When the DNC decided to strip Michigan and Florida of their delegates, I knew it would open up a bunch of headaches. Now the DNC has some civil rights leaders pushing to reinstate the delegates.
Two civil rights leaders — one a prominent Obama supporter — have written DNC Chairman Howard Dean to press him to resolve the looming conflict over Florida’s and Michigan’s role at the Democratic National Convention, in a letter (.pdf) obtained by Politico.
“We are deeply concerned about the prospect of a Democratic Party convention fight over the seating of delegates elected in the Michigan and Florida primaries,” wrote Mary Frances Berry and Roger Wilkins, making pointed reference to “disenfranchisement of Older Americans, Latinos, and African Americans in Florida during the 2000 election and the subsequent issues of disenfranchisement in Ohio and elsewhere in the 2004 election.”
Here is where the problem really gets nasty. If the DNC reinstates those delegates, then what do they do about people, who decided not to vote in their primaries, because it didn’t count? To reinstate the delegates, the DNC would almost have to hold the primaries all over again, but that would not only be highly expensive, but also cause even more problems.
Sadly the best option is for the DNC to stick by their original decision. Reversing the decision now might cause more damage then its worth. Hopefully the DNC will learn from this and think twice about telling people they don’t get a say in politics.