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It's A Beautiful Primary Day in Florida

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1/29/08 -- Posted by Catherine Morgan

I'm a disenfranchised voter in Florida, and happy to be voting today anyway. I have to admit, I've been more than a little annoyed with this whole Florida delegates don't count thing. This morning was no different. Especially after I came across this post over at BlueBloggin - Clinton Breaks Pledge and Heads to Florida...
Hillary Clinton along with all the other Democratic candidates pledged not to campaign in Florida, however Hillary will appear in Florida on Tuesday. How can anyone trust or believe what Clinton says. It's obvious that Hillary doesn't play or obey the same rules everyone else does.

Obviously, this person has a bone to pick with Hillary. And quite frankly, it very well may be obvious that Hillary doesn't "play by the rules". But, as a disenfranchised voter of Florida, I have a couple of things to say about this.

#1 - Hundreds of thousands of Democratic voters in Florida are being told that their [primary] vote does not matter. Even worse, the candidates have signed pledges to make sure the voters of Florida know that they just don't care.

#2 - The candidates are being forced to bite off their nose to spite their face. Florida could very well be the most important state to win in the general election later this year. And now, the Democratic National Committee has given the "advantage" to the Republicans. It will be pretty darn sad, if the Democrats lose Florida, and ultimately the White House, because of this DNC stupidity.

#3 - If anyone has disregarded the pledge, it would be Barack Obama. I've been seeing Obama campaign ads now for a few weeks. I have seen no ads by Clinton or Edwards. But at the same time that Obama is "campaigning" here in Florida, he is taking every opportunity to publicly deny that he is campaigning here, as well as reiterating to everyone he can, that Florida means nothing to him. He even referred to the Florida primary (on more than one occasion), as a beauty pageant - saying that Florida is not relevant because there are no delegates.

#4 - I would like to know how any candidate can say they will be a good president to all the people, but still be OK with disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of those people? I want a president that will stand-up for the rights of the people...And, not just when there are delegates at stake. It seems clear to me, that many in the Democratic Party see us (in Florida) as delegates first...News Flash: We are PEOPLE first.

#5 - In defense of Hillary. [And for the record, I did not vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama today.] She is the only candidate who at least "appears" to care about the the Florida voters. Although, I am still unhappy that she didn't stand up for us earlier.

But even though what I have stated here has been making me a bit angry, I'm not at all an angry person. That goes double for today. I was soooo happy to go and vote today. It was a beautiful sunny morning, and by the time I left to go vote it was about 70 degrees. I rolled down the windows and let the fresh air blow on my face, while I drove over to my polling place. The whole time I was thinking to myself, "You are such a lucky girl Catherine" - I wouldn't want to be a disenfranchised voter anywhere else. It's a beautiful primary day in Florida.

Image from Kay at Covering Florida -- Primary Day, Sun Gleams Like A Postcard Image on Florida

Thank you for including this link in your comment Rebecca... Please sign petition. Hey DNC: Count Every Vote

5 Comments   add a comment >>
Sharon L.
Sunday February 10, 2008, 11:04 PM


You can read a great deal of information about the Florida situation at:
http://florida-delegates.com

We believe that if this conflict between state legislation and the DNC or RNC continues, you will see this happening again, in the future. Please read the website and make your own decision on this.
Take Care, Sharon

Catherine Morgan
Thursday January 31, 2008, 9:41 AM


Thanks Rebecca. I added your link to the post.

Rebecca Young
Wednesday January 30, 2008, 10:46 PM


Thank you for this post, it really frustrates me that the DNC is refusing to seat delegates from Florida because the state actually wanted their primary to matter (how dare you want to have a voice!). Here's a petition urging the DNC to seat delegates from Florida and Michigan: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/hey-dnc-count-every-vote

Thanks!

Catherine Morgan
Wednesday January 30, 2008, 6:44 AM


Hi Ariel. I'm happy you liked my article.

I agree with you...the media is virtually ignoring the impact of 1.5 million democrats coming out to vote in FL...and they overwhelmingly voted for Hillary.

Thanks for commenting.

Ariel Sunshine Dolphin
Wednesday January 30, 2008, 2:51 AM


Thank you. This is a very good article, as a Floridian Voter I feel very similar to what the author of this article states here & then some. Hillary came after the election to show support for those that voted for her & we thank her, because she was not really allowed to come sooner, so did not break any pledge or abandon us, either one. She won more votes than anyone in Florida ! I had to come to Care2 to find News, because the mainstream media is downplaying her Victory by the PEOPLE of FLORIDA.
On a break at work I rushed to discover how it was going & was thrilled to see Hillary Clinton in landslide victory with the precincts that had reported that far, then rushed to check the news after work & it took me awhile to sift through all the Republican news to try to see if she got it all the way & I was so relieved she held on & got it, because it's sad I could barely find news through search engines even, that HILLARY CLINTON WAS CHOSEN AS THE DEMOCRATIC WINNER IN FLORIDA BY AN OVERWHELMING MAJORITY!
THIS SHOULD BE EXCITING NEWS PLASTERED AL L OVER FRONT PAGES! THIS IS MAJOR NEW FIRST TIME HISTORY IN THE MAKING & SO THE NEWS SHOULD REFLECT THAT! IF THEY WON'T, THEN SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS! WE WANT OUR VOTES TO COUNT! CONGRATULATIONS HILLARY! THANKS! :o)


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