« McCain Begins The Search For A Mate | Main | The New In News: Lee Hamilton Backs Obama » Dean Meeting With Florida Delegation... Expect A Joint Statement02 Apr 2008 10:48 am DNC Chairman Howard Dean and members of Florida Congressional delegation have wrapped their meeting this a.m., and have decided to issue a joint statement at a press conference. No major news to report, but all sides will say that they are committed to ensuring that the Florida delegation is seated in accordance with the party's rules and in agreement with both campaigns. Comments (15)
her campaign continues to count their primaries as they stand, thereby actually "disenfranchising" all the people that knew those votes wouldn't count Not to mention all of the people who would have moved to Florida just for the honor of voting... Not to mention all of the people on life support who might have hung on a few days longer... Seriously, however, you make a good point. Deano and the Deaniacs screwed the pooch, and there's no unscrewing it. This is what happens when you precipitously withdraw from a difficult situation without regard for the consequences, on faith that somehow things will take care of themselves, and without considering its potential effects on your wider interests. I'm surprised Obama hasn't called for a delegate strike force (to be located either in Florida... or not...) to be seated if and when it starts to look like the state might be lost in the Fall. 
You people are not listening. Michigan and Florida will be seated. However, their delegates will not play a part in the selection process. That is, the unauthorized votes that took place in both states will not count. So, it is not advantage Clinton.....it is advantage Obama!
Mr. Rules - the moron who caused all of this problem in the first place, that genius Howard Dean - decides that the FL delegation will indeed be seated (in some fashion). Way to go, idiot. Perhaps we could have avoided all of this in the first place if you had simply imposed the DNC-recommended penalty (50% reduction). Can we now ask the Dean/Obama fans to stop whining about how Hillary is "breaking the rules?" Dean himself vows to seat the FL delegation (in accordance with the rules) - the rules allow for a revote or an appeal to the credentials committee - and this is exactly what Hillary has been requesting/promising for some time now. So it seems obvious that the cred cmte will seat the delegations. (BTW: Wouldn't it be inherently unfair to seat the FL delegation in any way that does not give Hillary a majority?) Perhaps now we can stop lying about Hillary and we can stop claiming that she is Satan's daughter attempting to break the rules and destroy the party. If that's true of her I guess that makes Dean worse ...
Dean didn't cause the problem. Wouldn't it be inherently unfair to seat the FL delegation in any way that does not give Hillary a majority? Wouldn't it be inherently unfair to seat the FL delegation in any way that disadvantages a candidate?
LindaS:
Deano and the Deaniacs screwed the pooch, and there's no unscrewing it. Kos has the response to that.
Joe Klein's conscience: I am a Republican who can't stand the sight of Hillary. I voted for Obama in Texas. He is too liberal for me but we really need a change. I said that about Michigan and Florida because there are some Hillary supporters who believe this means that she would get the exact delegate count for the primary vote that did not count. I want to see Hillary Clinton shoved aside like an old piece of bread. She is done! I know Obama doesn't have much experience, but I still believe he is a class act!
That would be like a 420 party?
Elmer Sputterin' Fudd, the former Mayor of Vermont, is a terminal idiot. A terminal loser. After all the nonsensical crap he's thrown out over the past year, FUDD IS BACK TO SQUARE ONE. HoHo the Clown can't OPERATE A LAWNMOWER without proper supervision, much less the Democratic Party. When he hasn't been ROYALLY SCREWING UP THE NOMINATION PROCESS, Fudd of Vermont has found the time NOT TO RAISE MUCH MONEY with the DNC. About HALF WHAT THE RNC HAS RAISED, at last count. At the same time as the Dem candidates are raising about 10 TIMES AS MUCH MONEY AS THE REPBUBS, Sputterin' Fudd still FINDS A WAY TO COME OUT THE LOSER. Don't get me started on THE CALIFORNIA VAMPIRE LOVE DAUGHTER OF BELLA LUGOSI, either. Bad news NANCY, research shows that THE BOTOX IN YOUR FACE MAKES IT'S WAY TO YOUR BRAIN. Or already has, as the case may be.
