by Scotty Mack

Created on: March 08, 2008

"If a tree falls in a forest, but no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" Finally, the answer to the question that philosophers have been asking for years has been answered. Yes! The sound is deafening and delightful to all in the Republican Party.

The Democratic Party has gotten itself into a real pickle here. Primary elections in both the state of Michigan and the state of Florida have been deemed irrelevant by the DNC. The citizens voted but no one was around to hear them. As the "Party of the People," how can the Democrats possibly deny the voice of the voters of both Michigan and Florida?

In Michigan, only one of the two remaining candidates was on the ballot (Hillary Clinton). Clearly the results of this state's primary cannot be counted.

Florida, on the other hand, seems a bit less complicated at first glance. Both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama were on the ballot. The results clearly show that Hillary won that state. Or do they?

As a resident of Florida, I can tell you that in the ten minutes that I was in the voting room at my local precinct, I heard at least five Democrats say that they would like a Republican ballot. Informed Democrats were told that their votes would not count, so they decided to cast their votes for the most liberal Republican, instead.

Congratulations on your win Senator McCain, you just received your first cross-over votes in the state of Florida! I wonder how many disenfranchised Florida Democrats you will collect in the general election.

So, what to do, what to do? You can't possibly ask the taxpayers of each state to foot the $25 million bill to hold another election, can you? The Republicans would just eat this up. I can hear it now, "and if they are prepared to start taxing you before they are even elected, how much more can you expect the Party of Taxation to want when they are elected?"

The Democratic Party says that they cannot afford to spend the money they have in their coffers to pay for new primaries in each state. That money is being set aside to win the general election. Even if they did manage to scrape the money together to have a "re-primary" in each state, what would that accomplish? Neither candidate would have enough votes to win the nomination and the results would always be the subject of debate. Besides, the whole reason behind disallowing these two important electoral college states the right to move their voting dates up, was to keep them from unduly influencing the votes of other states. Ironic, insn't it, that their importance has been elevated to an even higher degree now. If new elections are held, the Republican Party can hardly wait to, yet again, proclaim the Democrats to be a bunch of flip-floppers.

The GOP is eating this up. They are hoping this issue will divide the party beyond repair. They are praying that the Democrats take this contest to the final day of their convention.

The forest is full of animals waiting to tear the Democratic Party apart. The tree has already fallen. Whether it made a sound or not is irrelevant. Whether or not it takes the party down with it is the real issue.

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