Ya know what would make me have a lot more respect for Obama?

BzaDem

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Mon Apr-07-08 03:35 PM
Original message

Ya know what would make me have a lot more respect for Obama?

If he came out and gave a big speech, about the right to vote. For good measure, he should talk about the voting problems we face in this country (Diebold, cooked optical scan counters, etc.), and electoral reform he will propose as president.

But the conclusion of the speech should be, out of respect of the right to vote, which our country has worked centuries to obtain and expand, he will do everything in his power to obtain a revote in Michigan and Florida. As in, not just sitting on the sidelines and saying "we are open to whatever the DNC and the states decide," but actually calling state legislators, arranging meetings between the candidates' campaigns, the states, and the DNC, and making it happen.

He can talk about not allowing incompetent and openly defiant state leaders to disenfranchise their own electorates. If we sat back and quietly let state leaders monkey with the right to vote throughout our history, it would have taken decades longer for African Americans to get the right to vote.

He can remind us that having a revote would in no way violate any rule set up prior to the primary season. All the states would have to do is submit a new plan to the DNC in accordance with the rules, which they would then promptly ratify.

He would remind America that the Democrats are the party of democracy, and we will go through great lengths to ensure fair elections, even if some results might not benefit us.

For those who say that Hillary's intentions are suspect, or that she only started caring about this issue after their outcomes were predetermined, or that she is hypocritcal because she wants to flip pledged delegates, I don't care. Let me repeat: I don't care what Hillary thinks. She can be wrong on other issues (such as flipping pledged delegates), or wrong on not advocating for MI and FL earlier, and still be right about advocating for them now. This isn't about Hillary, or her motives. She is willing to do everything she can to get a revote, and Obama is not. If Obama would call for a revote, there would be a revote. And Obama is not calling for one. That is all that matters to me.

It is evident to some of us that Obama's supporters in MI and FL (MI especially) have gone out of their way to cherrypick reasons to shut down any effort to have a revote. This is very difficult to prove, so I am not going to argue about it. Because one thing is not arguable: Obama has not come out and openly called for a revote, and done everything in his power to make it happen. Hillary has, Obama hasn't. Period.

Until he does, I will continue to think of him as an opportunist. An opportunist that sits back while two of our biggest states are silenced, while simultaneously saying how undemocratic it would be to allow superdelegates to overrule the will of the other 48 states. An opportunist who only puts the rules up on a pedestal when they benefit him.