RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events Hillary in 2008

Funny...I thought I had, in fact, indicated what I thought about Rich's opinion when I wrote:

How is she breaking the rules?

Correction G-man, she wants a decision reversed. BTW it is well within the rules of our party to reverse a decision. Leaving two states voiceless so that Obama can win is problamatic.

But having the Democratic Party's candidate selected by a group of elites, rather than by democrat voters is decidedly... undemocratic !

I would think after Florida 2000 the party would never do something like strip whole states of their say.

It was always assumed G-man that the delegates would be seated at the convention after a clear front runner won the nomination.

washingtonpost.com  >  Politics > Elections



The Trail: A Daily Diary of Campaign 2008

Voters Face Confusion in Michigan Dem Race

Updated 6:37 p.m.
By Peter Slevin
CHICAGO -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is the only top-tier Democrat on the Jan. 15 Michigan primary ballot, but followers of her chief rivals are hoping to wound her all the same.

A fresh poll suggests that running nearly unopposed will not mean winning nearly 100 percent of the vote.

The campaigns of Sen. Barack Obama and former senator John Edwards are urging their supporters to cast ballots for "uncommitted," according to state Democratic party chairman Mark Brewer. The Obama campaign says there may be "grass-roots efforts," but that the Chicago-based campaign is not involved.
In an effort to signal that Clinton cannot stroll away with the state's delegates, even in a largely uncontested race, Michigan Rep. John Conyers and his wife, Detroit city council member Monica Conyers, taped a radio advertisement Wednesday afternoon. In it, they called on Obama backers not to surrender their vote.

They say on the radio spot that they intend to vote "uncommitted" and give Obama a chance to compete for those delegates in Denver.

An "uncommitted" vote would take the place of a write-in, which is not permitted.
"People are already frustrated here in Detroit because they can't cast a ballot for Obama. Many on their absentee ballots many have tried to write in Obama, but they have spoiled the ballots," said Sam Riddle, Monica Conyers's chief of staff. "We know we've got to educate the voters in a hurry."

Following Michigan law, local clerks are allowing voters a chance to redo their ballots.

The reason for the confusion is a fight between Michigan's leading Democrats, including Sen. Carl Levin and Gov. Jennifer Granholm, and the Democratic National Committee. Frustrated that Iowa and New Hampshire were getting so much attention, Michigan's political elites in both parties changed their Feb. 9 caucus to a primary and bumped it to Jan. 15.

The Republican National Committee did not object, meaning the GOP results will stand. But the DNC declared that no delegates chosen that day would be seated at this summer's convention -- the same sanction imposed on Florida. Neither side budged.

During the stand-off, Clinton kept her name on the Michigan ballot. Obama and Edwards did not.

Michigan voters will see Clinton on a list with three candidates who have been afterthoughts this season: Rep. Dennis Kucinich (OH), former Alaska Gov. Mike Gravel and Sen. Christopher Dodd (CT), who has dropped out.

Mo Elleithee, a Clinton spokesman, said the New York senator will not be campaigning in Michigan.

"We signed a pledge saying we wouldn't campaign there," Eleithee said, "and we're honoring that pledge."

A Michigan poll of 300 likely Democratic voters taken Monday and Tuesday, before Clinton's narrow win over Obama in New Hampshire, suggested that 47 percent would support Clinton and 28 percent would vote "uncommitted."

Another 10 percent volunteered "other" and 10 percent said they were undecided, according to the poll by Rossman Group/MIRS/Denno-Noor.

Michigan Democrats are trying to spread the word that voters should vote, whether or not they choose a candidate on the ballot. Brewer said he and party spokesman Jason Moon have done nearly 100 media interviews, including one on YouTube and many on local radio. The party is also sending emails to registered voters.
If "uncommitted" receives at least 15 percent in a congressional district or statewide, Brewer said, delegates will be sent to Denver where any candidate -- including Clinton -- can compete for them.

Despite the brouhaha and the DNC's vow not to seat delegates chosen next week, Brewer feels confident. Historical precedent and the high stakes in the November election convince him that primary votes in Michigan and Florida will count.

"I think we'll get seated. I'm not concerned about that penalty at all," Brewer said. "Politically, the Democratic nominee needs to win Michigan and Florida, and they are not going to start the general election campaign by antagonizing the parties in those two states."
...

Despite the brouhaha and the DNC's vow not to seat delegates chosen next week, Brewer feels confident. Historical precedent and the high stakes in the November election convince him that primary votes in Michigan and Florida will count.

Either way, given tonight's results, I'm sure that the Hildebeast the right honorable Senator Clinton is dispatching Der Slickmeister Bill to "visit" DNC Chair Howard Dean with a reel of blackmail photos planning a lawsuit even as we speak.

