Obama to Stiff Arm Michigan and Florida?

Obama to Stiff Arm Michigan and Florida? bumped from early a.m.

Okay, so we know Obama doesn’t care about Florida, because he knows he’ll lose
that state to McCain, and if there’s a re-vote he’ll also lose it to Clinton.
That would mean yet another huge swing state in her corner, which Obama can’t afford because it further makes the case that Clinton’s path to the White House is much better than the crap shoot Obama offers. As for Michigan,
there was a “firehouse primary” floated, but the
Obama campaign has evidently nixed it. To make matters worse, Zogby was
on CNN recently doubting that either Michigan or Florida should count. Are these
guys nuts? The fact is that Obama seems to want to deny both Michigan and Florida
voters, which became apparent when James Carville tangled with David Wilhelm
on CNN. Jerome agrees,
BTD weighs in
as well.

The Ragin’ Cagin completely unmasked the Obama campaign’s actual plan to disenfranchise
Floridians, which for some of us who remember 2000 all too well, sounds positively
un-Democratic, capital “d.” Carville puts Obama’s man David Wilhelm back on his heels in this interview
with Wolf Blitzer. Shorter review: don’t send a boy to do a man’s job. Wilhelm
is totally outmatched in this one, with Carville creaming him on every angle.Carville
offers solutions, Wilhelm offers pontificating and obfuscation. Sound familiar?

The problem with this exchange is that Carville honestly tries to off a way
through the DNC’s mess, but Wilhelm won’t accept it, preferring the limbo and
disenfranchisement Michigan and Florida voters currently are experiencing. Classic
exchange:

CARVILLE: We’ll raise it (ph). We’ll raise — we’ll put up $15 million. I’ll guarantee $15 million and have the Obama people put up $15 million. And let’s go to the polls come on June 7th. I’ve got fundraisers that are lined up ready to go. I think the Democratic party is going to look absolutely absurd if they don’t have primaries and let these people in Florida and Michigan vote. Again, I tell you what, they’re going to take (INAUDIBLE) to the general election if we don’t do it. WILHELM: Well, this — you know, ultimately, I don’t think this is up to the campaigns. I think this is … CARVILLE: Sure it is. WILHELM: …up to Chairman Dean — the campaigns are part of the discussion, but it’s up to the people of Michigan, the state party of Michigan, the National Party, the state party of Florida, and I’m sure we can all … CARVILLE: No, David, David, this is … WILHELM: …(INAUDIBLE) let’s go, we — all we want to do is know what the rules are, play by the rules. CARVILLE: No, the rules are these campaigns we can put on a primary. I just love Florida. Every person that I talk to in Florida wants to participate in this process. It’s been racked by the subprime crisis and foreclosures. Look at Michigan. We’re going to say (ph) we got rules here and we’re going to have some kind of cockamamie (ph) thing, or we can go and have a primary and let these people weigh in. This is the United States of America. Let people vote. WILHELM: We have nothing to fear from a primary if that comes to it. Let’s talk have the debate, let’s talk about the economic issues that matter. CARVILLE: Good, right, I agree. WILHELM: I’m in total agreement. CARVILLE: I’ll pledge $15 million. WILHELM: I am praying and hopeful that we can figure out a way to get this to happen. CARVILLE: It’s easy, it’s easy. Print some ballots, let’s raise some money and let’s get going and tell this guy in Florida, I don’t have any voting machines, then get some people in and count. Say here’s one ballot here, one ballot there and count them. That’s the way they used to do it. We can do that. BLITZER: So, basically, what the challenge is $15 million — he says the Clinton campaign and their supporters can raise — David, you think the Obama campaign can raise $15 million? You got $30 million. That’s more than enough to handle new primaries in both Michigan and Florida. WILHELM: I’m not here today — I’m sitting here in Columbus, Ohio. I think that this is something that can get worked out, that will get worked out. I think the state party and the National Party need to come together. I’d be a little suspicious of the various attitudes of the campaigns on this. This needs to be done in a judicious, mindful way that is fair for all parties BLITZER: But you know, but David, let me interrupt — David, let me interrupt because Howard Dean says he’s ready to oversee a new primary in both states. He just doesn’t want to pay for it. The governors of Florida and Michigan say they’re ready to see new primaries, but they don’t want the taxpayers in those two states to pay for it. So, James has just come up with a proposal whereby individual supporters of your campaign, supporters of Hillary Clinton’s campaign say, you know what, we’ll come up with the money and we can organize this. WILHELM: Well, I guess that would be one of the options on the table that needs to be worked out in conjunction with the national party and the state parties. I — I don’t think the right place to hammer this out is on your show here today. But I think it’s one of the options.No one has — I — the attitude of our campaign from day one has been to play by the rules, whatever the rules are. The last I heard from Senator Clinton’s campaign was that they were insisting on the seating of the delegation that was not elected several months ago. CARVILLE: No, David. Listen to what I’m saying. WILHELM: So what are we talking about here? CARVILLE: Listen to what I’m saying. WILHELM: And – CARVILLE: I — Wolf, can I — is it all right if I say — Very simple thing. I have talked to people today that are ready to go. We put up $15 million, Senator Obama puts up $15 million. We go to post and we let Democratic voters in Florida and Michigan decide this thing. We don’t need a backroom negotiation. We need sunshine. We need to somehow the world that the Democratic Party is ready to go. And we can do this. In a country this rich, you’re going to tell me that we’re going to exclude people from Florida and Michigan from participating in this most important election in history? WILHELM: I want every state to be a participant in this process and to let the process play out. And we are more than happy, I am sure as a campaign, to sit down with the people of — and the Democratic leadership of both states and the national party and help try to figure this thing out. CARVILLE: But – (CROSSTALK) WILHELM: I’m thrilled — I am thrilled if today we’re finally getting off this notion that has been pressed by Senator Clinton’s campaign that we would try to — that they would try to seat the delegation that was elected contrary to the rules of the party – CARVILLE: David, David, listen. I’ve talked to – WILHELM: — and where no one campaigned. So – CARVILLE: I have talked to some of the biggest fundraisers that we have. They are ready to go. They don’t want — they don’t want people in Florida who are being hit left and right by policies of administration, their mortgages are being foreclosed. People in Michigan have been dismayed (ph). We don’t want to deny these people the right to vote or participate. You have $55 million, give me $15 million, get some skin in this game and let’s go to post and have a debate and talk about it. WILHELM: Every — fine. Every step of the way that has been what Senator Obama’s campaign has tried to do. CARVILLE: Well then we’ve got your $15 million. WILHELM: Let’s figure it out. We’re not going to figure it out on the show today. That sounds like a reasonable position. Let’s go. Let’s work with the leadership of the state. Let’s work with the leadership of the national party and God willing we will find a solution that makes sense and can allow these votes to count in a fair way.

God willing? More like Obama willing, because it’s obvious the Clinton campaign is.