It Is Time To Put An End To The Clinton Nonsense. Read and Go To The Uncommitted Super Delegate List at the end of this post and contact anyone you know or from your State.
WASHINGTON - Democratic Party leaders agreed Saturday to seat Michigan and Florida delegates with half-votes at this summer's convention with a compromise that left Barack Obama on the verge of the nomination but riled Hillary Rodham Clinton backers who threatened to fight to the August convention.
"Hijacking four delegates is not a good way to start down the path of party unity," said adviser Harold Ickes.
Clinton's camp maintains she was entitled to four additional Michigan delegates.
The decision by the party's Rules Committee raised slightly the total delegates Obama needs to clinch the nomination. Clinton advisers conceded privately he will likely hit the magic number after the final primaries are held Tuesday night, but said the ruling threatened to dash any hopes of a unified party.
"Mrs. Clinton has told me to reserve her right to take this to the Credentials Committee" at the convention, said Ickes, who is a member of the Rules Committee that voted Saturday.
The resolution increased the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination to 2,118, leaving Obama just 66 delegates away from the majority needed to secure the nomination.
"Our main goal is to get this resolved so we can focus on winning Michigan and Florida," Obama said while campaigning in South Dakota. "There were compromises. ... I'm glad the DNC worked it through and I hope we can start focusing on substance as opposed to process."
The deal was reached after committee members deliberated for nine hours, including three where they met privately and argued fiercely over their eventual deal, according to several people inside. They voted in front of a raucous hotel ballroom that frequently interrupted proceedings and reflected deep divisions within the party.
"How can you call yourselves Democrats if you don't count the vote?" one of the many hecklers in the audience yelled loudly and repeatedly before being escorted out by security. "This is not the Democratic Party!"
A senior Clinton adviser, speaking on a condition of anonymity about internal campaign decisions, said the decision could be used to help her raise campaign donations for a scaled-down campaign that might focus on a signature issue — such as health care reform — rather than a traditional fight for the nomination.
The advisers said no decisions had been made, and it was still possible that Clinton would bow out once Obama goes over the top.
Clinton and her supporters wanted the Michigan and Florida delegations fully restored, according to January primaries that she won. But those contests were not recognized by the party because they were held too early, and both candidates agreed at the time they would not count.
But as Clinton tried to catch up to Obama's delegate lead, she has argued that the votes of the 2.3 million people who participated in the elections must be recognized.
Obama supporters argued that they did compromise by allowing her to take the majority of delegates in two contests where he didn't campaign.
The sticking point was Michigan, where Obama's name was not on the ballot.
Clinton's camp insisted Obama shouldn't get any pledged delegates in Michigan since he chose not to put his name on the ballot, and she should get 73 pledged delegates with 55 uncommitted. Obama's team insisted the only fair solution was to split the pledged delegates in half between the two campaigns, with 64 each.
The committee agreed on a compromise offered by the Michigan Democratic Party that would split the difference, allowing Clinton to take 69 delegates and Obama 59. Each delegate would get half a vote at the convention, according to the deal.
The deal passed 19-8. Thirteen members of the committee had endorsed Clinton for president, so she wasn't even able to keep her supporters together.
Allan Katz, a Rules Committee member and Obama supporter, said the Obama campaign had enough votes on the committee to support the campaign's proposal to split the delegates 50-50 in Michigan. Ultimately, the campaign agreed instead to support the compromise negotiated by the Michigan Democratic Party as a way to resolve the matter.
"The ironic thing is Obama had the majority of that committee," Katz said. "The Obama campaign wants to move on and compromise. We did not muscle our way through it. It was a wise decision from a well run and wise campaign that will reverberate."
But the irate reaction from Clinton's campaign and her supporters in the sharply divided audience shows Obama will have a long way to go to bring the party together after a long and divisive primary.
"We just blew the election!" a woman in the audience shouted. The crowd was divided between cheering Obama supporters and booing Clinton supporters.
"This isn't unity! Count all the votes!" another audience member yelled.
Jim Roosevelt, co-chair of the committee, tried repeatedly to gavel it to order. "You are dishonoring your candidate when you disrupt the speakers," he chided.
There are three primaries left in the contest — Puerto Rico on Sunday and Montana and South Dakota on Tuesday. Obama should get at least 30 delegates in the remaining primaries, meaning he has to pick up no more than about 30 more superdelegates even if he loses Puerto Rico and South Dakota.
He will not clinch the nomination this weekend, barring a barrage of super delegates Sunday.
The committee also unanimously agreed to seat the Florida delegation based on the outcome of the January primary, with 105 pledged delegates for Clinton and 67 for Obama, but with each delegate getting half a vote as a penalty.
