Blue Spot

AFP: Obama, McCain wage Florida fight as White House race tightens

TAMPA, Florida (AFP) — Democrat Barack Obama Wednesday rolled out a new offensive on the stricken US economy while his White House rival John McCain pressed back with character attacks six days from the historic election.

Polls suggested the presidential race could be tightening a notch, as Obama geared up to deliver a prime-time campaign pitch on national television in the closing stretch of his bid to become America's first black president.

Upping the pace to an intense new level with less than a week to go before next Tuesday's election, the Illinois senator was to hold his first joint rally with former president Bill Clinton at a midnight event in Orlando, Florida.

En route to the Sunshine State, the biggest of the battleground states where the election will be won and lost, Obama said a vote for McCain was a vote to cripple the hard-pressed middle class and reward well-connected fat cats.

"He wants to give more to billionaires, more to corporations that ship jobs overseas, more to the same people whose greed and irresponsibility got us into this crisis," he told 28,000 supporters in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Obama , 47, also derided his Republican opponent's attacks on his own tax proposals as "socialism."

"By the end of the week, he'll be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in kindergarten," he said.

Labels: Florida, General Election 2008

The Associated Press: Officials say Fla., Mich. delegates will get half-votes

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Party leaders agreed Saturday seat Michigan and Florida delegates with half votes into 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.

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 superdelegates 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 superdelegates who have already committed, and 36 in Florida. Clinton picked up 38 in Michigan, including superdelegates, 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.

Labels: DNC, Election 2008, Florida, superdelegates, voting rights

Just a quick note, there's a recurring talking point coming from the Obama side regarding FL, and that is that we should respect the voters who did not show up for their election. Donna Brazile brought this up while questioning State Sen. Arthenia Joyner after Joyner's presentation and plea to count every vote cast. The flawed insinuation is that only Obama supporters stayed home. How can they be sure Clinton would have not turned out even more votes if they were allowed to campaign.

Labels: DNC, Election 2008, Florida, superdelegates, voting rights

CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Pro-Clinton protestors make their way to Washington « - Blogs from CNN.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) — After weeks of planning by unions, women’s rights groups and others supporting Hillary Clinton's push to seat Florida and Michigan delegates at the Democratic convention this summer, supporters of the New York senator's presidential bid arrived in the nation’s capital by the busload Friday in advance of rallies outside Saturday's Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting.

“I’m hoping we restore 100 percent of the delegates from both Michigan and Florida and the popular vote will also be restored,” said Karen Feldman, an organizer of the “Count Every Vote” rally. “…I firmly believe that in Florida that was the purest election we’ve ever had, and I think that those votes should stand where they are and should be counted the way they are.”

Florida Demands Representation, another sponsoring group pushing for the January 29 vote to be recognized by the national party, said Friday it was expecting 400 to 500 supporters to arrive by Saturday. “The Democratic party is in danger in Florida,” said organizer James Hannagan.

The seating of the Florida and Michigan delegations is a priority for Clinton, who won both unsanctioned contests and is currently trailing frontrunner Barack Obama by 202 delegates in the latest CNN count.

Hannagan said that if Clinton is not the Democratic nominee, some members of his forum will vote for McCain, write in Hillary’s name or not vote at all.

The Clinton campaign has tacitly encouraged pressure on RBC members meeting to resolve the controversy, but has denied any role in protests planned for Saturday.

Labels: DNC, Election 2008, Florida, Hillary, superdelegates, voting rights

Obama Tries to Make Up With Florida - TIME

Senator Barack Obama's favorite campaign rallying cry is, "Fired up! Ready to go!" But when the Democratic Party's leading presidential hopeful visits Florida this week, he's likely to hear a grouchier refrain, something along the lines of, "It's about time!"

The less than passionate reception shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who has followed the Sunshine State's latest election saga — least of all Obama, who hasn't visited the crucial battleground all year. Because the state's presidential primary was moved up to January 29, in violation of party rules, the Democratic National Committee effectively nullified the vote in advance and refused to seat any of Florida's Democratic delegates at this summer's convention (the Republicans, by contrast, only cut their delegate counts in half). Democratic rivals Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton also signed pledges not to campaign in Florida until after its primary. But once Clinton's 17-point victory was announced that night, she immediately appeared in Ft. Lauderdale to tell voters she would fight to get Florida's delegates seated.

