Of course the votes in Michigan and Florida should count. Just because this idiot Howard Dean does not want these 2 states represented is no reason not to allow their votes in. I am an independent but bad as I hate Clinton and McCain the democrats will be doing us a huge favor if they allow the mentally challenged Howard Dean to ignore these 2 powerful states. Then the democrats in Florida and Michigan will vote Republican.The way Hillary has been treated by Dean and other democratic leaders hopefully her supporters will vote for McCain Also. This should give your boy Obama about 30% of the votes in the general election. Either way it will be a landslide victory for McCain. Democrats are not known for their intellect or loyalty.

no.whats the point of making rules if were just going to ignore them as long as enough people whine about it after the fact.both states were warned before they changed their primary dates.they obviously believed the rules of our party didnt apply to them.to change the rules now in yhe midst of such an historic primary could forever cast the results of this race in doubt and devide our party when we have never needed unity more. B.B.B.09

I thank they should do away with caucases. They are not fair.

As a democrate and a Florida, if my vote doesn't count for the primary, then it will count for the general election, and that vote will be for McCain. Hillary is the most qualied for the job. Obama is a fluke, and if he's the pick for the democates, they will lose, because once someone finally has the courage to dig into his background, the skeltons will be singing when McCain is sworn in.

NEVER OBAMA! IF HILLARY IS NOT THE NOMINEE, WE WILL VOTE FOR MCCAIN IN PROTEST! BECAUSE, LUCKY OBAMA WINS BY DEFAULT, IF MI AND FLA., ARE DENIED A "DO OVER! ITS UNFAIR ENOUGH THE WAY THE DELEGATES ARE AWARDED AND THE UNRELIABLE,INCONVENIENT CAUCAS COUNT. CLINTON VOTERS CAN'T ATTEND DURING MOST CAUCUSES. SAD AND MAD DEMOCRATE IN FLORIDA! VIVIENNE AVARE

Florida's ballot had all names present so that vote should count. In Michigan there should be a redo. A supporter of Sen. Clintons has offered 15 million for a redo if Sen. Obamas campaign will raise 15 million. For a man who raised 40 million in March, that should be easy. He could just call Oprah. Why does he delay? Must be afraid of a do over.

Uh, let's see. There are rules. The rules state "such and such" and we all know the rules ahead of playing the game. Now one party, after the fact, doesn't like the ramifications of the rules and wants to change them. Am I misstating what has happened? In a country where we take out silly mortgages that can never be paid and then ask other taxpayers to pay off the mortgages for us, because again we don't like the rules we've signed onto, what else would we expect! Of course, change the rules. Integrity or flim-flam. It's a simple choice. I guess we'll see which course fits us best.

DEMOCRACY IS NOT DEMOCRACY WHEN CERTAIN VOTES ARE CONVENIENTLY DISREGARDED. The rules of the Constitution and the American guarantee to the right to vote should supercede the ridiculous rules of the Democratic National Convention in a heartbeat.

THEY FOUGHT FOR US! The Right to Vote!

This is the story of our Grandmothers, and Great-grandmothers, as they lived only 90 years ago. It was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.

The women were innocent and defenseless. And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'

They beat Lucy Burn, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air. They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cell mate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.

Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote.

For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms. When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.

So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because--why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining?

Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's new movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder.

All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote. Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege. Sometimes it was inconvenient.

My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women's history, saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk about it, she looked angry. She was--with herself. 'One thought kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,' she said. 'What would those women think of the way I use--or don't use--my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.' The right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.'

HBO released the movie on video and DVD. I wish all history, social studies and government teachers would include the movie in their curriculum. I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing, but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think a little shock therapy is in order.

It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy.

The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.'

We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party - remember to vote.

History is being made. VOTE FOR HILLARY!

Rules are rules. If those rules were established much before the primary elections, it is not in the middle the game that the rulles should be changed.

Count my Florida vote in the primary or count my vote for John McCain

it is amazing to me that the party would punish canidates for the hightest office because the OTHER party caused these earlyer dates. Who in the hell made this desision. Hopefully not Dean the loser. If this desision is up held then the John Mc Cain should be elected.

