In the 2004 "Presidential Preference" primary - what is it with Florida, anyway? - Florida's Democrats cast 753,762 votes. At this point in the counting process, Florida Democrats on Tuesday cast 1,629,970 votes. This number will certainly be higher as absentee and provisional ballots are included in the official results.
Apparently the Democratic residents of what is arguably America's most colorful state didn't get the memo that today's primary didn't count. Hillary received startingly close to double Kerry's total, Obama's 2nd place finish is so far within 40,000 votes of Kerry's 1st place finish and John Edward's distant 3rd place finish today still netted him 3 times the votes he received in 2004, when he finished 2nd.
This primary is important even if Florida's delegates are never seated, because it shows Democrats' interest and excitement, and it's a remarkably effective poll gauging our candidates' relative levels of support. And here's where I'm going to disagree with my colleagues here at Cogitamus:
Hillary was right to celebrate her win, she was right to say to Florida Democrats that she'll work to have their delegates seated, and would be right to actually follow through with that bit of rhetoric.
First, let me provide some background to my blasphemy. Monday, we saw the Democratic majority in Congress actually stand up to the White House and Congressional Republicans. They actually refused to give Bush everything he wanted and more, and I doubt I was the only Democrat in this country moved nearly to tears at this first evidence that Reid and Pelosi actually understand what it means to be in a fully equal branch of government to the Executive.
This odd state of affairs is in its second day, but who among us really thinks that the Democrats won't give in to the White House? Glenn Greenwald, essential reading as always, points out that Congressional Republicans are confident in Democratic capitulation, handing out marching orders for their supposed superiors, smugly assured that they will be followed.
We all know, of course, that there is simply no reason for any faith in Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi to do what Americans clearly want them to do. Atrios has pointed out that the real governing coalition in the House is the Republicans plus the Blue Dogs, and the idea that Democrats need 60 votes to do anything in the Senate while the Republicans only need 50 (plus Cheney) is now so accepted that even us rabid partisan bloggers hardly mention it anymore.
So when I sat in front of my computer so impressed that the Democrats were standing up to Bush, my feelings quickly moved to anger and frustration that it's taken them so long. They've been in the majority for a year now, and while the higher minimum wage and other new laws are nice, they aren't even close to addressing what we, the citizens of the United States of America, told them to do back in 2006. I'm tired of spineless, wishy-washy Democrats. I'm sick of bipartisanship-fetishism, of bowing in worship of some supposed political utopia that lies in the exact center between Democratic and Republican viewpoints, never mind that there is no such thing as a "Democratic" or "Republican" viewpoint, never mind that according to the media the Democratic position is best articulated by Joe Lieberman, Joe Klein and James Carville.
I'm sick of it. I was sick of it back in the 1990s, I was sick of it in 2000, in 2004, in 2006 and I'm sick of it now. Bipartisanship is a scam. It's a fantasy cooked up by horrible men in Washington, DC to cover for their complete lack of principles and their obsession with who was polite to whom at the latest Georgetown cocktail party or, more importantly, who wasn't polite to whom at said cocktail party.
Bipartisanship? How about Hillary Clinton meeting with Republican politicians and representatives from the insurance industry to craft universal coverage legislation to which they all agreed, only to see these same people turn on her and the bill to kill it and our hopes for meaningful healthcare reform in this country for over a decade? Is that bipartisan enough for you?
Bipartisanship? How about Bill Clinton working with Republicans on welfare "reform" only to see them take their victory and use it as a cudgel against Democrats again and again to continue to successfully paint Democrats as people who just want to hand out government money to everyone? Is that bipartisan enough for you?
No? You want more? How about the vote on the AUMF? How about the Democrats who voted for the Bush tax cuts, the legislation that has continually increased the scope of Bush's powers? How about the way Democrats shamelessly climbed all over each other to spit all over Bill Clinton's entire Presidency because of his sexual dalliance with Monica Lewinsky? Was it bipartisan enough that while they self-righteously paraded all the prurient details of what happened between Clinton and Lewinsky, they kept the secrets of people like Gingrich, Hyde and others in the GOP leadership who were having affairs while standing on the floor of the House to condemn Clinton for his? Is that bipartisan enough for you?
Because I've got to tell you, it's more than bipartisan enough for me. I'm through with the scam. Democrats are so good at bipartisanship that we've bought into the right-wing smears about Bill Clinton being only about himself, about how he was supposedly just trying to advance himself from the moment he was inaugurated in 1993. What about the healthcare plan? What about his attempt to open the military to gays? What about increased student loans, more police on the streets, expanded job training opportunities through Americorps? What about the ways in which the Clinton Administration, thanks largely to Al Gore, helped the development of the Internet?
Bill Clinton was a damn good President, and Al Gore would have been even better - not just good in relation to the complete disaster that is George Bush, but a good President in his own right. But the Democrat's sense of bipartisanship, of seeing the other point of view, caused Gore to run away from Bill Clinton, and that lost us the election far more than the shenanigans in Florida. It shouldn't have even been that close, and would have been if the Democrats could stop being hoodwinked by the Republicans all the time!
So forgive me if I refuse to accept Barack Obama as America's 21st century Christ, the Anointed One who will save our political system from all the meany-meanies and partisan nastiness, all the people who insist on having an opinion that can be differentiated from anyone else's. I've seen Obama in person, and he is inspiring. He does have great things to say, and his charisma is indescribable. But I don't want to have anything to do with some complete idiot who takes time out of the Democratic primary to kiss Ronald Reagan's dead ass and lecture the rest of us on how the Republicans are the party of ideas.
Let me close this off with a story. At my elementary school we had a game called "Booty on the Wall." It was played with a racquetball. A group of us would gather near a wall of the school, and someone would throw the ball at the wall. You could catch the ball before it bounces or after one bounce, but not after 2 or more bounces. If the ball was thrown badly so that no one could catch it, if you touched the ball and missed, or if you could have tried to catch it and didn't, then you had to run up to the wall before anyone could get the ball and hit you with it. If you touched the wall before getting hit, you were fine. However, you could only get hit by the ball while running a maximum of three times, at which point you were required to stand with your back (booty) against the wall. Everyone would line up and throw the racquetball at you as hard as they could. Sometimes you were allowed to strategically place your hands, and generally you could move your head all you wanted, but your feet couldn't move, your butt had to touch the wall and your back had to remain straight. Any deviation from this and the line would just reform to pelt you again.
This wasn't a game to play when the teacher was nearby.
Sometimes games are rough. Sometimes you can get hurt. If that bugs you, then don't play. If you're going to play, then play to win. Campaign in Florida and Michigan. Work to seat their delegates. Campaign for your wife (why doesn't anyone criticize Michelle Obama and Elizabeth Edwards? I get emails "from" them all the time). Play. To. Win. Don't go running to the teacher to complain about all the meany-meanies and their mean game.
Because I swear, I'll wait around after school to throw rocks at you, and you'll by God deserve it.
