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Why can't politicians and lawmakers stick to what they say? The Democratic National Committee warned both Florida and Michigan against moving up the date of their primaries, and threatened that each state would lose seated delegates at the National Convention. In essence, their votes wouldn't count in the nomination process. Of course the states did not listen. Florida and Michigan went ahead and held primaries in January, violating the Democratic Party rules.

Now, after months of debate over what to do with these states' delegates, they have been divvied up and half delegates awarded. I'm sorry, they told them they would risk losing delegates if they moved their primary date. So why is this even up for discussion?

Democratic National Committee officials slapped Florida and Michigan on hand and said, "No, no," as if they were 5-year-old children. As the decision stands now, the states have not learned from this experience. The American public can expect future circumstances similar to this year. Break the rules, complain enough and get a slap on the hand. Sure, Florida and Michigan won't have full delegations at the convention, but the states will be represented. They will still have a say in the Democratic process; a far greater reward than being stripped of all of your delegates.

The citizens of Florida and Michigan shouldn't be denied a say in the democratic process because of something a few politicians and lawmakers did. However, these officials must face the penalty for clear mistakes and errors in judgment. They too are subject to the rules and consequences just as everyone else.

Consider this, Obama led Clinton by 202 delegates before the Florida and Michigan delegates were counted. The party awarded Clinton 87 delegates from the two states and Obama 63. So Clinton closed the gap to 174 delegates. Yet, this didn't seem to satisfy Clinton, who reserved the right to revisit the topic with the credentials committee at the Democratic National Convention, and left her supporters arguing for fairness in the voting process.

Politicians should certainly visit the fairness topic during this election. The fact that Barack Obama's name didn't appear on the ballot in Michigan, doesn't signal fairness. Granted, the candidate willingly removed his name from the ballot, but did so because the state had violated party rules. Without Obama's name on the ballot, the people of Michigan never had the opportunity to support one of the candidates vying for the presidency.

Before both of these primaries, Clinton and Obama agreed that the delegates from Florida and Michigan would not count. It's interesting how a few months and a tight race will change one's mind.

Learn more about this author, Erica Green.
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