Proponents of full seating continuously interrupted the committee members as they explained their support of the compromise, then supporters of the deal shouted back.
"Shut up!" one woman shouted at another.
"You shut up!" the second woman shouted back.
Obama picked up a total of 32 delegates in Michigan, including super delegates who have already committed, and 36 in Florida. Clinton picked up 38 in Michigan, including super delegates, and 56.5 in Florida. Obama's total increased to 2,052, and Clinton had 1,877.5.
A proposal favored by Clinton that would have fully seated the Florida delegation fully in accordance with the January primary went down with 12 votes in support and 15 against.
Tina Flournoy, who led Clinton's efforts to seat both states' delegations with full voting power, said she was disappointed by the outcome but knew the Clinton position had "no chance" of passing the committee.
"I understand the rules. ... I can tell you one thing that has driven these rules was being a party of inclusion," Flournoy said. "I wish my colleagues will vote differently."
Alice Huffman, a Clinton supporter on the committee, explained that the compromise giving delegates half votes was the next best thing to full seating.
"We will leave here more united than we came," she said.
Some audience members heckled her in response. "Lipstick on a pig!" one shouted.
Associated Press writer Stephen Ohlemacher contributed to this report.
Clinton's supporters vent their frustration
They converge on Washington feeling robbed -- by Obama, Democratic Party leaders and the media.
By Faye Fiore, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 1, 2008
Discuss Article WASHINGTON -- The hotel where the 30 Democratic rule makers met Saturday -- to decide whether rules are rules or whether rules are made to be broken -- was within howling distance of the National Zoo.
Outside the stately Marriott Wardman Park Hotel were clusters of women with "Hear Me Roar" placards in their fists who came from all over the country -- $4 a gallon be damned -- to make what could be a last stand for their Hillary.
Inside was a ballroom filled with suits who were looking for a "dignified and high-minded resolution" to a problem threatening the Democratic Party, which should be in the driver's seat en route to the White House. Instead, it felt like they were preparing to throw one of the party's rock-star candidates under the bus.
So as far as people like Mary Alyson Pilagin, who drove from Raleigh, N.C., were concerned, the zoo was a fitting metaphor.
"The rules are insane," said Pilagin, 26, an office manager for a restaurant company. It was hot and she had on sunscreen as she marched with her "Count Every Vote" sign past sidewalk cafes where Washingtonians calmly sipped mimosas.
A civil war -- that's how it felt. Democrat against Democrat. Not long ago, they were united in the cause to wrest the White House from the Bush legacy, end the war, stop global warming, empower the middle class.
But now many of them were so angry they said they planned to defect from their party for the first time if Hillary Rodham Clinton did not emerge as the nominee.
"This should never have gotten this far, especially after the mess of Florida," Pilagin said.
A reprise of Nightmare 2000, the Florida ballot debacle, but this time the party sticking it to the Democratic Party was the Democratic Party.
"It's always messed up when it comes to Florida, and we're sick of it," said Johnnie Mae Collins, 60, who had ridden a tour bus for 10 hours with her friends from Jacksonville, Fla., stopping more than usual to be sure nobody got a blood clot.
This was all so stupid, Collins had decided. All the Florida Democrats did was vote. The party made some rule that the votes of Florida and Michigan wouldn't count because the primaries were too early. None of that was the voters' fault (did they set the calendar?), and who winds up getting punished? The voters.
And not just the voters who voted, but also the voters who didn't vote -- the ones who might have turned out had they not been told about a million times that their votes weren't going to count. Who knows how they would have spoken?
From outside, it was clear that the suits inside needed to find some way to count the votes. If not, a bunch of irritated Democratic women in two key swing states might stay home in November -- or, worse, cast their lot with Republican John McCain.
Clinton's campaign didn't organize what her supporters did, but it didn't dissuade them, either; Barack Obama's camp discouraged its supporters from demonstrating, mindful not to offend Hillaryites whom they hope will come their way by Nov. 4.
Judging by the anger index out there Saturday, that wasn't going to happen any time soon. They felt robbed -- by Obama, by the Democratic National Committee, but mostly by the media.
"I'm about ready to kick you guys down the street," said one woman from Minnesota when approached by a reporter.
"And it wasn't the bloggers -- it was the mainstream," said Julianne Dickson, 65, who owns an insurance agency and came from Lancaster, Pa., with two friends in hats, cropped pants and Hillary buttons. People they used to like -- such as Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann -- had spoken of Clinton in voices that fairly dripped with sarcasm. How could it not have hurt her?
"Doesn't she remind you of a wife telling you to take out the garbage?" they repeated with disgust, unable to recall which talking head had uttered it. (It was author Marc Rudov on a Fox News broadcast.)
