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The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 3, 2008

Politics At Its Worst

Regarding "Clinton's Pa. Win Boosts Pressure to Solve Florida, Michigan Votes" (front page, April 24):

The responses by Barack Obama and his supporters as to why the Florida Democratic primary shouldn't really count are laughable. Frank Sánchez of Tampa, the Obama fundraiser and adviser, indicated that the Florida vote is not a realistic portrayal of what the outcome may have been. Obama's campaign, and Sánchez in particular, conveniently ignore the fact that Hillary Clinton did not campaign in Florida either. I would venture that if the situation were reversed, Obama and Sánchez would be diligently pushing to have Florida's voting results count.

It's beyond me how a Floridian is most willing to have the Democratic voters of Florida disenfranchised. This is politics at its worst. After all, Clinton is negotiating. She just wants to ensure that the Democratic voters of Florida are counted. Why do Obama's campaign and his supporters insist on spinning the truth? G. R. ZAYAS

Valrico

Let Florida Votes Count

Florida's Democratic delegation shouldn't be seated because the candidates decided not to campaign in Florida? Isn't it refreshing to get a vote that isn't distorted by millions of dollars of nonstop propaganda subjecting voters to countless hours of mudslinging and half truths?

Florida's delegation should be seated, and just as Florida's voters decided - not as some political party boss decides.

JERRY STEPHENS

Riverview

The People Should Decide

I'm confused. Who elects the presidential candidates? Is it the people of the United States? Is it delegates? Is it the superdelegates?

This is confusing and bizarre. I am 73 years old and I always thought the people, the voters of the United States, elected the two presidential candidates and then the people voted and elected the president of the United States.

Why do we need delegates? Why do we need superdelegates? This is too much. Let's eliminate the delegates and superdelegates and let the people elect the president of the United States.

GEORGE W. STREBLER

St. Pete Beach

Party's Disenfranchising

The Democrat Party has complained about disenfranchisement of its voters so many times that it begins to fall on deaf ears. If one needs to examine the "all-inclusive party," all we have to do is look at the party's nomination process that is so entertaining to watch today. They have set up a group of powerful players and call them "superdelegates." These "superdelegates will decide if Barack Obama is electable or not regardless of him winning the popular vote. Should Obama win the delegate count and the popular vote in the primaries, the Democrats have a problem.

Because of his ties to the very Reverend Jeremiah Wright, his belief that Americans hold guns and religion close and his socialistic views, he may be deemed unelectable by the leaders of the party. The nomination will then hinge on the views of a mostly white group of cronies - the "super delegates" - to choose the party's nominee. It is obvious the Democrat leaders do not have faith in their party members to select an electable candidate for president. Now that is classic disenfranchisement, Democrat style!

MARK NEWMAN

Lutz

Appeasement Of Left

Once again Florida's electoral system is coming under fire, and once again it's because the state has declined to appease the left by ignoring deadlines as proscribed by law.

The same groups that scoffed at the constitutionally mandated schedule for certification in 2000 are now complaining about the deadline for new voter registrations and the penalties directed at third-party managed registration campaigns. The League of Women Voters is suing Florida. Another law that is attracting ire is the one aimed at moderating the Election Day circus by mandating a 30-day prior deadline for correcting registration errors.

Michael Slate of Project Vote says that it is "politicians trying to game the system." Please. It is about putting a stop to the gaming of the system that long ago graduated from amateur to hardcore professional.

It is a clear that certain groups see restricting elections to living citizens who bother to follow a few simple rules as an impediment to their attainment of political power by any means necessary.

DWAYNE KEITH

Valrico

Too Much Tinkering

Howard Dean wants Clinton or Obama to drop out in June? Why doesn't he just pick one or just go ahead and let the "superdelegates" make the selection now and cancel the upcoming primaries.

They stripped Florida and Michigan of their delegates making it unlikely, if not impossible, for a candidate to acquire the number of delegates needed to secure the nomination, thus ceding power to the "superdelegates." Wasn't this the intended result, or do they hope we just chalk it up to incompetence?

Seems to me the only thing that's broke with the system is all the tinkering that's going on! If a ballgame is tied after nine innings, we don't let the umpires select a winner or demand that one of the two teams "drop out." What happened to democracy?

MICHAEL IVEY

Brandon

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