Observer: "Wouldn't it be inherently unfair to seat the FL delegation in any way that disadvantages a candidate?" No. Hillary would have won a contested primary in FL. Hillary did win an uncontested primary. And Hillary fares much better than Obama when both are matched against McCain in FL based on current polling. By any conceivable (and reasonable) measure, Hillary is the candidate supported by more Democrats in Florida. If Dean has finally decided to go back on his patently absurd penalty and admit that he was wrong and will now urge the cred cmte to seat a FL delegation, then this indisputable fact - Hillary is the candidate supported by more Florida Democrats - must be reflected by giving Hillary a majority of the delegates. In the end Obama will have a slim delegate lead, Hill will quite possibly lead in the popular vote, and the super delegates will decide it. Obama should take Rove's advice - agree to seat both MI and FL delegations to Hillary's advantage. This will garner much goodwill amongst the folks who will decide the issue - the SDs.
One way the delegate selection committee could decide the issue for Florida & Michigan is if the Democrats of those two states had a plebiscite: they could vote for one of say 3 choices: give Clinton her delegates and Obama the rest, or split all delegates 50/50, or don't seat any delegates without a revote. This would prevent the Dems losing Florida to McCain, as will happen if their delegates are not involved in the selection of the nominee. Perhaps Carville could raise the funds for the plebscite? Hold it in mid-June, so that the credentials committee at the convention has the views of Dems in Florida & Michigan. The committee could follow the choice made by the majority of Dems in the plebiscite mail-in. The beauty of the suggestion is that Clinton camp would not need the approval of Obama or the DNC to hold the plebescite: they could set it up themselves...
SBJ:
Joe: I'm not sure I follow you (but thanks for the response). "which included Hillary surrogate Harold Ickes" Let's not suppose that just because both campaigns agreed to abide by the penalty that both campaigns agreed that the penalty was fair. Besides, it is the State parties that have the right to appeal to the cred cmte - they've had this right all along. "Even if Hillary were given Florida's delagates as they have already voted, it would barely cut into Obama's lead." Well, duh! That's exactly why Obama should agree to let Hill have her way - because he leads even if she gets her way. This makes him look good to the SDs who WILL decide the nominee. If he is the nominee then he needs the support of voters in MI and FL; he's not gonna get it by refusing to seat their delegations, or agreeing to seat them in a senseless 50-50, non-voting manner after the nominee has been selected. (He can't continue to treat these voters as morons.) "If Florida and Michigan were settled, it would be shown she has even less of a chance than she has now." Well, I'm not so sure. POlls today indicate that she has a much better chance in the important swing states come the GE. She also has a legitimate shot at winning the popular vote (see Barone) even without counting FL and MI. And contrary to what many seem to feel, the super delegates from FL and MI will be seated - further increasing Hill's advantage amongst supers (who will be deciding the nominee). These are important and legitimate arguments to be made to the supers. And now we have both Dean and Pelosi urging the supers to vote their conscience and making clear they are under no obigation to 'support the will of the poeple' which Obama fans conveniently define as the pledged delegate leader (even though said definition is not legitimate). Her chances are slim, but seating FL and MI delegations to her advantage definitely helps her cause.
The Florida primary was moved up by a mere three days, as I recall. You really can't have an authenticated nomination, let alone win an election, without the good will of voters in these states. In Florida, where every candidate's name was on the ballot, a great number of people turned out. Think of it as a grassroots movement. Count Florida. Ejudicate Michigan--or revote.
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In agreement with both campaigns, you say? On which date? Senator Clinton has changed her mind so many times about how we should decide the winner, and she has changed her mind on whether or not Florida and Michigan should have their delegates stripped.
If you go on her sentiments before Super Tuesday, you could easily make the claim that the Florida situation is ALREADY in agreement with both campaigns. She signed off on it! Why doesn't Howard Dean just stand up and state that fact? Show us her signature? This is ridiculous.
She's managed to convince a large amount of Democrats that (A) she wasn't for the war in Iraq and (B) that she truly believes in having Florida's and Michigan's "voices" heard (nevermind the fact that her campaign continues to count their primaries as they stand, thereby actually "disenfranchising" all the people that knew those votes wouldn't count, thus making herself a hypocrite). These facts reflect quite negatively on the Democratic Party, and frankly, create grounds for anyone supporting these statements to be labeled a moron.
Posted by socctty | April 2, 2008 11:00 AM