Bullshit.

[Homicidalheathen]

.........so I might not vote at all......

This sux

Why are they doing it this way? This is bullshit. I am NOT voting for Hillary or Obama.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Why cant you?

[Homicidalheathen]

Some wierd thing......

14 January 2008

Michigan's Messed-up Primary or Small Town Joys

Perhaps you've heard about the messed-up presidential primary in Michigan. The State Party Muckety-Mucks, tired of having our ballots cast after all the decisions had already been made, stated that they would move our presidential primary to January 15th. The National Party Muckety-Mucks, said, "Oh, no," and threatened to penalize the state, should the primary move.

The primary moved; we've been penalized. Oh look, cause and effect. The only candidates who've been campaigning here are Romney, McCain, and Huckabee. Let's just say that it made for some exciting TV watching this weekend. NOT.

It's not yet clear whether any of Michigan's Democratic delegates will be seated at the convention this summer, which is why the candidates aren't bothering to campaign here. It's also why most Democratic candidates aren't even on the ballot. And, apparently writing in my choice disqualifies my vote. So, my limited presidential primary voting options are as follows. (1) Vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton. She's on the ballot, but she's so not my choice for President. (2) Vote for Dennis Kucinich. He's on the ballot, but he's also not my choice (though he's a far sight closer than HRC). (3) Vote for Uncommitted Delegate. There's absolutely no guarantee that the delegate will support the candidate of my choice, but at least I'm not voting for the candidate NOT of my choice, right? (4) Say screw it and not vote at all.

To make matters more complicated, I left Ontonagon this afternoon. Now, what you may not know about me is that I am a committed voter. I don't skip elections. I believe deeply that voting is a privilege. But neither could I couldn't quite justify making an extra 232 mile round trip in order to vote in this debacle. Especially not to vote for Mr. or Ms. Uncommitted Delegate. So, this morning, I called the Town Clerk and begged to vote by absentee ballot, which he allowed me to do, about 20 minutes before he closed the office. I LOVE living in a small town.

I'm feeling pissed off about the whole situation. I've been an Obama supporter for over a year now, and I feel ripped off that I didn't get to vote for him. On the other hand, I did get to exercise my civic duty. And, I suppose that's really what this is all about. And, I got to appreciate, yet again, the joys of living in a small town.

[Homicidalheathen]

Word is Ron Paul is too extreme and ain't gonna make it that far anyway, to the finish.

[Homicidalheathen]

Why couldn't we vote for Obama in the primaries???? He wasn't on it. And he would have won.

[phee]

Why couldn't we vote for Obama in the primaries???? He wasn't on it. And he would have won.

It's a long story...

basically MI changed it's state law against the wishes of the two main parties and the Democrats decided to boycott... as well as the republicans but just not as many

[odims_sphere]

It's a long story...

basically MI changed it's state law against the wishes of the two main parties and the Democrats decided to boycott... as well as the republicans but just not as many

The news kept saying that if you didn't see your candidate on the ballot that you were to vote "undecided" so that you didn't have to vote for someone you didn't want to.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Well, this was the Primary. You are not actually voting for who is going to be President in a Primary, you are voting for Delegates at the Democrat or Republican nation conventions this summer. It's there that the delegates vote for the party nominee and then the real elections starts.

Eternal and I brought this up before... the DNC screwed Michigan and Florida voters. We dared to to say when we were to vote. The Democrats punished Michigan by taking away all of thier delegates and for some reason half of Floridas. They further said that if a Dem campaigned in that state they would loose all delegates from that state.

On the Republican side of things... I'm not sure whats going on... Michigan seems to still have all of it's delegates and Florida has half...

The State governments that moved thier Primarys are fighting this wrong... The RNC and DNC do not trump the constitution. The constitution defines how we vote somewhat clearly... giving each state the power to decide when and how a primary is conducted. RNC and DNC rules should not be able to over ride that.

[Homicidalheathen]

I still think its a conspiracy......

'

Sorta like that thing that happened in Florida.......

Study which states the final vote will make the most difference of......then fuck with their voting.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

That would be Cali, NY, TX and um... the really high population states.

Michigan and Florida were trying to influance the final vote by voting before other states.

[ttogreh]

Yeah, because Florida with its 27 electoral votes and Michigan with its 17, are so meaningless to the candidates except for when we vote early...

I really, really hate both national parties these days...

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Florida has 185 Delegates. Michigan has 128.

You are confused again. We are not talking about the general election or the electoral college. We are talking about primary elections and delegates. Not the same thing.

edited cause I had old numbers.

[jadnifer]

That would be Cali, NY, TX and um... the really high population states.

Michigan and Florida were trying to influance the final vote by voting before other states.

Well, this little stunt to influence the final vote really didnt work anyway because didnt our votes only count for half of what they should. Thats just dumb to me. Why couldnt we have waited? Whos idea was it to change our primary day? Was it Granholm? I wouldnt be the least bit surprised.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

None. Your votes, if you voted Democrat, count for 0. If you voted Republican, each vote counted for .5.

it was bum rush by a bunch of state level partys. most states backed off when they were threatened with this punishment.

[ttogreh]

I'm not confused. The whole delegate count thing is irrelevant to my point. Michigan and Florida are important to the pre-nomination process because they are important to the post-nomination process.

I thought you said you were done with me, or are you just a sucker for being put in your place?

[phee]

I am not going to delete this... but this thread was not rude or argumentative until now...

Consider this a first warning for the thread.

[ttogreh]

Once again, I type faster than I think. I don't know what it is, but Gaf sets something off in me.

I respectfully reject your assertion that I am confused. I was making a point that is irrespective of delegate counts, and apparently, I was less than clear. The national parties and the state parties screwed Michigan and Florida over for pointless reasons, since ten million and fifteen million people bring their own inherent importance to the table.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

OK. I'll try to ask this question in a way that wont offend you.

Michigan has lost all say in who is to become the democratic nominee for the general election because they tried to influence voting in other state's primary elections. They were doing this by using a known and accepted aspect of human psychology that I like to call the sheeple affect. That is to say, people tend to do (vote) what other people do (vote).

What does that have to do with the electoral college? The two elections and election systems are completly seperate.

Why are you being irrespective of the topic? and what exactly was your point?

[the eternal]

Am I just being ornery tonight, or are half of the "original" threads that Windy starts,

actually a repeat of the exact same thread started by

someone else a few days earlier???

This time it was mine.

That's okay Windy. We'll still keep ya around.