I was a John Edwards supporter but was gladly willing to switch to Obama when my guy dropped out. Obama had been my steady number two throughout the campaign and for a variety of reasons, I even thought about switching to him even when Edwards was still in the race.
Unlike most of my fellow Democrats, I do not think that we have two great options in Hillary and Obama. I think we have one great, once in a lifetime option in Senator Obama and a disasterous candidate in Senator Clinton. Despite all the qualms I have with Clinton as the nominee, I will definitely vote for her in the general election. Too much is at stake in the short term and while a crushing defeat would bode well for our party down the road, John McCain will do too much damage in four years.
There is, however, one (hopefully) unlikely scenario in which Clinton will not get my vote...
The rules are the rules. The DNC made the right call to punnish Michigan and Florida for moving up their primaries. If Florida and Michigan are going to move up their primaries before Super Tuesday, we set a scary precedent. Heck, why not move ahead of Iowa? Or while we're compeltely restrucuring the primary schedule, why not move up a year in advance? The parameters in place that only had South Carolina, New Hampshire, Neveda and Iowa voting early were more than reasonable and Florida and Michigan can't get away with giving a bick "fuck you" to the DNC by moving up their primaries.
What's troubling me most about this Florida and Michigan debacle is the rhetoric coming from the Clinton campaign. If I hear Hillary talk about how Florida and Michigan voters are being "disenfranchized" one more time, I think I might break my TV. It doesn't take much more than a functioning brain to realize that Hillary is full of shit when she talks about disenfranchized voters.
Not only are Florida and Michigan voters being disenfranchized, candidates would get screwed equally if the DNC seats the Michigan and Florida delegates. It's not only Barack Obama that would get shafted. Who knows what would have happened with John Edwards if he competed in those states.
I also disagree with a do-over. The rules were in place and Michigan and Florida decided to shoot themselves in the foot. To redo their primaries would be tantammount to changing the rules in the middle of the game and I hope we don't pursue this a reasonable "compromise" between seating the delegates and rightfully refusing to seat them. Nevertheless, if we go forward with a do-over and Hillary gets the nomination because of Michigan and Florida, I will vote for her. I only refuse to vote for her if we undemocratically recognize the Florida and Michigan primaries as they stand right now.
Ultimately, what happens with these delegates will prove just how influential the Clintons remain among the party faithful. If they succeed, the Democratic Party is offically a family business of the Clintons and they cannot expect to get away with such a sleazy maneauver without political consequences. If they seize our Democracy and seat these delegates, Cytnthia McKinney, here I come! I can't believe I just said that but I will not vote for a Democrat who doesn't get the nomination fair and square.