The Democratic prize fight: all 15 rounds of it

Roland S. Martin is a nationally syndicated columnist, Chicago-based radio host, and frequent contributor to the AC360° Blog.

Let me congratulate everyone that voted in Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island. You are the folks who really care about democracy because you don’t just run your mouth; you stepped up, went to the polls, braved the bad weather in some places, and you didn’t complain about the long lines. For us, that means waiting 15 minutes or so, even though in other countries a long line to vote could mean a half of a day. And to those who didn’t vote, you can kiss my….well, you know what!
 
I know that may not be Christian like, but I’m sick of these blowhards who complain and complain, and do nothing. And for those who are black, you deserve extra scorn because YOU – YES YOU – are the reason why the ancestors are weeping this morning. It was their blood, sweat and in some cases, death, that made the vote for us a reality, and your trifling actions made their brave sacrifice meaningless. So, the primaries are now passed, and you have a chance to make up for that in November. Let’s see if are worthy to call yourself an American by not voting again.
 
To the governors of Michigan and Florida, and the other members of Congress, such as Florida Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, please, sit down and shut up. Look, the voters in those two states should have had their votes counted. But it was the actions of officials in those that resulted in this mess. THEY didn’t follow the rules. THEY chose to ignore the Democratic National Committee rules by moving their primaries up, even under threat that their delegates would get stripped. The OTHER states followed the rules. But it is arrogance, and not Democratic Party unfairness, that is the reason for this debacle.
 
And the two leaders of the arrogant parade are Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm and Florida Governor Charlie Crist for signing the bills into the law. THEY deserve the blame. NOT the DNC. And I’m with DNC Chairman Howard Dean

 
You don’t follow the rules, you don’t get to play. Crist had the nerve to thunder, “Are you kidding me. This is the will of the people.” Well, Charlie, you pompous partisan politician, you should have thought of the will of the people when you chose to put their votes in jeopardy.
 
And shame on Sen. Hillary Clinton for being on the campaign trail saying the votes don’t count, the votes don’t count, but now that she is behind in the delegate count, she wants those delegates to count. Stop saying “the rules, the rules,” and then when others play by the rules, you want to change them to get an advantage.
 
Lastly, what happens next in this campaign. On the Republican side, Sen. John McCain locked up the nomination, so we can put him in storage and wait to hear from him after the Republican convention in September.
 
But for the Democrats, its onward and upward for Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama. Kudos to Sen. Clinton. After losing 11 straight races, she made some modifications in her campaign, changed her message, focused on the economy, and was able to beat Obama in three out of four states on Tuesday. You may not have liked her going negative, but was it really negative? Nope. Like it or not, it’s called politics...
 
Folks, this is now a 15-round heavyweight match instead of 12 rounds. Clinton has no choice to brawl. Obama? He is sort of the boxer who is technically proficient and wants to showcase those skills. But you can’t dance all night. Sometimes you’ve got to slug it out in the middle of the ring. That doesn’t mean being nasty. It doesn’t mean trashing your opponent. But it does mean fighting until the bell rings in the final round and never letting your guard down...

– Roland S. Martin, 360° Contributor
www.rolandsmartin.com