Another mild defense of Hillary’s efforts in Florida… It’s been clear that the DNC’s punishment of Michigan and Florida was going to generate an ugly fight, and the possibility of some controversy-averting compromise has been discussed for a while…
Back on January 15, I wrote: “A few readers write in, “You’re wrong, they both got zero delegates tonight.” Yes, if the DNC digs in its heels, and doesn’t buckle in the face of Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, Gov. Granholm, Rep. John Conyers, the unions, and African-Americans in Michigan screaming bloody murder that they’ve been disenfranchised, cries that “it’s Florida all over again!” and them attempting to enter the convention hall in Denver. Unless it comes down to these delegates, any nominee — Hillary, Obama, or Edwards — is going to get on the horn to Howard Dean and say, “make this mess go away, I don’t need this sideshow when I’m about to give my convention address!”
In the case of Florida, it’s even worse — you can picture the delegates saying, “Jeb Bush stole my vote in 2000, now Howard Dean and [insert Democratic nominee’s name here] are stealing it again in 2008!”
Also, that day her campaign was saying:
While Senator Clinton will honor her commitment not to campaign in Florida in violation of the pledge, she also intends to honor her pledge to hear the voices of all Americans. The people of Michigan and Florida have just as much of a right to have their voices heard as anyone else. It is disappointing to hear a major Democratic presidential candidate tell the voters of ANY state that their voices aren’t important.
So it’s not exactly shocking that Hillary would jump in, particularly to alleviate any sense that she was ignoring or slighting what should be a major swing state in the general election…