Obama, by contrast, was nowhere to be found and still hasn't visited the state since. Many Florida Democrats consider him AWOL and even indifferent to their efforts to get the DNC to reinstate their delegates and make their January votes count. Obama "has repair work to do," says Democratic state Senator Nan Rich, a South Florida Clinton backer. "Rank-and-file Democrats here are frankly distressed by the fact that he appears disconnected from the state."

Labels: Election 2008, Florida, Obama

Corzine touts Clinton, early superdelegate pledge -- Newsday.com

TRENTON, N.J. - Hillary Rodham Clinton can make big statements by winning Tuesday's presidential primaries in Indiana and North Carolina, New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine said Monday as he backed forcing superdelegates to make an early pledge as to which candidate they support.

Corzine, who is heading to North Carolina Monday to campaign for Clinton, said wins on Tuesday for the New York senator would be crucial.

He said superdelegates "are going to have to look at the electability issue when all is said and done."

Corzine said whomever wins the overall popular vote from the Democratic nominating contests is a key consideration and argued that should include Florida.

Clinton won Florida and Michigan, but the Democratic Party stripped them of delegates because the states held primaries earlier than the party allowed. Unlike in Michigan, both Clinton and Obama were on the Florida ballot.

"She won it by 300,000 votes," Corzine said. "I don't know how you can't count that. As a matter of fact it's a poke in the eye to the people of Florida who went out."

He backed a superdelegate convention after the last voter primary in June in hopes the party can pick a nominee early and avoid a bitter summer fight between Obama and Clinton.

Corzine said he would require superdelegates to pledge at that meeting that they're going to declare their choice within two weeks.

Labels: Election 2008, Florida, superdelegates

Hispanics may put Fla. in play for Dems - Ben Smith and Amie Parnes - Politico.com

Democrats are poised this week to pass a crucial milestone in Florida:

For the first time, the number of Hispanic Democrats in the state is expected to exceed the number of Hispanic Republicans.

The Florida secretary of state is expected to release the month's voter registration figures to the state Democratic and Republican parties. The last set of figures, released in April, showed a bare majority of 212 Republicans over Democrats among the state's roughly 1.2 million voters who describe themselves as Hispanic on their official voter registration forms. In each month since the state started tracking Hispanic registration more than two years ago, Democrats have gained.

The significance of the numerical flip is mostly symbolic, but it's a powerful symbol at a key moment: Quietly, Democrats are debating whether to mount a full-out, expensive challenge to Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, in Florida, or essentially cede its 27 Electoral College votes to theGOP. The Florida Democratic Party, still in the midst of a scheduling battle with the Democratic National Committee that has left the state with no say in the presidential nominating process, points to the numbers to argue that the national party should return to the state.

"They absolutely need to be in Florida," said state Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman, who called the anticipated shift among Hispanic voter registration "historic." "We're winning," she said.

Labels: Election 2008, Florida, Latino community

Here's Sen. Evan Bayh doing a great job of explaining why the Florida votes do count and why Hillary is correct for citing Florida as part of the popular vote.

Labels: Election 2008, Evan Bayh, Florida, Hillary

On August 25th, 2007, during the DNC Rules & Bylaws Meeting, in Washington, D.C., plans for the Florida 2008 Democratic National Convention were reviewed. They voted to invalidate FL delagates at the 2008 convention despite a compelling argument from Florida Democratic Party Chairman, Karen Thurman, that they were not in non-compliance due to Republican politicians' actions.

When you get to about 14 minutes, it's astonishing to see how determined Donna Brazile is to see the voters of Florida punished for moving the primary date up. She actually yells out, "I'm going to send a message to everybody in Florida".

It looks like she's going to land up sending a message to the whole country.

Labels: DNC, donna brazile, Florida, voting rights

Florida Dems abandon mail-in vote plan - Yahoo! News

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Facing strong opposition, Florida Democrats on Monday abandoned plans to hold a do-over presidential primary with a mail-in vote and threw the delegate dispute into the lap of the national party.

While the decision by Florida Democrats left the state's 210 delegates in limbo, Democrats in Michigan moved closer to holding another contest on June 3. Legislative leaders reviewed a measure Monday that would set up a privately funded, state-administered do-over primary, The Associated Press learned.

In Florida, a frustrated Democratic Party chairwoman Karen L. Thurman sent a letter announcing the decision.

"A party-run primary or caucus has been ruled out, and it's simply not possible for the state to hold another election, even if the party were to pay for it," Thurman said. "... This doesn't mean that Democrats are giving up on Florida voters. It means that a solution will have to come from the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee, which is scheduled to meet again in April."

Labels: Election 2008, Florida