Dear Mr. Wolfson - Why Michigan And Florida Shouldn't Count

By BlackJack

Listening to Neal Conan on NPR this morning, Hillary Clinton's communications director Howard Wolfson claimed Sen. Clinton had taken the lead in the number of votes cast. Startled, I turned up the radio as my mind started doing big-number math at high speed.

When I finally turned off my TV at 2 a.m. this morning Senator Clinton was leading the Pennsylvania contest by 200,000 votes with 99% of the precincts reporting - leaving Senator Obama with a 500,000 vote lead. Mr. Wolfson's claim didn't jive with my metrics.

Mr. Wolfson went on to say "That margin does include Florida and Michigan... to say that 2 and a half million people people coming out to vote shouldn't count in an overall tally I think belies the fact that so many people were engaged and interested in participating in our democracy."

"I think a Democrat has a very hard case to make that 2 and a half million people coming out to vote shouldn't count. What's the argument? These states had elections - enormous turnout - and they shouldn't count? Pretend that it didn't happen?"

I'll be happy to make that case, Mr. Wolfson. Florida and Michigan shouldn't count and here is why:

The Democratic Parties of Florida and Michigan broke the party rules when they moved their primaries up the calendar. The national party punished them by discounting the voting and the candidates were asked to not participate.

The Democratic party needs to retain control over the primary process and reversing their prior decision would undermine that authority. Those who say that the voters would be disenfranchised are correct - if I was a voter in those states and I was not allowed to participate in such an important election I'd be unhappy as well. But the voters in those states should be angry with their state party leadership who broke the rules.

Local, state and national leadership are elected positions within the party. Florida and Michigan Democrats need to hold their leadership accountable and take the appropriate action, through their convention process, to voice their concerns and make sure that the party leaders work within the rules in the future.

If the states involved were less populous states or had they voted in favor of Senator Obama I'm quite sure Mr. Wolfson wouldn't be so fervently fighting on their behalf. Don't mistake Mr. Wolfson and the Clinton campaign staff for champions of voter's rights - they only want these votes to count because they help to pad their own numbers.

I want Michigan and Florida Democrats to participate and I'd like their votes to be counted, but in this cycle they should not. It is to the benefit of the party in the long-run to retain some semblance of control over the process - and it may be 'tough love' but it's the right thing to do for the voters in Florida and Michigan and it's the fair thing to do for the other state Democratic parties who played by the rules.