Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

EDITORIAL: Primary re-vote unfair
Staff Editorial
The Lariat (Baylor U.)
03/18/2008

(U-WIRE) WACO, Texas —The phrase "rules were made to be broken," seems to be the motto of Democrats in Michigan and Florida. A heated debate has surfaced over whether voters in Michigan and Florida will be allowed to hold a technical do-over of the primaries, which both states held early (against party rules) and were subsequently deemed invalid. The debate has threatened to divide the Democratic party and there have been an outcry of objections.

One reason the primaries are so contested is that Clinton won both — and was the only major candidate on Michigan's ballot, after Obama removed his name due to the state's party violations. Also, none of the major candidates campaigned in either state prior to the voting.

Michigan and Florida are attempting to have their cake and eat it too, when frankly it would be neither fair nor practical to do so. The parties in both states knew what they were getting into when they decided to hold the primaries early, and now that the consequences have been laid out, they are unwilling to accept them. Unfortunately, instead of discouraging this sort of behavior, delegates in Michigan and Florida are perpetuating it by now lobbying for a re-vote.

Though many alternative options have been put on the table to ensure the states' votes will count, decisions must be made by June 10 and the options have been narrowed down.

The Democrats in Michigan agreed last week to hold a do-over on June 3, with the pending plans requiring approval from both campaigns, the Democratic National Committee, state party leaders and Gov. Jennifer Gramholm. In Florida, the Democrats have been exploring the option of only losing half of their delegates, as opposed to the stripping of all of the state's delegates.

The fact that the national party may even consider the allowance of a re-vote or exceptions for these two states, which blatantly broke party rules, is absurd. Not only is it unfair to expect the rules to be bent after they were knowingly broken, it is completely impractical — especially considering the cost and complication involved in holding a re-vote.

Costs associated with mail-in balloting and do-over primaries have been estimated to be as much as $30 million, which would have to be privately raised within the states' parties. The entire ordeal has become more costly, more controversial and more confusing than just leaving the states out, as was the original plan.

Even the candidates seem to be confused. Clinton, who in October stated that the Michigan primary "wouldn't count for anything," has recently said she thinks the votes in Michigan and Florida now "deserve to be counted."

Obama's campaign has expressed a desire to have the situation worked out in a "fair and practical manner," but hasn't endorsed or condemned the potential do-overs.

This entire situation breaks all the rules, literally, and the parties need to own up to their actions and deal with the consequences. They should take responsibility instead of doing a disservice to their own voters, since this whole process could have been easily avoided. As for the Democratic National Committee and other leaders, they should not allow a re-vote. Michigan and Florida broke the rules, and they must pay the consequences.

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