There is currently talk of Michigan and Florida going back to the polls, perhaps with caucuses. Well, you know what? I voted the first time, even though I knew that my vote wasn't going to count. I got on the bus, took off time from work, and went. I received forwarded emails from peers reminding me to vote "uncommitted" if I didn't like the set of candidates on the list. Despite the fact that I voted for Hillary, I was frustrated that Obama's name wasn't on the ballot at the time.
Moreover, my frustration runs very, very deep. Back in January, it was very easy for me to see that casting a vote in a bogus election would enfranchise me more than any vote I've cast before, and that this was deeply problematic.
Here's a little bit of background for you: last year, leaders of both the Democratic and Republican parties agreed to hold elections earlier than National rules would allow. The idea was, at a base level, to take some of the unfair emphasis off of states like Iowa and New Hampshire. There were some more intricate reasons for doing this, though, and it isn't clear what those reasons are. Truthfully, I find it kind of fishy that Michigan Dems and Republicans were working together so cooperatively on this one-- I think that MI Republicans knew that the Dems would take the sting and that MI Dems demonstrated clouded judgment. So to slap the wrist of the Michigan Democratic party, the National Democrats stripped us of our delegates (I think the Republicans ended up getting half or something; I can't recall, but Romney took Michigan anyway, and he's out now). So as of now, we have no delegates to the DNC, and no Democrats campaigned in our state.
Nevertheless, hundreds of thousands of Michigan Democrats went to the polls. We were pretty sure that with all of this funky shit going on with our votes, that our votes were going to have a significant impact on the outcome of the election. I mean, I really can't speak to the interior motives of others, but I'm no expert and it seemed really, really stupid to me for the DNC to disenfranchise voters of Michigan. Really fucking stupid. It is always stupid to disenfranchise voters. We are a blue but industrial state. We have a lot of delegates.
When we were stripped of our delegates, various politicians decided whether or not to put their names on the ballot. From the day I heard his name wouldn't be there, I thought it was unwise of Barak Obama to withhold his name from the ballot. Sure, he followed the rules, but Obama and Michigan would not be in this situation if his name had been there. I really wish it had been. Did he have no need for the voters of Michigan, even the ones who would have given him votes in a faux election? It bothered me tremendously that there was some talk of splitting Michigan delegates 50-50 between Clinton and Obama-- he did not earn any points here. And he should have earned them by a vote. He would have earned lots of votes here; 40% voted uncommitted and despite the fact that Edwards was still in the race at that time and his name was not on the ballot, it was pretty clear that people were showing up to vote for Obama.
This was a lost chance to live up to the promises of a democracy on all sides. Michigan Democrats were unwise, but it was the folly of the National Democrats to punish individual voters for what amounts to bureaucratic snafus. The people who showed up to vote DID have it together. It was unwise of Obama to keep his name from the ballot when he clearly has supporters here.
And it will be really, really unfortunate if we end up caucusing. The reason for this is that Michigan is nearly bankrupt. We barely have a budget to fix the tremendous potholes that are accruing due to the yo-yoing temperatures and big snowfalls followed by ice rinse and repeat. My street does not get adequately plowed, because then state workers would have to be paid overtime. Bridges remain untouched that are at the same level of disrepair as the bridge that collapsed in MN this summer. I am overeducated and underpaid because my university is facing enormous budget cuts. Ford is buying out its employees left and right.
Almost everyone in Michigan is hurting, save a lucky few. And my state is considering a REDO? What a tremendous loss of money that we desperately need. It's clear that the way this series of events is playing out that Michigan stands to lose the most. Thanks, DNC. Thanks tons.
Thank you for your insight; I'm personally undecided about what the best solution for this problem would be, going forward.
Did he have no need for the voters of Michigan, even the ones who would have given him votes in a faux election?
I believe the reason why he left his name off of the ballot is because if neither candidate was allowed to campaign in Michigan, Clinton would win because of name recognition alone. I believe Obama was right in leaving his name off the ballot, given that the DNC had already made the decision for the vote not to count. Since he left his name off the ballot, Clinton can't really say she won the primary, given that no one else was on the ballot (save for Gravel, of course). This will come in handy when Clinton tries to make the case for Michigan delegates to be seated and change the rules in the middle of the game.
After watching Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004, I am not in the least surprised. And then there was Washington State recently where the votes for Governor were counted 3 times before the outcome finally flipped from Republican to Democrat. And then of course the counting stopped. With Democrats, the voting part is just for show. It is all about COUNTING the votes until you get the DESIRED OUTCOME that matters.
I am watching the Super-Delegate brouhaha and the Michigan and Florida "redo" issue with great amusement. There is a fundamental disconnect between Democrat voters who tend to be idealists and Democrat elites who hold both the voters and the process in contemp and are only interested in achieving the desired outcome.
What is particularly funny about this is that the Democratic elite has not been able to agree on just what the desired outcome should be. Once they get that figured out you can be sure that they will arrive at the right method to count the votes to achieve it.