UPDATE: I have been thinking about this some more. It isn’t a question of fairness, these are the rules that the party operates by, therefore nobody should be shocked that this is happening. DNC chair Dean created this situation in the first place by disenfranchising Michigan and Florida primary voters altogether. I will say that if I were a Democrat and the party candidate were to be decided by a Tammany Hall back room deal, I would be hopping mad irrespective of what candidate I supported.
I saw this on Drudge this morning and cringed. All partisanship aside, it should offend all voters regardless of party affiliation when party big-shots start picking candidates instead of primary and caucus voters.
The one thing that has made this entire election cycle exciting, and somewhat bearable in light of the protracted length, is that the “central committee” from either party isn’t picking our candidates, we are. The best thing that could happen to both parties is to go into their respective conventions and actually have it mean something beyond being a coronation of “the fix” candidate, and what is equally good for both parties is very good for American politics.
On a related note, I found it equally distasteful that McCain and Huckabee colluded on West Virginia to deprive Romney of a win. These games only undermine the political process and steal confidence away from people who believe their votes should matter.
“I think we will have a nominee sometime in the middle of March or April. But if we don’t, then we’re going to have to get the candidates together and make some kind of an arrangement,” said Dean, who failed in his bid for the party’s nomination in 2004.