Newsflash: Not everything Bill Clinton says is deceptive and sinister. I really don't think he was questioning Barack Obama's patriotism on Friday. (I do think he may have been hinting--with that line about "all this other stuff"--that race will be a costly distraction for Democrats if Obama is nominated--which sounds unseemly but is not obviously wrong.) That said, I continue to find this argument totally implausible:
I must say that this new strategy of denying and disempowering and disenfranchising the voters in Florida and Michigan is I believe a terrible mistake. Hillary believes their votes should be counted. And I don't know how we're gonna go to those people in the general election and say you gotta vote for us even though we dumped all over you in the primary.
And:
I think that we are running the risk of throwing both Florida and Michigan away if she doesn't get nominated because of the events of the last few days where there has been a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise those voters. And don't you think there has not been a message there. Don't you think that they didn't get it.
Sadly I suspect huge numbers of Florida and Michigan voters may never have a clue that their primary votes didn't count to begin with, never mind making their choice in November on that basis.
--Michael Crowley