The Rules

After the West Virginia primary last night, CNN paid pundit and member of the Obamination Donna Brazile got into a heated discussion with Hillary campaign media honcho Howard Wolfson about the DNC "rules" with regard to the Florida and Michigan delegates. Wolfson made the case that perhaps the DNC might not want to disenfranchise the 2.3 million folks who voted in those states, but Donna is a stickler for the rules and wouldn't hear of changing them, even for 2.3 million Democratic voters. Two things strike me about this conversation, which is one that has been repeated ad nauseum since Hillary fell behind in pledged delegates.

First of all, the "rules" that Brazile and the other Obamination Democrats keep touting are not the rules at all. The actual Delegate Selection Rules provide a clear remedy for states that hold their primaries or caucuses in violation of the timing rules: the loss of 50% of their pledged delegates and alternates, and all of their "at-large" or add-on delegates. That is the actual rule. It is also almost never mentioned that Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina all held primaries or caucuses on dates that violated the timing rules.

The second thing that strikes me is the absolute failure of the media with regard to calling out Donna and the rest of the Obamination on this point. It seems a highly relevant point of interest in such a hotly contested primary, but no mention of it has been made anywhere except for a few Hillary forums. The rules are easily accessible from the DNC website. Here they are. If you don't believe me, read them for yourself.