Blue Spot

Terry McAliffe dicusses Sen. Clinton's crushing victory in Puerto Rico on CNN and blasts the DNC RBC's undemocratic decision to strip 4 of Clinton's MI delegates and hand them to Obama.

Labels: DNC, Election 2008, Hillary, Latino community, superdelegates, Terry McAuliffe

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

An Obama mystery at state meet Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Texas Democratic Party Vice Chairwoman Roy LaVerne Brooks is a superdelegate who endorsed Barack Obama in March.

The longtime party activist from Fort Worth is also running to unseat current state party Chairman Boyd Richie.

Imagine her surprise Tuesday when she received a disturbing phone call from a national Obama operative who is part of a group that parachuted into Texas to work on this weekend's state party convention.

Roy says the operative, Rudy Shank, told her that unless she drops her candidacy to unseat Richie at the state convention she will not be going to the national convention as a superdelegate.

A deal is offered
She said Shank politely told her that "if there was any way I could not run, it would be appreciated because they would like a convention without hurt feelings."

Shank told her he could make a deal with her. He said Glen Maxey, the former Austin state representative whom the Obama campaign hired as its convention director, told him that if Brooks gave up her vice chairmanship to run against Richie, she would lose her status as superdelegate if she lost.

State chairs and vice chairs are automatically members of the Democratic National Committee, which makes them superdelegates. Brooks' term as vice chair ends this weekend.


A quiet rule change
Brooks said that was news to her. About 20 years ago, then-Chairman Bob Slagle put in a rule saying that while the election for vice chair would take place at the state convention in June, the term would extend until the end of the national convention. The idea was that the vice chair should be rewarded with a national convention at the end of his or her term, not at the beginning of it.

Houstonian Carl Davis, who served as vice chairman from 1998 to 2000, went as a delegate to the convention in Los Angeles that nominated Al Gore.

"I remember seeing the rule in writing," he said.

But apparently the rule has been quietly changed in recent years.

Slagle says he recently learned of the change, though he didn't recall whether the rule was a written one or a "handshake agreement."

Under the new rule, Brooks would lose her superdelegate status if she fails to unseat Richie. But if she backs out, Richie could name her to one of three "add-on" superdelegate slots.

He is required to nominate at least two people for each of the three seats, to be approved by the nominations committee and then ratified by the convention. Traditionally, the nominations committee approves the chairman's first choice of delegates.

There are ironies in the request by an Obama operative that Brooks back off the chairman's race.

One is that she is an African-American. The state Democratic chairman has traditionally been a white male, with an occasional white female slipping in.

Another is that Brooks is casting herself as a "change" from the good ol' boy system, and Obama's campaign is all about changing the good ol' boy system. Brooks' chances of unseating Richie are enhanced by several thousand change-oriented newcomers who will swell the convention to about triple its normal size.

Brooks said she told Shank she would stay in the race.

"I made the comment that I may need to jump over to Hillary's side because I'm not going to be treated like a dish rag," she said.

I asked if she was serious.

"I'm very serious if they keep trying to get me out of the race and I learn that Obama is behind it," she said.

Labels: Election 2008, Obama, Obama supporters, superdelegates

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

HillaryClinton.com - Media Release

The Clinton Campaign announced the support of four New York automatic delegates today, after the New York State Democratic Committee elected its automatic delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

The automatic delegates include New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, former Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and New York Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo.

Labels: Election 2008, Hillary, Local, superdelegates

HillaryClinton.com - Media Release

Puerto Rico Democratic Committee Vice Chair and Superdelegate Luisette Cabañas announced her support for Hillary Clinton today at an event with Chelsea Clinton in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

"Today I endorse Hillary Clinton for President because of her strong win in Pennsylvania," said Cabañas. "She has shown a firm conviction and the character needed to lead the nation. Her proposals for Puerto Rico, particularly those related to healthcare, are the best by far of any candidate in history."

Cabañas is a successful real estate businesswoman and has been Vice Chair of the Democratic Committee in Puerto Rico since 2003.

"I am honored to have the support of Ms. Cabañas," said Hillary Clinton. "I look forward to working with Luisette and the many friends that we have in Puerto Rico on issues important to the island like health care and economic development."

Labels: Chelsea, Election 2008, Hillary, Latino community, superdelegates

New Clinton supporter is a potent symbol - Ben Smith and David Paul Kuhn - Politico.com

North Carolina Governor Mike Easley's scheduled endorsement of Senator Hillary Clinton today offers her a potent symbolic and electoral boost in the biggest state left to vote.

Easley is a meaningful ally in the culture war she's waging against Senator Barack Obama, as she seeks to cast him as a hopelessly unelectable liberal elitist and to persuade the Democratic Party leaders who will decide the nomination – the "superdelegates" – to choose her instead.

"It’s an incredibly strong endorsement because Easley is popular among the blue collar 'Bubba' voters who are Democrats," said David "Mudcat" Saunders, a Democratic consultant who advised former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner on winning rural voters.

Easley had endorsed Edwards for president, but again became a heavily sought superdelegate once Edwards bowed out of the race.

"He's clean in the culture. Easley's wrecked the Charlotte Motor Speedway doing 150 miles per hour, and Bubba likes that," said Saunders, referring to NASCAR fan Easley’s 2003 race car crash. “He's a hunter. He's a strong Second Amendment guy. He gives her great cultural validation in the state of North Carolina."

Labels: Election 2008, endorsement, Hillary, superdelegates