Emotions were running high. Over the last 17 months, these women, who had once called their field of candidates an embarrassment of riches, had chosen one and fallen in love -- hard.
"I'm not sure I can vote for Obama," said Maria Diaz Vivian, 44, who owns a computer business in the San Francisco Bay Area. She was out of breath from climbing the long hill to the hotel's Starbucks for an iced chai tea, only to be turned away because she didn't have a credential that would get her past security.
That's the kind of day it was.
"I'm tired of the treatment Hillary's been getting. We go to other countries to monitor elections, but in our country, the votes in two states don't count?"
She was also mad at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the San Francisco Democrat whom she suspects is an Obama supporter, for not speaking out against the misogyny she thinks Clinton has suffered. It felt as though women were letting down women.
"What will I tell my daughter?" she asked, beads of sweat from the Washington humidity trickling down her face -- colliding with a couple of tears.
Clinton's supporters vent their frustration
Los Angeles Times - 5 hours ago
Hillary Rodham Clinton supporters watch as votes are counted during a meeting of the Democratic National Committee in Washington. They converge on Washington feeling robbed -- by Obama, by Democratic Party leaders and by the media.
Video: Florida, Michigan Delegates Get Half-votes Video: Florida, Michigan Delegates Get Half-votes AssociatedPress
Accord, furor over Mich., Fla. delegates Boston Globe
Baltimore Sun - New York Times - CQPolitics.com - Reuters
all 4,897 news articles »
Dear Ed.,
Hillary has consistently stood up for the voters of Michigan and Florida. She, like you, has insisted that the voice of all Americans be heard. Today, the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee announced their decision on seating Florida and Michigan's delegations. In recent days, almost 350,000 of Hillary's supporters wrote in to the committee to make clear what an important principle it is for our party to count every vote.
Our campaign has released an official statement about the results of the Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting and I'd like to share it with you, our most dedicated supporters.
I know how passionate you are about the importance of counting every vote cast in Florida and Michigan and I appreciate everything you are doing. (What A Crock!)
Sincerely, Maggie Williams Campaign Manager - Hillary Clinton for President
Hillary has consistently stood up for the voters of Michigan and Florida. She, like you, has insisted that the voice of all Americans be heard. Today, the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee announced their decision on seating Florida and Michigan's delegations. In recent days, almost 350,000 of Hillary's supporters wrote in to the committee to make clear what an important principle it is for our party to count every vote.
Our campaign has released an official statement about the results of the Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting and I'd like to share it with blogHillary readers. I know how passionate Hillary's supporters are about the importance of counting every vote cast in Florida and Michigan and I hope that they continue to express their feelings with the respect and thoughtfulness they've shown during the course of this campaign.
Harold Ickes and Tina Flournoy made the following statement:
Today’s results are a victory for the people of Florida who will have a voice in selecting our Party’s nominee and will see its delegates seated at our party’s convention. The decision by the Rules and Bylaws Committee honors the votes that were cast by the people of Florida and allocates the delegates accordingly.
We strongly object to the Committee’s decision to undercut its own rules in seating Michigan’s delegates without reflecting the votes of the people of Michigan.
The Committee awarded to Senator Obama not only the delegates won by Uncommitted, but four of the delegates won by Senator Clinton. This decision violates the bedrock principles of our democracy and our Party.
We reserve the right to challenge this decision before the Credentials Committee and appeal for a fair allocation of Michigan’s delegates that actually reflect the votes as they were cast.
CONTACT THESE UNCOMMITTED SUPER DELEGATES AND TELL THEM IT IS TIME TO END THE NONSENSE AND SUPPORT BARACK OBAMA THIS WEEK!
