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donbl1 says:
jason, IMHO, the continuing Democratic race is going to be a disaster for the Republicans as the Democrats will be in ALL the news ALL the time and McCain will be buried inside the newspaper on page 16. He will have to fight and "create" news to get any free press coverage.

Old saying is that any media coverage is good coverage.
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sis003 says:
In the MI primary, voters who wanted to vote for their candidate were denied the right to do so because most of the truly viable candidates were not on the Dem. ballot. Some Dem. voters even left the voting place without voting because all that would count was only knowing how many people voted Democratic. A larger percentage of Dem. voters did not even go to the polls because they knew they could not vote for their candidate, so decided not to vote at all.
The MI and FL Democratic parties were protesting--an American right--the unfair practice of certain other states having a large influence on the rest of the country. To me, the best practice would be to hold ALL primaries on the same day of the year, just like we do in November when electing Presidents. That way no state has undue influence on the rest of the country.
With that said, MI and FL should do re-do elections to give the Democratic citizens their rightful opportunity to cast a vote for whomever they wish. Thus said by a Republican. And, Yes, Reps. have their own "super delegates."
Traditionally, Reps. have a "trickle-down" way of thinking. If they support and encourage the rich, life will get better for the common citizen by having more jobs available and the rich supporting charities, etc., but, Dems. try to support and encourage the common citizen more directly. Not sure which works best nowadays!
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ioweign says:
BTW, winner take all approximates the national election decision on electoral college and seems to be a safer predictor of an eventual national winner which is what the primaries are for.


Posted by donbl1 at 12:43 PM : Mar 06, 2008

Yes Winner take all does approximate the electoral college but this isn''t a "election" - it is a caucus or primary to determine who most closely represents your views and goals within your party - you are looking for that silhouette that everyone can identify with...
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donbl1 says:
taddles, I have seen that comment but just do not trust career politicians. I would be surprised if you do either.

The nomination is going to be a draw by convention. No one will have enough votes or pledged candidates to win. ONLY the super delegates will decide.

This is a mess.

Personally? I am hoping for a real choice for America.

That real differenc in choices is Obama vs McCain.
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jasonfought says:
The solution is to have caucuses, which are less expensive than primaries. Somebody on the Democratic side is going to have to pay for repeat elections as the states shouldn''t pay for 2 elections. If the DNC isn''t paying (they want to spend their money against McCain) then the state parties would, keeping them from funding Democratic candidates.
The Republicans are loving this.
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jasonfought says:
To Democratic voters in Florida and Michigan:

You knew during the primary that your vote wouldn''t count, right?
All of the candidates agreed that these votes wouldn''t count, including Obama and Clinton. Now you (i.e. Clinton campaign/supporters/Republicans) want them to count?
Be careful of what you''re asking for. Projecting delegates and assuming a 55:45 Clinton/Obama split, this likely puts Obama over the top and secures him the nomination. (Play with delegate counters and give Obama 140 of the 300+ pledged delegates and see ... it gets him the nomination.)
The best bet Clinton has is to go to the convention and broker a deal (i.e. steal the election). Of course, this risks mass defections of young voters/blacks.
More importantly, the Democratic Party has an opportunity to capture a generation of voters. If Obama wins the pledged delegate and popular vote, and Clinton secures the nomination, I suspect these people won''t vote and McCain is more likely to win. (I don''t believe that many Clinton or Obama supporters will actually switch to McCain because their candidate lost ... unless they are sexist/racist.)
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tibu987 says:
Sounds like more political under-the-table goings on to me. Let''s all be very careful that this snafu, pre-arranged or not, does not effect the ultimate outcome of the presidential race.
It sounds very suspicious to me.
I suggest that everyone out there watch this carefully and report anything that smells badly.
Politics being what they are, I no longer trust anyone and especially do not trust the Clintons.
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taddles-2009 says:
"taddles, If your not old enough to vote and carry on an Adult conversation you shouldn''''t be on here.

Posted by truth-hurts at 12:38 PM : Mar 06, 2008"

Nothing to prove, you''re wrong....as usual.
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donbl1 says:
Ioweign, 18 of the Republican states so far are apportioned with about the same number being winner take all.
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taddles-2009 says:
"What bothers me is that "the common folk" do not get to select in the end because of the nearly 1/3 super delegates and the apportioned system of most of the states.

Posted by donbl1 at 12:34 PM : Mar 06, 2008"

That''s 19% remember...math is hard.

Every super delegate I''ve heard interviewed has said basically the same thing, "I will vote based on the general wishes of my constituents". To do otherwise would be political suicide since many of the Dem super delegates are sitting legislators. Your comments about 1/3 of the super delegates "deciding" who to anoint as "the chosen one" in complete disregard of the will of the people is simply foolish and uninformed.
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