Count Every Vote

Hillary wants to change the rules and seat the Florida and Michigan delegations; remember that after they moved their primaries up past Feb 5 the DNC tried to maintain discipline by barring them.

Ezra Klein and Josh Marshall are outraged; Hillary and Bill are doing a nice job of destroying their party in order to save it.

As for Hillary, the benefit to publicizing this now is that the press may pay attention to the Florida result, where all the Dems are on the ballot but none have been vigorously campaigning.  She leads in the once-meaningless polls, natch, so "Hillary Wins Florida" headlines may be nice publicity going into Super Tuesday.  But they need to be headlines, not buried in the Want Ads. [Hmm, a day later Josh Marshall prints the same theory.  Since "Democratic strategist" is an oxymoron, I am troubled.]

EQUAL TIME:  Big Tent Dem, who writes at TalkLeft, pounds the table for Hillarity.

DO I HAVE A POINT?  Other than Hillary is a reprehensible, power-crazed, say-anything monster?  Well, yes, but let me phrase it as a question - do folks who consider the Bush Administration to be secretive and rule-bending really think she represents a constructive change? 

Comments

[SPQR]

The Clintons have always had unique ideas about the definition of "cheating" ...

[clarice]

Just when we were forgetting his final days in the WH. THEY'RE BACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!

[Topsecretk9]

Ezra Klein and Josh Marshall are outraged

Why? Are they the last 2 people on the face of the earth that thought Bill and Hillary Clinton are team players? Democrats first?

HAHAHAHAHA! Sucka!

[Jane]

The Clintons are absolutely exhausting.

[JM Hanes]

You know, I think the reason the Republican confab was so sedate last night is because the candidates got together and made a tactical decision to array themselves as the grown-up party while the Dems are having a food fight.

[Ann]

How does Howard Dean figure into this scam?

Tells you how naive Obama and Edwards are concerning the Clinton Machine.

[Other Tom]

"Exhausting" is an excellent term for it. My hope--just about my only hope--is that ten more months of this will serve to remind even the dullest of wit what it was like to have this pair in the White House for eight years.

If nothing else, what's happened thus far has already been enough to sully Bubba's reputation abroad quite a bit.

Someone here yesterday had a great thought, spawned by the news that some group or other was going to spend $8.5 million to besmirch W's reputation. What rich conservative might launch a similar program, with much greater funding, to do the same for Bubba? He's not a candidate, and thus a series of ads absolutely eviscerating the bastard and reminding the world of his lies, impeachment, sexual assaults and disbarment would not be subject to any election-law constraints. Anybody know a billionaire I could contact to get the ball rolling?

[Topsecretk9]

OK, I just read Big tent Dem and I think he's arguing there was no DNC rule to remove your name from the ballot, so technically Hillary isn't doing anything wrong - or something like that. The idea that the clinton play by their own set of ethical and loyalty 'rules' is utterly lost on the Big Vast Tent...well, she's got an army of blind village idiots for her village I guess.

[Topsecretk9]

How does Howard Dean figure into this scam?

Ann,

my first thought was to think it was a slight and a signal to Dean who has not kowtowed and played by Clinton's rules.

[Ann]

Tops, so the Clintons went behind Dean and worked this out with the individual states? Who is Big tent Dem? I am feeling as naive as Obama and Edwards. :(

[Ann]

Why don't we get Pickens and Perot to form a group. Perot owes all of us!!!

[Topsecretk9]

ann

so the Clintons went behind Dean and worked this out with the individual states?

That was m gut reaction, I'm open to being wrong. I just know that Dean hasn't run the DNC like they like, AKA Terry Mcauliffe

Who is Big tent Dem?

TM has a link in this post...doesn't say update, more like a "more reaction" link

[Ann]

Thanks Tops, I want your bookmarks along with that recipe when you find it. ;)

[MayBee]

And the brilliant Kos was working the Townhouse list to convince Dems to vote for a Republican in Michigan. Can you imagine being a Michigan Dem voter and having the game change like this now?
Interesting that BTD looks at it from the standpoint of how it affects the candidates, but not the voters.

