The DNC Rules & Bylaws Cmte announced 4/25 that it will convene 5/31 to consider a plan to award "half-delegates" for the disputed MI and FL primaries.
Under a joint appeal filed by MI DNCer Joel Fergusion (who supports Hillary Clinton) and FL DNCer Jon Ausman (who is uncommitted), all superdelegates from both states would get a full vote but pledged delegates would only get a half-vote.
The cmte's co-chairs "did not respond to messages left at their offices" 4/25. Clinton and Barack Obama "did not respond to requests for comment" (Pickler, AP, 4/26).
Playing Hard To Get
"State party leaders" filed an appeal w/the DNC "more than five weeks ago and were growing frustrated that they would not get a public hearing. Earlier this week," Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL), who both support Clinton, "accused their own party of operating under a 'cloak of secrecy.'"
"About nine" of the cmte's 30 members "have not endorsed a candidate. Of the rest, about 15" are backing Clinton and six have endorsed Obama. "One member, Harold Ickes, serves as a top Clinton advisor on the campaign's payroll."
"The date of the meeting allows for the possibility that front-runner Obama will have clinched" the nod by then, "taking some pressure off. The meeting comes three days before the last primaries will be held" in MT and SD, on 6/3 (Reinhard, Miami Herald, 4/26).
One-Night Stand?
Ausman said he's "confident" the cmte "can be persuaded to restore at least 117" of FL's delegates.
But another FL DNCer who sits on the cmte, Allan Katz, who supports Obama, "predicted no delegates would be reinstated unless" Obama and Clinton "agree on a compromise." Katz: "Nothing's changed, except there's a meeting scheduled. And nothing will change until the campaigns work something out."
"That's what" DNC Chair Howard Dean "has suggested, but compromise looks unlikely. Obama says the delegates should be split 50/50, while Clinton says" FL's 1/29 primary "should count" in full, "giving her 38 delegates." Ausman: "It would work more easily if there was consensus but the reality is one presidential candidate is trying to protect the lead and one is trying to diminish the lead, so that's just not realistic."
Some FL Dems, including Nelson, "have complained about the DNC stalling." Nelson: "They're just slow-walking this thing, they're dragging it out. There's been no leadership to try to resolve this issue going back to last August, and as a result we are where we are, so nothing's going to be done until basically you have a winner" (Smith, St. Petersburg Times, 4/25).
The Chaperone
Dean: "I don't know what the solution's going to be. The Rules Committee's going to start to work on that now as they prepare for the meeting at the end of May. But nobody will be satisfied with the outcome because nobody's going to get everything they want. What we strive is to be fair to the voters, fair to both campaigns, and fair to the other 48 states."
More: "My plan, as the chair of the DNC, is to try to get this resolved before we get to the convention. Because if you go into the convention divided, it's pretty likely you'll come out of the convention divided."
Asked if MI and FL will be seated: "Yes. ... In some way. I'm determined to make that happen. Again, I can't speak for what the rules committee will do. They're 30 very independent-minded people. I can't speak for what the credentials committee at the convention will do" ("Meet the Press," NBC, 4/27).
Dean, on why FL was penalized for the GOP legislature's decision to move up the primary date: "We needed Florida to stay within their window to respect South Carolina and Nevada. ... So, there's plenty of culpability to go around for everybody. ... We have a bad situation that was caused by two states that thought that they were more important than everybody else. We need to fix that situation without hurting the voters, because it wasn't the voters' fault that caused this problem" ("American Morning," CNN, 4/28).
FL Gov. Charlie Crist (R): "It can be fair by seating the delegates -- exactly what I hear from Chairman Dean saying right now, and I appreciate that" ("Morning Joe," MSNBC, 4/28).
Grasping At The Last Straw?
Clinton supporter/Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) and Obama supporter/ex-Senate Maj. Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) were on "This Week" 4/27, where they discussed Flor-igan.
Bayh: "Florida does count in terms of the popular vote. I mean, the DNC can choose not to seat the delegates, but they don't have the right by law to not count the votes. The state of Florida counts the votes. They voted for state legislator, for state senator, for Congress. The people they voted for are running in those offices. ... They voted to amend the state constitution, as a matter of law those votes count."
Daschle: "There have been 45 contests, Barack Obama has won 30, Hillary has won 15. They chose not to compete in Florida, not to compete in Michigan. So you can't really count the popular vote there" (ABC, 4/27).
Detroit Free Press's Henderson writes, "In politics, it's important to have a story and stick to it, to be able to tell it with a straight face no matter how silly it might sound."
"So I guess it's not surprising, this latest effort" by Clinton and her allies "to claim an advantage" in the Dem race. "Now they're saying ... she actually leads" Obama "in the popular vote, and that should count more to the party's all-important superdelegates than should his lead among regular delegates."
Her stance is "bare silliness." Clinton "somehow thinks she'd get to count the popular vote while Obama wouldn't be able to claim for himself the popular votes for uncommitted; that's the only way the math works for her."
"And as a national strategy, it's also grasping at straws -- maybe the last straw -- by a campaign that is hanging in but doesn't look as if it will get over the hump. Unless Clinton runs the table in the remaining primaries -- chances of that: zero to none -- she won't overtake Obama" (4/27).
Their Grassroots Are Showing
Florida Demands Representation, "a grassroots movement" launched to petition the DNC to seat FL's delegates, "appears to be going strong," holding rallies in eight cities on 4/25.
Marketing consultant Jim Hannagan started the movement last month with the goal of gathering 1.5M signatures. So far, Hannagan and his volunteers have collected 93K, and he said they're maintaining a rate of 10K/week.
Volunteer Margo Dixon: "They are taking away our rights. If they take away this right, what else will they take away next?"
"Some current or former public officials who support Hannagan's drive will speak at some events." Ex-Tampa Mayor Sandy Freedman is supporting Clinton, but said she is involved in the petition drive "because she wants all votes to be counted." Freedman: "Even if I had been supporting John Edwards I would still feel the same way."
Hannagan "said he rushed home" from MA on 1/29 so he could cast a vote for Clinton (Cardenas, St. Petersburg Times, 4/25).
A Gator Ate My Ballot!
Hannagan says he has spent nearly $10K of his own money leading FloridaDemandsRepresentation.org. "He will be among 10 busloads of ticked-off Floridians planning to picket" the DNC in DC on 4/29. Hannagan: "We want to let the DNC know that Florida voters are not going to take this sitting down, and we want our votes to be counted. The rules of the few should never outweigh the votes of the millions."
"Funny thing about that: Pinellas elections records suggest Hannagan didn't even bother voting" 1/29. "The records say he didn't request an absentee ballot, he didn't show up at an early voting site and he didn't vote at his Palm Harbor precinct on primary day."
Hannagan: "The records are wrong. I did vote."
"Certainly the records could be wrong. So the elections office checked the actual voter register log ... to see if someone maybe neglected to scan the bar code sticker by his signature. There's no sign of his signature in the book all voters are required to sign" (Smith, St. Petersburg Times, 4/26).
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