Dean to Nelson: Suck it up

Howard Dean responded to Bill Nelson's and Alcee Hastings' demands that the DNC stand down on Florida's primary. Dr. Dean's prescription for Florida: Get in compliance or deal with the consequences. The letter's in the jump.

September 21, 2007
Honorable Bill Nelson
United States Senate
716 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Honorable Alcee Hastings
United States House of Representatives
2353 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Senator Nelson and Congressman Hastings:
I am in receipt of your recent letter concerning the date of the Florida 2008 presidential primary.
In your letter, you ask that I lift the sanctions imposed against the Florida Democratic Party by close of
business, Monday, September 24, 2007. You also suggest that my doing so may help to avoid a legal
challenge.
As you know, Florida’s 2008 Delegate Selection Plan was found in Non-Compliance by the DNC Rules
and Bylaws Committee (RBC). This finding of Non-Compliance inc luded the automatic delegate
reductions imposed under the 2008 Delegate Selection Rules. Additionally, the RBC, exercising a power
conferred exclusively on them under the Rules, imposed a further reduction in the delegation, equal to a
total 100% delegate loss. The decision to impose the additional reduction was approved by a very
substantial majority of the RBC.
As the Florida Democratic Party was fully informed a month ago, the delegate reductions become
effective if the Florida Democratic Party fails to submit a revised and compliant Plan by September 29,
2007.
Proposed solutions that you reference in your letter would not comply with the Rules in that both
proposed solutions keep the January 29, 2008 primary as a binding event that would allocate delegates
among presidential candidates.
As I have said before, I remain committed to discussing solutions to this issue that comply with the
Delegate Selection Rules overwhelmingly adopted by the full DNC over a year ago.
Sincerely,
Gov. Howard Dean, M.D.
Chairman

Comments

Tell Howard to roll down his sleeves and go home to Vermont. Take Karen Thurman with you.

[HCB]

Whereby we demonstrate conclusively there is no real difference between the republican and the democrat politician. They are all egocentric, posturing fools. Here we can see a democrat would have done EXACTLY what Bush did and would have invaded Iraq in EXACTLY the same way for EXACTLY the same made up reason. Read Debbie Wasserman Shultz' remarks - the candidates should be released from their pledges not to campaign here - they made a pledge but, "so what?" She justifies all this nonsense on we're the biggest and the strongest and she's sure the DNC will eventually concede. She's sure the power of so many voters will overcome. In other words, don't worry about trying to work things out, ignore the rules and stick your finger in somebody's eye. Mini-Bush.

You people pretending to lead are fools. There's no other word for it. You are doing precisely what so infuriates Americans and you pretend to be doing it as leaders of the party. Go away. Forever. Go back to Long Island or to the place you used to infect. Let us be decent Americans once again.

A bunch of mormons!!! Thurman didn't even bother applying to move the primary and pushed the party to support not sending an alternate plan. And, now we have have Nelson who thinks the party belongs to him. I did some reading last night on the rules and the DNC is on solid ground. Can Nelson get one of is staffers to look into the law before we really come off looking like complete idiots. What a mess Dean is a madman and we just hand him Florida on a silver platter

Dean and Thurman can blame themselves when Dems "suck it up" in the '08 election.

10:06 - "before we really come off looking like complete idiots".

Really, "before"? hah, that's a good one.

Senator Nelson and Karen Thurman can do nothing about the Jan. 29th primary. If we concede to Dictator Dean's requests then the citizens of Florida will suffer regardless of whether we have delegates or not. A date other than that set by the GOP run FL House, Senate and Governor's Office would be political suicide for the Democrats of Florida. What a great idea to make people get out and vote twice within 2 weeks or use a mail in ballot...that is preposterous! Statistics show that it simply would not work or be very effective. Getting citizens out to vote is hard enough as it is. Go ahead, give them another reason not to vote. I personally applaud Senator Nelson and Karen Thurman saying that Florida citizens have a right to vote with the rest of their State. My question for Mr. Dean is "Since when did the Parties become bigger than the people?"

Dean needs to be gone. Should have been gone after the '04 election.