[JorgXMcKie]

Maybee, are you trying to imply that there are Democrats who actually *care* about voters?

[JorgXMcKie]

And, oh, yeah, wasn't the previous Democratic mantra "count every vote"? Or did they mean "not every vote counts"?

[Cecil Turner]

And, oh, yeah, wasn't the previous Democratic mantra "count every vote"?

Except those of overseas military members, of course. Pointing out the hypocrisy looks to me like a futile exercise of trying to shame the shameless.

[Topsecretk9]

Except those of overseas military members, of course. Pointing out the hypocrisy looks to me like a futile exercise of trying to shame the shameless.

Sigh. Those people don't count to Liberals until they're drafted.

Sickening.

[Bill Arnold]

What rich conservative might launch a similar program, with much greater funding, to do the same for Bubba? He's not a candidate, and thus a series of ads absolutely eviscerating the bastard and reminding the world of his lies, impeachment, sexual assaults and disbarment would not be subject to any election-law constraints.

It's attitudes like that make my (considerable) sympathies for the conservative agenda evaporate in a flash. Get a grip. Bottom line is that most Americans remember the Clinton 1990s as a time of peace and prosperity. They are comparing those times with now, and now doesn't look so good in comparison.

[hit and run]

Off Topic of the post, but Central Topic to the JOM community.

Mark Steyn:

Conventional complacency comes from Anthony Burn, who thinks most of my book "fits the usual far-right playbook outlined by his compatriots such as Ann Coulter and Jonah Goldberg". I'm not sure which of us ought to be more offended by the comparisons, but Ann, Jonah and I will settle it on the VRWC's annual nude mud-wrestling night.

Forget the context of that quote. I am pissed. Absolutely pissed.

I should be in that ring mud-wrestling Steyn!!!

Listen, Steyn, you can run but you cannot hide.

Oh, and of all the providential ironies, note the title of the post in that link and the title of this post.

[Clarice]

With all due respect..you are merely the prize. It was Jane or I who devised the nature of the contest,hit.

[Jane]

You tell him Clarice! Harumph!

[SirCharles]

replying to Bill Arnolds post about The Clintons in the 90's being a time of peace and prosperity. I'm an independent from the midwest and I am ashamed to admit that I voted for Bill the first time around. I don't remember that as a time of peace and prosperity, I remember it as a time of do nothing polotics. The 9/11 attacks took 5-6 years to plan and happened 9 months into the Bush admin. Had plenty of time to take him down and didn't. Wanted to shoulder that responsibility to the next admin. How typically liberal...Let's see what else, oh yeah, coproate corruption which also didn't rear it's ugly head until after scum bag bill left. I remember a time of a president putting his country in danger both overseas, and here at home, knowing about it, and doing nothing because he only thinks of himself, nothing else, doesn't care two cents about this country. Oh, lets not forget the record cuts that were made to the military and intellegence agencies that left a big hole in our defense that al queda slipped through. Let's not forget the "it's never my fault if I mess up" attitude. He brought a wave of that in and now every liberal and some independents and conservatives have that attitude. I'm not crazy about the current administration but atleast they're doing SOMETHING. That's one thing that I gotta hand to Bush, the man does what he thinks is right, not worrying about his popularity, which is what a president should do. Obama may not be a much better choice than Clinton, I'm not sure, he's playing the polotics game better than anyone, not taking any kind of stance on anything except the war, where he is hell bent on crushing our momentum. But I'll settle for him stopping another Clinton in the white house for now. I'm certain McCain will draw out some kind of stance from him in the general election. I don't like Mccain very much either, but atleast I know his position on the issues.

[kim]

You seem like a pretty wise judge, SirCharles. Any experience refereeing mud wrestling contests?
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