Mrs. Clinton Tries Al Gore’s Florida 2000 Dirty Trick

One of the principles that separates a democracy from say Joe Stalin’s Soviet Union, is that we decide our elections the rules established prior to the election.   In Florida 2000 Al Gore tried to get the Florida Supreme Court to change the rules of the election after the election.   That is called cheating.

The Democratic National Committee, in her infinite wisdom, or utter lack thereof, decided to strip Michigan and Florida of their delegates.  Agree with the DNC or not, those were the rules, and those wee the rules the candidates agreed to abide by.   That is until Mrs. Clinton decided that the rules are for the other candidate.

Mrs. Clinton won Michigan, because she was the only major candidate on the ballot.   Barack Obama and John Edwards did not compete in the state, because the DNC said the Michigan would not count.

Now that Mrs. Clinton has won Michigan under the old rules, she wants to change the rules.   That is called cheating, Ezra Klein:

This is a very, very, very big deal. From the Clinton campaign:

I hear all the time from people in Florida and Michigan that they want their voices heard in selecting the Democratic nominee.I believe our nominee will need the enthusiastic support of Democrats in these states to win the general election, and so I will ask my Democratic convention delegates to support seating the delegations from Florida and Michigan. I know not all of my delegates will do so and I fully respect that decision. But I hope to be President of all 50 states and U.S. territories, and that we have all 50 states represented and counted at the Democratic convention.

I hope my fellow potential nominees will join me in this.

I will of course be following the no-campaigning pledge that I signed, and expect others will as well.

This is the sort of decision that has the potential to tear the party apart. In an attempt to retain some control over the process and keep the various states from accelerating their primaries into last Summer, the Democratic National Committee warned Michigan and Florida that if they insisted on advancing their primary debates, their delegates wouldn’t be seated and the campaigns would be asked not to participate in their primaries. This was agreed to by all parties (save, of course, the states themselves).

Is Mrs. Clinton too stupid to realize that attempting change the very rules she had agreed to abide by could tear her party apart?   Are the Clinton so desperate for a third term for B.J. that they will destroy their own party to get it?

Hat Tip:  Memeorandum.