It is very unfortunate that the voters in Michigan and Florida are not involved in this primary, because their voices should surely contribute to the nomination of the strongest candidate. However, it is their own fault! These states were trying to be "more important" in the race and moved their races to earlier dates, against party rules. They knew exactly what they were getting into.
If all candidates had been campaigning in these states, the votes would mean something, but they did not. Seating delegates from these races would be unfair. It is similar to changing a state's allocation of Electoral College votes from winner-take-all to proportional after the election takes place. People campaign and vote under one set of rules, and voters vote under the same set. To declare a winner from another set of rules is unfair altogether.
If these delegates are seated and Hillary wins the nomination because of this, it will destroy her viability as a candidate in the general election. Why did she not protest this decision until the other candidates removed their names from the ballots? Is it the same reason her supporters did not try to eliminate the downtown caucuses in Las Vegas until after the Culinary Worker's Union endorsed Obama? It all stinks of dirty politics.
So yes, it is unfortunate - but this grievance should have been raised before the campaign and election took place. There was plenty of time.
I think a decent compromise could be to seat the "super delegates" from these states, since those individuals were determined in advance. That way, they can still represent their state and their party, and contribute to the discussion and decision, but avoid the bias that would be introduced by adding delegates appointed from an unfair election. Just a suggestion!
I hope the party realizes how important this is. They need to do some major publicity. Those of you who said you would boycott the Democrats if they don't seat these delegates - please consider the full picture. The states made the voluntary choice to break party rules, knowing what it would lead to. The contest was not what it would have been, and therefore, the voters never got a chance to express what they would have actually wanted, were they campaigned to properly.
It is very unfortunate that the voters in Michigan and Florida are not involved in this primary, because their voices should surely contribute to the nomination of the strongest candidate. However, it is their own fault! These states were trying to be "more important" in the race and moved their races to earlier dates, against party rules. They knew exactly what they were getting into.
If all candidates had been campaigning in these states, the votes would mean something, but they did not. Seating delegates from these races would be unfair. It is similar to changing a state's allocation of Electoral College votes from winner-take-all to proportional after the election takes place. People campaign and vote under one set of rules, and voters vote under the same set. To declare a winner from another set of rules is unfair altogether.
If these delegates are seated and Hillary wins the nomination because of this, it will destroy her viability as a candidate in the general election. Why did she not protest this decision until the other candidates removed their names from the ballots? Is it the same reason her supporters did not try to eliminate the downtown caucuses in Las Vegas until after the Culinary Worker's Union endorsed Obama? It all stinks of dirty politics.
So yes, it is unfortunate - but this grievance should have been raised before the campaign and election took place. There was plenty of time.
I think a decent compromise could be to seat the "super delegates" from these states, since those individuals were determined in advance. That way, they can still represent their state and their party, and contribute to the discussion and decision, but avoid the bias that would be introduced by adding delegates appointed from an unfair election. Just a suggestion!
I hope the party realizes how important this is. They need to do some major publicity. Those of you who said you would boycott the Democrats if they don't seat these delegates - please consider the full picture. The states made the voluntary choice to break party rules, knowing what it would lead to. The contest was not what it would have been, and therefore, the voters never got a chance to express what they would have actually wanted, were they campaigned to properly.