Nevada's caucuses than Clinton, even though Clinton got more votes! The same thing is about to happen in Texas, where 2/3 of pledged delegates were determined by 2.5 million voters, and the other 1/3 by about 120,000 caucus goers! To make matters worse, Clinton and Obama get the same number of delegates from the primary results in Texas, despite Clinton winning that contest by 3 points-- Obama math!

I hope this helps clarify (i.e., dissolve) the myth of "Obamamania."

[Jake501]

what are the pitfalls of a redo via mail in both florida and michigan?

I just feel like it was already done and the people should have had their voices counted a long time ago.

[memphis]

Considering the fraud encoutered at the caucuses, we dont' know who will be counting the ballots or who will be trashing the ballots or who will be receiving the ballots in the mail.
There is an Obama ad that encourages Republicans to register as Democrats 'for a day' and vote for Obama in a new FL or MI primary.
These would be the same Republicans that already voted once as Republicans in teh 1st primary.

Hillay has a lot to lose from a new primary. There should not be a re-vote.
Instead just seat the delegates.

[Florida Dawn]

There is no mail-no. There is no re-do. The is no caucus. There is just one thing and one thing only we should devote all our energies to and that is:

SEATING THE DELEGATES ALREADY! SEAT THEM NOW! TODAY! SEAT THEM ALL! BOTH STATES! THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN!

You all know, of course, that if Senator Obama had won those two primaries the entire country would be shrieking (yes, even the Republicans--all Republicans--not just Charlie Crist) to seat the delegates and how unfair it is to the voters, sob-sob, whine-whine. But I firmly feel that because it's Hillary Clinton, nobody gives a sh*t...about her, and/or the disenfranchised voters, no matter who they voted for. Talk about bias! As Gloria Steinhim said "Sexism is the last racism in this country"

There is no other solution but to seat the delegates now. We are Not "breaking the rules, we are CORRECTING A MISTAKE.

[Laura Cereta]

Alright Floridians, I read your posts... check my signature (links) below, and sign the petitions, get involved... and everyone else, please sign as well.

It is the average voter that has been affected by all this political squabbling, and it is the average voter that must stand up against being disenfranchised.

[Florida Dawn]

I've already signed 'em, but I am passing them on.

Remember: NO SURRENDER!

SEAT THE DELEGATES ALREADY!