Democrats May Drag Out Fight; Decision Time on Florida, Michigan Votes
By Kenneth R. Bazinet and Michael McAuliff
Daily News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - Now it's the referees who are getting ready to rumble.
More than 33 million voters judged the epic Hillary Clinton vs. Barack Obama slugfest for the Democratic presidential nomination.
This weekend, a pack of just 30 party officials will decide how to count a couple million more votes that could keep Clinton's campaign alive.
Even stranger, most of the referees also play for the warring teams.
The stage is set for a clash as contentious and drama-filled as the five-month campaign.
Tickets available to the public for the Saturday showdown at a Washington Marriott hotel near the National Zoo were all snatched up within one minute.
In dispute are the votes cast in January by Democrats in Michigan and Florida, where Clinton did well. As of now, the votes don't count because the states broke party rules and held primaries before Feb. 5.
"There are approximately 2.5million reasons to count Florida and Michigan and they are the voters who turned out in record numbers in those primaries," said Clinton spokesman Phil Singer. "They have the right to be included in this process and we think their voices will be heard when all is said and done."
It's a crucial battle because if all the votes are counted the way Clinton wants, it makes it much harder for Obama to wrap up the nomination before the Democratic convention in August.
The Obama camp has signaled it's willing to give her slightly more than 50% of the delegates from the two states - but that's all.
So the two camps are waging a bareknuckle blitz to woo a majority of the 28 voting members of the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee.
"That's part of the process. Everybody is trying to feel each other out," said undeclared committee member Donna Brazile. "There is a lot of posturing going on, but I'm not interested in the posturing. I want to make sure that the process is fair."
The lineup would seem to favor Clinton, because 13 committee members publicly back her campaign while eight favor Obama.
"I'm committed to Hillary, but that doesn't mean I'm going to follow the party line," said Don Fowler, who ran the Democratic National Committee during the Clinton administration.
Sources said some of Clinton's backers may bolt. "There are some members of the committee who will stick with their candidate until the end, but there are other people who will side with doing the right thing," said a party insider.
The DNC hopes the Florida and Michigan issue will be put to rest Saturday, but sources said they were already gearing up for the arguments to extend far beyond. Appeals can run all the way until the convention in Denver.
"Our hope is to have this all resolved this weekend," said DNC spokeswoman Stacie Paxton.
Members, including Fowler, were not sure that would happen. "We might not reach a decision this weekend," Fowler said. A lot, he said, depends on Obama and Clinton.
"The campaigns together will determine if we have an easy time or a hard time," he said.
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