Moore: Dem ban of Mich., Fla. delegates 'is a crime' David Edwards and Nick Juliano

Published: Thursday February 7, 2008



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Print This Email This Filmmaker Michael Moore, who got his start documenting the plight of laid off auto workers in Flint, Mich., decried the Democratic Party's decision to essentially disenfranchise voters in his home state as well as Florida after those states bucked party rules and scheduled presidential primaries in January. "I live in Michigan so my votes didn't get counted. ... It's a crime that people in Michigan and Florida, our votes are not going to be heard or counted," Moore told Larry King on his CNN program. It's not that the votes weren't counted -- Hillary Clinton squeezed out a victory over "uncommitted" in the state's Jan. 15 vote -- but the Democratic National Committee decided to strip the state of its delegates to the national convention. Candidates agreed not to campaign in the state and all the major contenders but Clinton removed their names from the ballot. (Facing a tougher-than-expected battle with Barack Obama, Clinton now desperately wants those delegates back; state party leaders are considering re doing the state's vote with another primary or caucus). Moore, whose latest documentary Sicko is nominated for an Academy Award this year, hasn't endorsed a candidate in this year's Democratic primary, saying anyone who's nominated would be an improvement after "eight years of madness" under George W. Bush. Already Moore has a Best Documentary Oscar statue on his mantel for Fahrenheit 9/11, which was sharply critical of the Bush administration's foreign policy. His first film Roger & Me featured the Michigan native confronting General Motors CEO Roger Smith about the havoc caused by a plant closure in Flint, which cost the town 30,000 jobs. Moore told King he was sad to see John Edwards drop out of the race, because he was drawn to the former North Carolina Senator's populist appeal. The filmmaker criticized Obama and Clinton's healthcare plans for not cutting insurance companies out of the process, and his harshest words were aimed at the former First Lady. "I actually liked her [Clinton] for a long time," he said. "But ... her continually voting for the war would make it almost morally impossible for me to vote for her."



This video is CNN's Larry King Live, broadcast February 6, 2008.













