Oh! The Conundrum that is Michigan and Florida!

I had decided that spring break was going to be sans news stories. I’ve been stressed for awhile, and reading/watching all of that political crap is not exactly good for the mind. But, being a "news junkie" and a journalism instructor, I live for the news.

Yet, I decided to make spring break a "no news break."

Yeah, that lasted an entire day. I did well on Monday, but that’s because I was out shopping and spending most of my Christmas gift cards. Tuesday, however, I turned on the television to watch CMT videos (yes, even though it’s spring break, I’m still waking up at 6 a.m.--I’m a creature of habit) and as I changed the channel I heard Geraldine Ferraro’s comments about Obama. That lead into a story about the two campaigns, then into a possible revote for Michigan and Florida, which Clinton heavily favors.

Damn. I was hooked. I read commentaries, watched CNN and MSNBC and caught a couple minutes of The Today Show between sips of coffee and writing.

Throw in a little Spitzer and his call girl news, the roller coaster known as the stock market and it’s been an interesting week.

Through all of this, however, the story that is most near and dear to my heart is that of Michigan and Florida revotes.

I really do feel sorry for the voters in both Michigan and Florida. The everyday, ordinary citizen was not the idiot who moved the primary ahead, and effectively nulled their votes. Of course, it was some politician who thought they knew better, and would not be punished. WRONG. They were punished, and rightly so.

However, my issue is that the citizens of the states of Michigan and Florida did not, and I reiterate, did not move the primary forward. But, each individual is being stripped of his or her voice.

Should the citizens be allowed to revote and have it count? That’s a good question, yet hard to find a definitive answer.

Should there be a revote? And, if there is a revote who should pay?

More importantly, how do we allow Michigan and Florida to have a voice?

I like the idea of a revote, but how can it be fair after the first one? Voters really did go out and vote that first time, should they be concerned that their votes won’t count again? Will this revote make less people show up at polls?

In my mind, what can it really hurt to have the revote? Citizens WILL get a voice, and hopefully more people will understand their vote does count.

In the grand scheme of things, you all know I’m a Hillary Clinton supporter. However, I would gladly vote for Obama in the November elections if he was the chosen candidate for the Democratic Party.

I just want to make sure before we decide who is on the ticket that everyone has a chance to vote, a place for their vote to count.

Sorry! This was a diatribe that I really didn’t mean to have. Just venting.