The fierce battle over what to do about the Democratic Party’s delegates in Michigan and Florida reminds one of the strange circumstances surrounding the state of Indiana during the otherwise uneventful presidential election of 1816.
In 1816 a swirl of controversy surrounded the state of Indiana. In 2008, the states of Florida and Michigan find themselves in the midst of a not all-together dissimilar kind of electoral nightmare. The Democratic National Committee had stripped both states of their delegates after the state parties moved up their primaries before the 5th of February, in violation of Party rules, to be competitive in this year's unusual presidential primary cycle. At the time, few envisioned that Michigan and Florida delegates would actually matter in the end. Of course, no one could have imagined that Senator Obama and Senator Clinton would be locked in one of the closest contests in presidential primary history. Every delegate counts. Except for the delegates of Florida and Michigan, that is. At least for the time being.
Now it appears highly unlikely that either Senators Clinton or Obama will be able to win the magic number of 2,025 delegates—the number needed to clinch the Democratic Party nomination. If Michigan and Florida were to come back into play, however, the nomination could theoretically be clinched by one of the contenders. Senator Clinton won overwhelmingly in both states. The Senator from New York received fifty percent of the vote in Florida, and fifty-five percent of the vote in the Michigan primary. Here’s the rub: Senator Obama never even appeared on the ballot in Michigan’s January 15th primary. Senator Edwards and he withdrew their names from the state’s ballot after Michigan violated Party rules. Senator Clinton kept her name on the Michigan ballot. Senators Obama and Clinton both agreed not to campaign in Florida. Senator Clinton did hold a victory rally in the state as the election results came in.
The way forward regarding the fate of delegates from the two states is murky, to say the very least. Perhaps predictably, what should be done come Convention time this summer with Florida's and Michigan’s delegates depends on which candidate you’re backing. Clinton supporters, along with her campaign, argue that excluding the delegates would disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of voters who have a fundamental right to have their voices heard, and their votes counted. The Obama campaign, and his supporters, contend that it comes down to an issue of fairness. They argue that the rules of the game were perfectly clear before the game commenced, and that it is not fair to change the rules in the middle of the game.
It has become increasingly clear that something might have to be done to settle the dispute that threatens to do great harm to what otherwise could be a very good Democrat year. Suggestions range from ‘do-over’ primary elections in both states during the summer to maintaining the status quo. The 'do-over' primary proposal has caused a considerable amount of controversy in and of itself. Who would finance such an effort? Would the taxpayers in the respective two states be forced to shoulder the financial burden of holding a second primary election, or would the national party pay for such an endeavor? Would Senator Clinton be at a distinct disadvantage in being forced to attempt to win both states for a second time? The answers remain unclear. Several high ranking Party officials have now called for a meeting of party elders in an attempt to broker some sort of settlement that would be satisfactory to all sides involved in the delegate dispute.
In 1816, Secretary of State James Monroe walked to an easy electoral victory in the presidential election. The Federalists were all but dead politically, and not able to muster much of a fight. Monroe and his running mate won one hundred and eighty three electoral votes. The Federalists only won thirty-four electoral votes. Controversy thundered like a summer storm inside Congress when the electoral vote counting commenced. A New York Congressman threw a wrench into the proceeding when he vigorously protested the inclusion of Indiana’s electoral delegates because the state had not been accepted into the Union at the time of the election. The Senate and the House engaged in a long, bitter, and contentious debate over whether Indiana had been a state after it had adopted its constitution, but prior to Congress admitting Indiana into the Union, by formal proclamation in December. The debate languished on until the House Speaker announced that the House of Representatives: “Had not seen it necessary to come to any resolution on the subject”. The decision was to not make a decision. The electoral counting continued and Indiana’s electoral votes were counted for the victorious President Monroe and Vice-President Tompkins.
The Democratic Convention this summer could be the best show, or showdown, in town.
By Ryan Christiano
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