[HCB]

10:20:

The parties have ALWAYS been bigger than the people. That, of course, is the reason people join the party - sort of like joining a union where the much bigger union is much more effective than the individual worker.

What these self-proclaimed state "leaders" are doing is mutiny. And the national "leader" is saying, "here's the plank - walk it."

What's the plan if the DNC doesn't surrender? A "Florida Political Party?" A bunch of used-to-be democrats who are running their own show? And all of this utter nonsense in the name of having Florida "count?" Or be noticed? Lawsuits between Hastings and Nelson and Dean and Thurman? Yup - we'll be noticed, ok. I can see the cartoon already - a giant hanging chad labelled "FDP" with the principal players below it forming a circular firing squad.

What happen to the party? All I hear about these days is what the elected officials and Karen Thurman have to say. What happen to the party structure? Have we handed our Florida Democratic party over to the elected officials and if that is true we are really in trouble....

Sounds more like the elite party. We talk about disenfranchising voters. The party should have had their press conference in same city as the NAACP state conference not down in south florida with Karen surrounded by elects, elite white, and latino democrats in a heavily democratic upper middle class area.

But, instead Governor Crist and the Republican party chair attended the NAACP conference. No, Democratic party insight...

There’s only one thing missing from that Dean to Nelson letter… say it with me folks…

Yyeeeeeeeeeeehhaaaaaaaaa!

If I’ve posted it once, I’ve posted it 1000 times… Howard “The Dunce” Dean and Karen “Pass the bottle” Thurmadrunk will cost the Dems the ’08 election.

One is a paid lobbyist for the opposition… and the other is just an idiot.

Actually, 10:33 Alex Sink (A Democrat) attended the NAACP convention.

can somebody please point to the part of the constitution that says "and the people's right to vote shall be subject to the rule non-elected party leadership"

10:56… I think it was a trade off for the Patriot Act.

Yeah Suck it Bill!!!

11:03,

Be careful Katherine, people might find out you're really a dude.

For everyone who is cheering for Dean, let us not forget what he said about the first in the nation Iowa Caucus back in 2000:

"If you look at the caucuses system, they are dominated by the special interests, in both sides, in both parties. The special interests don't represent the centrist tendencies of the American people. They represent the extremes."

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/01/09/wbr.Dean.polls/index.html?iref=newssearch

What is truly regretable is that Dean, who probably lost the nomination because of the current process and who once criticized the current process for what it is, a game for special interests and insiders, is now the #1 defender of the Iowa/New Hampshire system of nominating candidates. He could have forced a change, but instead he defended a broken status quo.

I for one think we need change and if the Florida/Michigan moves help force a new system in 2012, then having no delegates is a sacrifice I am willing to make.

[HCB]

We need change, alright - in the "leader"ship. If this does some good four or five years hence, fine. But I, for one, am not willing to risk the next election on this idiocy by the egocentric, non-thinking "leaders" who have decided to have this battle of the egos at the expense of the party generally and, likely, the election specifically. They are ALL idiots who have no interest in anything other than asserting themselves as peacocks while making the party look foolish. They ought all to be banned from any party function by reason they obviously have been drinking and communing with King George. The party has an opportunity that these fools are going to simply pee on and then blame each other for the loss.

The answer now in this tainted environment, brought upon us by firstly the DNC publishing its "penalty plan" to enlighten the Republicans and then brought to its fruition by the purposefully weak FDP, Thurman and the astronaut leader Sen. Nelson (R) Orlando, who "gave us Karen Thurman" sic... The ONLY answer at this point is for all of the Presidential candidates on the Democratic side to withdraw their names from the ballot.

That way there will be no fallout and no influence from the corrupt fixed election environment that is Florida. We want no momentum falsely and corruptly acquired to accrue to ANY candidate!

No Democratic Presidential Primary ballot must appear on the Jan. 29th ballot as in the 15 largest counties in Florida ON TOP OF EVERYTHING ELSE TOUCHSCREEN VOTING MACHINES WILL BE IN USE.

No ballot no cheating! Maybe that will change things permanently here in Florida for the good of all.

10:02 PM that is good idea