Kendrick Meek's former campaign guru disenfranchised Fla Democrats

It's probably a good thing for Kendrick Meek that Steve Hildebrand is no longer on the campaign. Otherwise this revelation in David Plouffe's book, The Audacity to Win,  about what happened after the DNC stripped away Florida's delegates could be rather awkward:

I asked (Obama deputy campaign manager) Steve Hildebrand to go on a secret diplomatic mission to speak with the four early-state party chairs (Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada), encouraging them to ask all the candidates to sign a pledge stating they would not campaign in any states (Florida and Michigan) that had violated the rules and were threatening the approved early states’ primacy. Yes, this was in our self-interest. But it was also in theirs. If these two big states were penalized as severely as possible, and we all committed not to campaign in them, then the role of the early states was protected with no ambiguity.

From our perspective, this would be the final nail in the coffin. The pledge would make the first four states as sacrosanct, and by signing it the Clinton people would box themselves in; they could not claim at a later date that Michigan and Florida were somehow valid contests.

Comments

[Here's an Idea]

Impeach Barack, Pelosi, Reid NOW

They are in enemy within and need to be removed from office immediately

[frank]

If the media had been able to utilize the Florida and Michigan ballots in their predictions, would hillary have won with a media prediction in her favor?

[Boca Grande]

It's unbelievable that all the Democratic presidential candidates caved to the party bosses and refused to campaign in Florida. Unprincipled weaklings. Now we expect Obama and Clinton to deal with Kim Jong Il, Iran, the Taliban, Hugo Chavez et al? We are doomed.

[early]

Hate to relitigate all of this, but getting a pledge to penalize a state that holds its primaries outside of party rules can be stupid, unfair and a bunch of other things, but it is not disfranchisement. By your logic, the state elected leader or state party who makes the decision to go rogue by going early with the full understanding of the penalties ahead is effectively disfranchising voters. Kind of like saying the cop's at fault for busting you after you blow through a stop sign. But by all means, the Florida as victims thing kinda works. But why, oh why, don't I hear more in this space about the Republican disfranchisement? Why?

[early]

Hate to relitigate all of this, but getting a pledge to penalize a state that holds its primaries outside of party rules can be stupid, unfair and a bunch of other things, but it is not disfranchisement. By your logic, the state elected leader or state party who makes the decision to go rogue by going early with the full understanding of the penalties ahead is effectively disfranchising voters. Kind of like saying the cop's at fault for busting you after you blow through a stop sign. But by all means, the Florida as victims thing kinda works. But why, oh why, don't I hear more in this space about the Republican disfranchisement? Why?