It is truly a testament to the ego and tenacity -- both admirable qualities in a president -- of Hillary Clinton that she and her campaign continue to press for the recognition of the delegates from Florida and Michigan. Speaking at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Democratic presidential hopeful stated that “The results of those primaries were fair and they should be honored.”
No doubt it depends on your definition of fair. It should be noted that in Michigan, Clinton’s name was the only one on the ballot. Unfortunately, the current controversy also provides further testimony of the Clinton propensity to cast rules aside in order to get the results they want. 

When her husband spread his DNA all over their wedding vows, rather than toss the bum out on his ear and strut her stuff to an authentic old school feminists track, she chose instead to blame it all on conspiracy. Now she is attempting to ride into the Oval Office on her husband’s coattails, touting her experience to the rhythm of a new school feminist beat: “You go, girl!” Changing the rules in the middle of the game is, alas, a quality most find rather unpleasant in a leader.

Clinton continued her remarks before the chamber: “In my view, there are two options: Honor the results or hold new primary elections. I don’t see any other solutions that are fair and honor the commitment that two and a half million voters made in the Democratic primaries in those two states.“ There is, of course, a third option: Stick to the rules that were agreed upon prior to the campaign.   

The legislators of both Florida and Michigan were warned that the change in the primary date would result in disqualification and a refusal to seat their delegates at the convention in Denver.  With the exception of Dennis Kucinich, all of the Democratic contenders signed pledges that read "I _________, Democratic Candidate for President, pledge I shall not campaign or participate in any state which schedules a presidential election primary or caucus before Feb. 5, 2008, except for the states of Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina ... "

The states went ahead with the changes, feeling fairly confident that the eventual nominee would seat their convention delegates anyway, and all would be forgiven. Of course, neither the Michigan or the Florida legislature or any of the candidates imagined that no candidate would march into Denver without the requisite number of delegates to carry the nomination or enough nominating committee delegates to force the nomination. 

So now, Clinton wants a do-over. Perhaps in the interest of time and money, the vote can be held by mail. A mail-in vote in Florida? The dead will truly walk again -- right down to the post office to mail in their ballots.

I am also unsure of how this is fair to the candidates that chose not to campaign in the states and are now no longer in the race.  Admittedly, their campaigns were having difficulty gaining traction, but to borrow from the world of sports, “that’s why they play the game.” 

Further, given the rather even distribution of pledged delegates, a new primary in both states would be more or less a wash. What would not be a wash is the superdelegate tally. Recent analysis suggests that a do-over might gain as many as 25 superdelegates for Clinton, enough to gain a foothold in influencing the nomination process in Denver.

Seems fair.

Rules are in place to maintain order. To seat either slate of delegates at this time is to make the rules meaningless. To hold a new primary is to allow the states to have their cake and eat it too. They sought greater influence, and now they have it.  What is to now prevent all states seeking greater influence from moving their primaries next time around? Absolutely nothing, which, oddly enough, was the reason the DNC imposed the rules to begin with. 

What would be fair and honorable would be for both campaigns to go to Denver and negotiate. Changing the rules when it seems the quickest means to a desired end smacks of the same old tired politics that this party was promising to change. 

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Joseph C. Phillips is the author of “He Talk Like a White Boy."