Tuesday, January 29, 2008

ELECTION RESULTS

Hi All,
Follow the election results Online:

http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/

Or click on the Title of this Post.

Dave

Posted by UCO President at 1/29/2008 08:37:00 PM

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7 comments:

Topper said...

Will someone please explain to me why Florida made the choice to move our primary date up knowing that our votes won't count. What am I missing?

Jan 29, 2008, 9:08:00 PM
elaineb said...

I liked Cerabino's take on this truth and humor, keep reading to the end:
Democrats, like manatees, need protection
By Frank Cerabino

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Friday, December 07, 2007

I'm all for helping the helpless.

But I think state officials moved to protect the wrong hapless creatures this week.

On the same day the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted in Key Largo to keep the manatee as an endangered species for the time being, a federal judge in Tallahassee issued a ruling that endangers the state's truly hapless creature: the Florida Democratic Party.

The Florida Democrats have far less sense than the manatees, and in the end may be the group that really needs a license plate and some serious intervention.

Maybe even tracking collars.

The manatees are endangered because they get run over by thoughtless boaters. The Florida Democrats are endangered because they get run over by scheming Republicans.

The manatees, widely thought to be blithely unwary sea cows, have nevertheless managed to adapt to the perils they face, and they are starting to flourish. The Florida Democrats have not adapted to the perils they face, and it's time they be classified as a species of special concern.

Help, Jimmy Buffett!

Even though registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in the state, the creature that is the state's Democratic Party lumbers along in what appears to be a constant search for metaphorical boat propellers.

Party gets shredded again

In the latest shredding, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ruled that Florida Democrats can't violate the national party's schedule of primaries by leap-frogging the state's vote to an early date.

"Florida has to comply by the same rules as everybody else, and does not get to insist on its own way," Hinkle said in his oral ruling. "It would be grossly unfair to those other states to create this arbitrary exception for Florida."

The judge's ruling means that the Democratic National Committee is within its rights to punish the state party for moving its primary election to Jan. 29. The punishment is to strip the state of delegates at the national convention, invalidate the primary results and withhold money to Democratic presidential candidates who campaign in Florida before the rogue primary.

The pathetic part about this shredding - and why the Florida Democrats are more hapless than manatees - is that the early primary they are being punished for wasn't their idea.

It was the state Republicans'.

As far as we know, manatees don't intentionally wound themselves. Florida Democrats do.

It was Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, a Republican, who made moving the primary his priority, and it was Republicans in the House who first pushed the idea over the reluctance of some Democrats.

Rep. Jack Seiler, D-Wilton Manors, was one of the reluctant ones, saying that pushing primaries up was rushing the candidate selection process and getting an anointed winner too early in the process.

"I like the fact that this process is spread out over a longer period of time," Seiler said earlier this year when the issue was still being discussed.

A primary for Republicans only

But like the gentle, herbivorous sea cows, the Florida Democrats just float along and go with the flow, a threat to no one but themselves.

So they went along with the Republican idea. And when the Democratic National Committee warned them to knock it off, they weren't smart enough to listen.

Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee decided not to punish its own state party as severely as the Democrats did theirs.

The result: There will be a primary in January in Florida. But it will be for Republicans only.

The Florida Democrats, for now, have made themselves extinct.

Jan 29, 2008, 9:17:00 PM
UCO President said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jan 29, 2008, 9:23:00 PM
UCO President said...

Hi all,
The URL for the article is:

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/05/04/florida_moves_primary_right_behind_nh_vote/

Sorry for the error.
Dave

Jan 29, 2008, 9:27:00 PM
UCO President said...

Hi All,
Ok, I give up, here is a Copy and Paste of the article:

Home > News > Nation

Florida moves primary right behind N.H. vote
By Michael Peltier, Reuters | May 4, 2007

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida lawmakers, hoping to give their state more influence in US politics, yesterday moved up the state's presidential primary to the last Tuesday in January.

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Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts Governor Charlie Crist, a Republican who has been building a reputation as a moderate in the mold of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, said he would sign the measure, which also orders most touch-screen voting machines to be replaced with equipment that will produce a paper trail.

The Jan. 29 primary date aims to give a larger role on the national stage to the state, which decided the 2000 US presidential election and put George W. Bush in the White House following a five-week legal battle over vote recounts that was ultimately decided by the US Supreme Court.

Moving the primary would put Florida ahead of about a dozen states that have presidential primaries scheduled for Feb. 5.

The rescheduling to earlier dates could wrap up the nominating races early and would favor well-known, well-financed candidates.

"With an earlier presidential primary, Florida will now take its rightful place near the front of the line in determining the next leader of the free world," Crist said.

The measure was opposed by the mainstream national parties.

State lawmakers, however, said Florida, the fourth-most populous state, had been taking a back seat to others by holding its primary in March. The state's primary will now be preceded only by the New Hampshire primary and the caucuses in Iowa and Nevada.

"It is a huge benefit to Florida and the issues that are important to Florida voters," said state Representative David Rivera, a Republican from Miami and sponsor of the bill.

"Now candidates will not only come to Florida to raise money in secluded country clubs and mansions, they are going to have to come and campaign and talk about issues that are relevant."

The new voting machines, to be funded with $28 million in federal money, must be in place for the 2008 presidential elections.

Crist strongly supported the introduction of a paper trail at elections . His predecessor as governor, Jeb Bush, the president's younger brother, had opposed it.

Touch-screen electronic voting was introduced in some counties after the fiasco of the 2000 presidential election.

Crist said the use of optically scanned ballots would alleviate any doubt about an election's outcome.

Jan 29, 2008, 9:29:00 PM
Topper said...

Elaine - you did it again! I don't know how you pull all this stuff all up so quickly!!! I love that Frank Cerabino!!! He is brilliant! Ok, now I get it - but I still don't like it!!!

Jan 29, 2008, 9:30:00 PM
Topper said...

Thank you too Dave. I just read the article you posted. And what a waste of our money that we again have to get all new machines!

Jan 29, 2008, 9:39:00 PM

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