D.C. Meeting Could Bring Compromise on Michigan, Florida Delegates
By Michael Saul in Tampa and Kenneth R. Bazinet in Washington
Daily News Staff Writers
The next Democratic donnybrook will be in a Washington ballroom.
Busloads of Hillary Clinton supporters will swarm a meeting next week at a D.C. Marriott, where Democratic Party elders hope to forge a compromise over Florida and Michigan's now-voided convention delegates.
"We really don't know what to expect, but we do know that the Clinton people are very organized," said a senior Democratic National Committee source.
Clinton, in Florida on Wednesday, compared the current vote fiasco to 2000, when George Bush edged Al Gore—still a sore point for many Democratic partisans.
"If Democrats send the message that we don't fully value your votes, we know Sen. [John] McCain and the Republicans will be more than happy to have them," Clinton said.
"The Republicans will make a simple and compelling argument: Why should Florida and Michigan voters trust the Democratic Party to look out for you when they won't even listen to you?" she added.
Hoping to avoid a free-for-all at the powwow, the party laid down tough ground rules on Wednesday for its May 31 meeting: "In order to maintain the decorum of the meeting, banners, posters, signs, handouts and noisemakers of any kind are strictly prohibited."
The public also is barred from speaking.
Representatives of Clinton and rival Barack Obama, as well as the Florida and Michigan state parties, will argue their cases in the procedural showdown.
Clinton and Florida officials want all the votes to count, which would give her a significant lead in the popular vote.
"They should count them exactly as they were cast," Clinton said. "Democracy demands no less."
"That's never going to happen," countered Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
Florida and Michigan are being punished for ignoring party rules by holding their primaries before Feb. 5. Obama and Michigan—and some party officials—would settle for a compromise seating half their delegates. Clinton is opposed.
Either side can appeal this summer to the party's credentials committee. Clinton reiterated she is willing to take her quest all the way to the convention in August if Florida and Michigan continue to press their case.
"I will, because I feel very strongly about this," Clinton said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Obama, on a three-day campaign swing through the Sunshine State, avoided the issue and instead told 15,000 cheering supporters in Tampa that he's at the "threshold of being able to obtain this nomination."
"We need to vote," said Patrice Weil, 51, an Army veteran who returned to Florida recently from Iraq. "Florida had enough problems in [2000]. We need to have an opportunity to have our voice heard."
Reader Comments
Obama broke DNC rules
The people of FL and MI should not be punished because they did not decide when these states would hold their primaries. Obama bought National Televised Ads right before the Primary in Florida. This was against the DNC rules and he should be punished. Obama took his name OFF the ballot in MI and he should accept the responsibility for doing so. The people of these states did nothing wrong. Being that this election is so close, FL and MI are paramount in the selection for the nominee being that Senator Clinton has the popular vote. Simple math. Simple logic. Simple outcome. We pay you with our tax dollars to cause this much havoc? This is all your fault DNC. Disenfranchising FL and MI is disenfranchising over 17 million Americans.
Counting the Delegates
Forgoing the fact that "all the candidates signed a pledge not to campaign in either state" and the states in question knew of the consequences but knowingly and willingly changed the dates anyway, I believe the delegates should be seated but not be allowed to influence the outcome of this campaign. I think the most important thing for the DNC to consider in making its decision is to consider the fact that one of our most popular and best presidents of all time is actively and persistently campaigning and that candidate is consistently running behind her male counterpart. At this point it appears she is campaigning alone un-contended as the other candidates seem to have moved on.
I suspect that most women are currently voting for Ms. Clinton just because she’s a woman.
Having said that, I am a registered Republican in the State of Florida, and I will be voting for Mr. Obama this fall.
This is about the VOTERS, not either candidate!
Responding to this quote: "I notice that Clinton surrogates have now gone the last step to follow in the footsteps of George W. Bush's example - they just filed suit in Florida to try to get the courts to do what the rules and the people didn't."
The lawsuits in Florida are not filed by, quote, "Clinton surrogates". The DiMaio lawsuit is his second suit on the subject and he filed the first one before a single ballot had been cast in the primary, so he had no idea who was going to win the state out of all the candidates (and it was the entire field) appearing on the ballot. This is about the VOTERS, not the candidates! The other lawsuit was filed by several Democrats, one of whom is an Obama delegate, so please get your facts straight and stop assuming (not just you, but so many Obama supporters seem to assume this) that only rabid Clinton supporters could possibly be on the side of SEATING THE FLORIDA AND MICHIGAN DELEGATES! I'm a rabid VOTER supporter, that's what I am! I am for the voters--including myself, I'd like to have a vote actually count around here just for once, just for the novelty of it--for the integrity of the process, and for bringing my beloved party back to one that truly values it's rank and file, loyal, lifelong registered members, inclusiveness and a fair election process. It is quite true that FL & MI violated the arcane and arbitrary date rule, but it is also true that Dean changed the rules on what the appropriate punishment is for that. The rules originally called for HALVING the delegates, which would have been an elegant and fair solution that punished the states without totally disenfranchising the VOTERS. Dean's punishment was draconian and directed at the wrong people. Therefore, many millions of us feel it should be corrected to seat either the full or at least half the Florida delegation. Michigan is a trickier situation because Obama CHOSE to remove his name from the ballot. But in FL, all names were on the ballot. SEAT OUR DELEGATES!!!!!!!
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