FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2008
Tucson, Arizona
THE WOMAN WHO CHAMPIONS VOTING RIGHTS FOR WOMEN AROUND THE WORLD, DOESN'T HAVE THEM IN HER OWN COUNTRY, EVEN IF SHE IS A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE.
It is ironic that the first woman candidate for President, Hillary Clinton, long an advocate for voting rights for women around the world, may herself be denied a Roll Call Vote at the Democratic Convention in August if Howard Dean and the DNC have their way.
Dean, DNC Chair, quoted in a recent New York Times article, said that he didn't want a symbolic roll call for Hillary on the first ballot in the interests of "unity." This is yet one more move in a series of unilateral moves by the DNC to turn over accepted practices in this year's democratic nomination process. Dean himself was on the first ballot with a fraction of the delegates that Hillary brings to the table. Our grassroots coalition sees this latest move as an affront to all who voted for Hillary, as taking her name off the ballot effectively removes the first woman candidate, who won 18 million votes, off the DNC record books, as if it never happened.
It is these and other unilateral moves by the DNC to deny Hillary the same rights other candidates have enjoyed for decades that have caused Hillary Clinton's supporters to form a new action center called the Democracy Workshop. The coalition is a melting pot of race, sex, age, political persuasion, and socio-economic status. The coalition is outraged at the treatment Mrs. Clinton has received at the hands of the DNC in this election cycle and is joining hands with many other groups of Hillary supporters across the nation to form "one cohesive line of defense" of the democratic process. "This no longer about Hillary. It's bigger than Hillary. Hillary is our inspiration as she modeled to us to 'never give up and never give in' on your principles" said one of its founders.
According to the group, the list of violations are adding up to a bigger story: that of a collusion between the DNC and the Obama campaign to "select, not elect" the nominee. Some of the DNC moves that are outraging Americans who believe in a democratic election process are:
- ·
Rules
changed to favor the "DNC selected" candidate Obama.
- ·
Punishing
Michigan and Florida for early voting but not the other states that favored the
"DNC selected" candidate Obama. This move is unprecedented.
- ·
Pledged
delegates have not been assigned based on the popular vote.
- · Donna Brazile said that if Super Delegates decided the nominee she would quit the Democratic Party. In fact Super Delegates were put in place to guarantee an electable candidate. Clearly Hillary has the bigger General Election advantage due to popular vote, her broad base of supporters, and win of key swing states in the primaries.
It is these and other DNC practices combined with dirty hardball politics by the Obama campaign and his online bloggers that have alienated Hillary's voters from their party and that have outraged people all over the world who are tuned into this election cycle This outrage is reflected in Obama's miniscule "bump" in the polls after Hillary suspended her campaign. As one founder said "We will not go quietly into the night."
Leave a comment