George,

With regard to the Michigan and Florida imbroglios, let me propose some parodies in a March Madness setting. What would a national basketball tournament look like if it were run by the DNC? Here are some examples.

Scenario 1: A key player on one of the teams is ejected after committing two technical fouls. But the fans loudly object. They threaten to boycott the next tournament (thus depriving themselves of a favorite pastime). They even threaten to suddenly switch their allegiance and start cheering for the opposing team. The DNC referees assume that the fans’ threats of boycott and/or switching allegiances are believable, so they relent and let the ejected player continue to play.

Scenario 2: As the tournament is about to get underway, it is discovered that one of the teams is ineligible due to recruiting violations. That team insists on playing anyway. All other teams, save one (the New York Nettlers), agree NOT to play the ineligible team. The Nettlers play the ineligible team and win. They insist on moving up a bracket on the basis of that victory and tournament officials reluctantly agree. Those teams that felt obliged not to play the ineligible team will have learned a valuable lesson: good sportsmanship is a losing proposition.

Scenario 3. During the course of a game, it is discovered that the possession arrow has malfunctioned and one team has had more than its share of possessions. Rather than having the officials figure out a fair way to compensate for this situation, the captains of the two teams are told to sit down together and work out a deal. The team that was advantaged by extra possessions has no interest in trying to rectify the situation, and the team that was disadvantaged wants some extra possessions during the rest of the game. As would be expected, no agreement can be reached between these interested parties. Tournament officials are nowhere to be found.

The national Democratic party is badly served when it has weak officials and highly self-interested major players.

Some of the Michigan-Florida fiasco could have been avoided if the DNC had picked some state other than Nevada to be an early participant. The self-interest of Senate Majority Leader Reid of Nevada undoubtedly had a lot to do with that highly unrepresentative state being placed near the head of the line. If a more representative state, like Michigan or Colorado, had been picked for that early position, there would have been far less justification for states such as Michigan and Florida to break the rules and move their primaries.

Also, the Michigan situation would have been far different if Hillary Clinton had done what all major candidates did – remove her name from the ballot. Would Michigan Democrats have even held an unauthorized primary if no names were on the ballot? It would have been a party trying to hold a party with no hosts.

David RePass (electronic mail, March 20, 2008)