3 posts tagged “caucuses”
Sean reports...
Well as the Democratic Party continues to shoot itself in the foot over stupid decisions and rules, I found this story that makes a lot of sense to me but in the end may mean nothing. To me the Democrats have a point on being a private entity but when they are utilizing resources from the state doesn't taht factor into having to abide by legal statute? Enjoy!
ATLANTA (CNN) — The Democratic National Committee is violating the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment by allowing only four states to hold caucuses or primaries before the first Tuesday in February, a Florida attorney argued Monday before a federal appeals court.
Attorney Michael Steinberg filed suit in August on behalf of Democratic Party activist Vincent Dimaio after the DNC said it would not seat Florida delegates at the national convention because the state party defied party rules and scheduled its primary for January 29.
A federal judge in Florida dismissed the lawsuit in October, but Dimaio appealed.
"You can't treat the citizens of some states differently than other states," Steinberg told reporters after the hearing. "What I tried to assert is that the DNC has the right to make rules … but the rules have to be the same for all the states."
According to party rules, only Iowa, South Carolina, Nevada and New Hampshire can schedule their primaries or caucuses prior to the first Tuesday in February. Steinberg argued that the 14th Amendment, which bars states from denying individuals equal protection under the law, should prohibit the DNC from creating rules that make the votes of the citizens of those four states "paramount to the rights of the voters in Florida."
Joe Sandler, attorney for the DNC, told the three-judge panel that the committee is a private entity and "is actually exercising its own constitutional right by not seating delegates."
"The point we were trying to make in court today is that it's up to the parties themselves to determine the best means of selecting delegates to the convention, and it's not really a matter for a court to resolve," he told reporters later.
Dimaio, who referred to himself as the "little guy" who speaks for Floridians, told reporters that it is unfair for only four states to be allowed to hold primaries or caucuses in January.
"If you go before February 5, you're basically screwed because you get no delegates," he said. "We've lost 210 delegates. We're the fourth largest state in the nation and we have zero delegates."
"I'm not asking for a penny, I'm not asking for a dime in this action," Dimaio said. "I'm just asking for my vote to count."
The appellate court is not expected to deliver a decision until next month. Steinberg, who is handling the case pro bono, said that if the ruling goes against Dimaio, he will appeal to the Supreme Court.
– CNN Correspondent Rusty Dornin
Sean says...
As I posted before here, Stefan and I are trying to figure out who to support on the Democratic side and so we have been watching the debates when we can. Hence, we watched the Democratic debate in Nevada this week. I could post the whole debate here to be a little more inclusive, but I will be "bad" and do some editing on my own. I thought this was a great debate in terms of telling what the candidates are about. I am reposting about it to link the parts of the debate I felt moved me toward Clinton and Edwards and further away from Obama. I will say I will support the Democratic nominee regardless, unless an viable independent alternative is made available. Stefan, I believe, will as well.
This is the part of the debate that I think really swayed my thinking. Unfortunately, you can't forward to the specific parts easily so start the first video at the 3 minute mark and let run. Start the second video from beginning. The points bridge across the end of Part 3 and the beignning of Part 4 of the segments. (Further segments are also available on YouTube.) These parts deal with how these three would run the country. Perspective and method are big failings of our current commander-in-chief and I think we need to ask these questions about how he or she will approach the position and judge for ourselves, like in an interview, who is the best candidate to hire.
Sean says...
My political past has me all in a tizzy today about the 2008 Presidential Campaign beginning in Iowa today, but it also finds me still wondering who is worth my vote. Obviously, Stefan and I will be voting Democratic. Stefan's parents would only expect that choice with only my (Sean) dad questioning where I went wrong. But who should we choose?
A few friends keep pointing me toward Barack Obama, but I feel as luke warm to him as I did when he got started last year. As a political junkie, I am one of those who continuously look up the candidates online and follow those political shows once and a while. But I find myself feeling famished after Obama speaks. Sure he is very articulate and an exciting orator. But having been in the "business," he leaves me unimpressed.
Hillary Clinton is an admirable person. She has worked hard and taken her lumps. I believe she wants to help the world, the question is can she lead it? I like her point that the president cannot be a neophyte to the "game" that is Washington. Being that I work next to the White House and am aware of the "game" in town, she has a point and knowing how to go through the minefield is much more valuable than saying the easy line of Washington needing to be "taken back." Bureaucracy is better tamed than challenged in my experience and the strategy to take it on is picking your battles and bunching small victories together strategically in order to force true change. And I think this is where Hillary is going; her vision is one I can agree with. The question though is "she the one to lead the change and can she?" That is what I am uneasy about and that is why I am not on her bandwagon yet.
John Edwards is one I thought I wouldn't fall behind but according to this Washington Post Questionnaire he should be my man... in the presidential race that is. Edwards has something the others are not truly exhibiting now, a man with humility willing to show strength of conviction as well as his thought process on things he is not sure of. Gay rights and marriage is my "clever" issue this year (for good reason - and Bill Richardson felt it squarely on his head back this summer after saying being gay is a choice); and Edwards has shown great growth and strength of character in how he has shown his journey in understanding it. That is the kind of president who will help the nation truly become comfortable with this group of issues rather than an outright supporter. The best way to phrase it is by saying Richard Nixon was the right one to open China to the West. Elizabeth Edwards ceratinly is on "our" side, and showing his comfort with working with a diverse set of opinions and allowing them to be voiced certainly gives me hope of moving passed the stubborn, one-mindedness of our current failure.
But what is truly rallying me to Edwards cause is his ideas on economic diversity. Hillary and he have it right, a piecemeal approach is the right course of action. But Edwards has a terrific focus on poverty which is reminiscent of Bobby Kennedy, my personal political hero. And in fact that comparison has hit me time and again with Edwards since 2004. Kennedy was a skeptic who with exposure evolved and became a stronger visionary because he embraced humility as well as honed his vision of a better world. Now Edwards isn't all the way there yet but he is moving that direction. But yet I am still not sold because of some of his strident comments and criticisms about others. "Can he get people to work with him even if he disagrees with them?" is my question for him.
Lastly, Joe Biden has impressed me with his brilliant mind. However, as a leader I do not know if he can inspire and truly show the way. He knows what he is talking about but his manner and temper just turn you the wrong way. He would be a truly wonk president but I see a potential Jimmy Carter malaise speech coming out of him in a cardigan sweater some night in October.
Well we will see who breaks out of the pack tonight and then see who stays in to fight on. In the end its strategy, money, and on the ground success that will truly pull our next president through to the end. I hope we just pick a good one, we are totally due.
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