Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Clinton right about something? - Edwards out?

Damn it. I hate when Hillary Clinton might be right. After all, now that I've come out as endorsing Barack Obama for president, I'm supposed to take his side in their little battles, but unfortunately, my greater obligation is to honesty.

Last night Hillary Clinton won the Florida Democratic primary. But, due to changes in the primary, and a battle with the party, the Democrats had earlier decided not to certify the primary or to seat any delegates from Florida, rendering the primary meaningless. All the candidates had agreed to this, and none actively campaigned in the sunshine state as a result.

Now that Clinton has won, she says she'll fight to have the Florida delegates seated, to which Obama is claiming that's not fair. Now, on the one hand, Obama is right; they had all agreed before the primary that it would yield no delegates and they campaigned (or didn't) accordingly. Changing the rules now, after the fact, just doesn't seem fair.

The problem is that it was a stupid decision to decertify the Florida primary in the first place. If I'm going to be intellectually honest with myself and my readers, continue maintaining that the restoration of democracy in the U.S. is my top priority, and ever post another "Carnival of the Decline of Democracy," I've got to stand up for the right of Florida's Democrats to have a say at their convention - even if it means that decision could hurt my candidate of choice.

Meanwhile John Edwards is expected to drop out of the Presidential race today, which is too bad. I like John Edwards, and I think if he continued to collect delegates he could play a big role in the Democratic convention in shaping the eventual ticket. He ran a good campaign, and is a decent guy - not easy traits for a lawyer and a politician.

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