Bud Cramer (AL)
Gabrielle Giffords (AZ)
Nancy Pelosi (CA)
Jerry McNerney (CA)
Mike Honda (CA)
Sam Farr (CA)
Bob Filner (CA)
Susan Davis (CA)
Mark Udall (CO)
John Salazar (CO)
Jim Marshall (GA)
Rahm Emanuel (IL)
Nancy Boyda (KS)
Dennis Moore (KS)
William Jefferson (LA)
Charlie Melancon (LA)
Don Cazayoux (LA)
Rep. Michael Michaud (ME)
John Sarbanes (MD)
Steny Hoyer (MD)
Chris Van Hollen (MD)
John Olver (MA)
Niki Tsongas (MA)
John Tierney (MA)
Edward Markey (MA)
Collin Peterson (MN)
Gene Taylor (MS)
Rep. Travis Childers (MS)
Rep. Rush Holt (NJ)
Rep. Bob Etheridge (NC)
Rep. Mike McIntyre (NC)
Rep. Tom Udall (NM)
Charlie Wilson (OH)*
Marcia Kaptur (OH)*
Rep. Zack Space (OH)*
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (OH)*
Rep. Dan Boren (OK)
Bob Brady (PA)*
Jason Altmire (PA)*
Tim Holden (PA)*
Rep. Mike Doyle (PA)*
John Spratt (SC)
Rep. Jim Clyburn (SC)
Lincoln Davis (TN)
Bart Gordon (TN)
Nick Lampson (TX)
Jim Matheson (UT)
Alan Mollohan (WV)
Distinguished Party
Leaders
Jimmy Carter (GA)*
Al Gore (TN)*
Fmr. Senator and Majority Leader
George Mitchell (NY)
Fmr. DNC Chair Bob Strauss (TX)
Senators
Ken Salazar (CO)
Joe Biden (DE)*
Tom Carper (DE)
Tom Harkin (IA)
Mary Landrieu (LA)
Ben Cardin (MD)
Carl Levin (MI)
Max Baucus (MT)
Jon Tester (MT)
Harry Reid (NV)
Frank Lautenberg (NJ)
Sherrod Brown (OH)*
Ron Wyden (OR)
Jack Reed (RI)
Jim Webb (VA)*
Herb Kohl (WI)
Governors
Bill Ritter (CO)
Steve Beshear (KY)
Brian Schweitzer (MT)
John Lynch (NH)*
Phil Bredeson (TN)
Joe Manchin (WV)
Add-Ons
Terry Goddard (AZ)
Jay Nixon (MO)
Rusty McAllister (NV)
Jerry Lee (TN)
DNC Members
Joe Turnham (AL)
Nancy Worley (AL)
Don Bivens (AZ)
Lottie Shackleford (AR)
Art Torres (CA)
Hon. Carole Migden (CA)
Bob Mulholland (CA)
Christine Pelosi (CA)
Robert Rankin (CA)
Steve Ybarra (CA)
John Perez (CA)
Nancy DiNardo (CT)
Donna Brazile (DC)
Christine Warnke (DC)
John Daniello (DE)
Harriet Smith-Windsor (DE)
Richard Ray (GA)
Edward Smith (IL)
Helen Knetzer (KS)
Jennifer Moore (KY)
Nathan Smith (KY)
Chris Whittington (LA)
Claude "Buddy" Leach (LA)
Elsie Burkhalter (LA)
Sam Spencer (ME)
Jennifer DeChant (ME)
Hon. Heather Mizeur (MD)
Susan Turnbull (MD)
John Sweeney (MD)
Belkis Leong-Hong (MD)
Debra Kozikowski (MA)
James Roosevelt Jr (MA)
Carnelia Pettis Fondren (MS)
John Temporiti (MO)
Yolanda Wheat (MO)
Leila Medley (MO)
Hon. Robin Carnahan (MO)
Hon. Maria Chappelle-Nadal (MO)
Dennis McDonald (MT)
Margarett Campbell (MT)
Sam Lieberman (NV)
Hon. Yvonne Gates (NV)
Hon. Catherine Cortez Masto (NV)
Philip D. Murphy (NJ)
Raymond Buckley (NH)
Irene Stein (NY)
Ralph Dawson (NY)
David Parker (NC)
Muriel Offerman (NC)
Carol Peterson (NC)
David Strauss (ND)
Hon. Chris Redfern (OH)*
Ronald Malone (OH)*
Patricia Moss (OH)*
Hon. Joyce Beatty (OH)*
Ivan Holmes (OK)
Jim Frasier (OK)
Jay Parmley (OK)
Frank Dixon (OR)
Wayne Kinney (OR)
Gail Rasmussen (OR)
Hon. Bill Bradbury (OR)
Eliseo Roques-Arroyo (PR)
Hon. Gilda Cobb-Hunter (SC)
Cheryl Chapman (SD)
Gray Sasser (TN)
Dr. Inez Crutchfield (TN)
Boyd Richie (TX)
David Hardt (TX)
Denise Johnson (TX)
Betty Richie (TX)
Linda Chavez -Thompson (TX)
Helen Langan (UT)
Jim Leaman (VA)*
C Richard Cranwell (VA)*
Hon. Alexis Herman (VA)*
Jerome Wiley Segovia (VA)*
Howard Dean (VT)
Eileen Macoll (WA)
Ed Cote (WA)
Sharon Mast (WA)
David McDonald (WA)
Nick Casey Jr. (WV)
Alice Germond (WV)
Paula Zellner (WI)
Cynthia Nunley (WY)
Marylyn Stapleton (VI)
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