The DNC made the decision, So suck it up and deal with it. But I am supposing if there is enough wining there will be a change. It is like dealing with 5 and 6 year old children.

A small group of Democratic insiders may decide the 2008 nominee. You made a truly stupid decision to punish Mich and Florida seemingly without thinking what you were doing. Why did you not punish NH when they jumped from 3rd to 2nd when it was decided that Iowa, Nevada, NH & SC would be the lineup for January?

You seem to be clueless about what anger is boiling over out here in the boonies where we tacky voters reside following the Rev. Wright racist flap. No matter how many of you parse it and try to fix the nomination for Obama, it is too late now. After the Rev. Wright debacle there is no way this guy will win the general election in November. He and his supporters are doing everything they can to block any resolution of the Michigan and florida mess. Senators Dodd and Tom Daschle need to stay off television and let this play out within the DNC.

There may be no way to patch up this mess. Our 'leaders' have yet again screwed us. We have been dedicated Democrats since our first vote in 1960, we worked in campaigns, we donated what we could afford to candidates of our choice. It is unimaginable to us that a sure win could have been screwed up so badly. You decision makers need to carefully think twice about which candidate has the best chance to win, that decision is now our only chance. Margaret and Tom Ray, Virginia

Both candidates have no clear experience to be president. One is power hungry as a a NY state resident Clinton did absolutely nothing to help the state. Rocka Bamma is a slick salesmen with no real understanding of how both the economy operates and the many other issues that need work. His paster says it all. God help us if he wins.

The decision was made ahead of time and all of the votes should be counted from January's election. There is enough money being wasted and if this is done again I would have to question how well the Democrates could handle the budget for the United States. Strip FL and MI from the original votes and I hope every Democrate in both states votes Republican.

The Democratic voters of Florida had no part in choosing an early election date and should not be deprived of their right to participate in the nominating process. I also feel that Howard Dean and the DNC should have gone ahead long before now and accepted the results of our Primary since we had a record turnout with one half the vote for Clinton and one-third of the vote for Obama, which indicates that we knew enough about the candidates to know for whom to vote. The Primary included every candidates name and was only one week earlier than the earliest date allowed by the DNC, but they were in a SNIT and Dean wanted to throw his weight around. They could have thought of some other way to reprimand Florida than taking away their vote, and it will be a cold day in hell before I send a contribution to the Democratic party again. Dean and the DNC and Pelosi are responsible for Obama getting out in front so far and have damaged Clinton's campaign. They should have made an effort to accomodate both Michigan and Florida before the actual election process. They have damaged their own Party, as I and many others will vote for McCain if Obama is the nominee.

Every count is the human right so it can use the old result than new election.

I truly feel for the people of FL and MI, but rules are rules and the people you all voted for, decided to break those rules on behalf of you and your state and the delegates of FL and MI should not be seated. The votes representing the residents of FL and MI will be counted in November. To seat these delegates this late in the game is completely unfair and should not be considered. We have to live with the consequences of our actions. I bet 4 years from now, the voters of FL and MI will be sure not to allow the primaries in their states held prior to DNC regulatory primary dates. You live and you learn and make better decisions the next time. NO DELEGATES FOR FL AND MI THIS YEAR, NOW LET'S MOVE ON.

Are we voting for the President of the "United States", or the President of the "48 States"? If the votes cast in Florida and or Michigan are not counted, then this election is a fraud, period. Disqualifying the votes in these two states is not an acceptable soloution, and the DNC should have thought of that before they made this idiot decision. The DNC does not have the constitutional authority to decide whether or not my vote is counted, if they want to penalize Florida and Michigan, go for it, don't invite the polititions of those states to the next DNC dinner!! But do NOT punish the voters, the citizens of this country.

The first agreement should stand.

All votes should count regardless, especially in a nomination process that's very close. I think we need a new nominating process that's equal & the same in each state. The current mess is rediculous & unfair.

The votes should be counted. Rules or no rules. Florida has voted. It's not the people's fault. Let their vote count. It would not be fair to take their vote away. It's unconstitutional. It's very wrong for this country to be this way. Let them be heard.