NAACP Head Wants Barred Delegates Seated
By BETH FOUHY – 15 hours ago
WASHINGTON — A prominent civil rights leader has told the Democratic National Committee that refusing to seat delegates from Florida and Michigan would disenfranchise both states' minority communities.
In a Feb. 8 letter to DNC Chairman Howard Dean, NAACP chairman Julian Bond expressed "great concern at the prospect that million of voters in Michigan and Florida could ultimately have their votes completely discounted." Refusing to seat the states' delegations could remind voters of the "sordid history of racially discriminatory primaries," he said.
The DNC penalized Michigan and Florida for moving their primaries to earlier dates in violation of party rules. Both states were stripped of their delegates, and the party's presidential candidates signed a pledge not to campaign in either state. Florida lost all 210 delegates, including its superdelegates; Michigan, 156.
Since then, facing the prospect of a drawn-out delegate battle with Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign has pushed hard for both states' delegations to be seated. Clinton won Florida's primary Jan. 29 and Michigan's Jan. 15, but was the only candidate to appear on the Michigan ballot after the other candidates removed their names.
In an interview, Bond said the NAACP had taken no position in the race between Clinton and Obama and would not endorse either candidate. He sent the letter on behalf of the voters in Michigan and especially Florida, where the Republican-controlled legislature and governor changed the state's primary date.
"It struck me as making the voters, including minority voters in Florida particularly, victims of the Republican legislature in Florida. I wanted to get Chairman Dean to find some way to rectify the situation," Bond said.
The DNC has said it would allow both states to hold a different contest, probably a caucus, that would comply with party rules. Either state can also appeal the penalty to the DNC credentials committee, which will not meet again until this summer.

 Wilson questions Obama's anti-war credentials in Clinton endorsement
Nick Juliano
Published: Wednesday February 13, 2008

In a aggressive essay targeting Barack Obama's qualifications for the presidency, Joseph Wilson, the former-ambassador-turned-war-critic married to outed CIA agent Valerie Plame, endorsed Hillary Clinton's bid for the White House.

Wilson's endorsement comes as Clinton finds herself 0-and-8 in February primary contests, and Obama's campaign gaining momentum headed into Wisconsin and Hawaii next week. The retired diplomat, who spoke out against Bush's characterization of Iraq's WMD program, said Obama's record opposing the war is too flimsy because he was just a state senator at the time "representing the most liberal district in Illinois."

"Senator Obama claims superior judgment on the war in Iraq ... and in so doing impugns the integrity of those who were part of the debate on the national scene," Wilson writes in the Baltimore Sun and at Huffington Post. "In mischaracterizing the debate on the Authorization for the Use of Military Force as a declaration of war, he implicitly blames Democrats for George Bush's war of choice. Obama's negative attack line does not conform to the facts. Nothing could be farther from the truth."

The essay appeared in the Sun Tuesday, as Maryland voters were headed to the polls. Obama bested Clinton with 60 percent of the vote there, to her 37 percent.

Wilson also argues that Clinton would fare better against presumptive Republican nominee John McCain. He resurrects a previous comment from an unnamed McCain aide who charged that "Obama wouldn't know the difference between an RPG and a bong," and says that Obama backed down in a prior letter exchange with McCain.

"The wrathful Mr. McCain accused Mr. Obama of being 'disingenuous,' to which Mr. Obama meekly replied, 'The fact that you have now questioned my sincerity and my desire to put aside politics for the public interest is regrettable but does not in any way diminish my deep respect for you.'

"Mr. McCain was insultingly dismissive but successful in intimidating his inexperienced colleague. Thus, in his one face-to-face encounter with Mr. McCain, Mr. Obama failed to stand his ground," Wilson writes.

"What gives us confidence Mr. Obama will be stronger the next time he faces Mr. McCain, a seasoned political fighter with extensive national security credentials? Even more important, what special disadvantages does Mr. Obama carry into this contest on questions of national security?"

In Wilson's view, The McCain Obama spat over war funding, which led to the bong/RPG comment, represents precisely the kind of GOP attack-machine politics that will be an intractable part of the coming general election campaign. Judging from McCain's comments at the time, combined with his distance from the most extreme conservatives in the GOP and reputation as a straight-talking Maverick, an Obama-McCain general election match-up might head down a different path.

"We're not gonna do that," McCain told Time when asked about plans for negative campaigning after the spat. "It's not helpful to me to get my message and my vision out. Now, you can't let an attack go unanswered, but at the same time you don't have to get into some kind of catfight."

Asked specifically about his staffer's retort to Obama, he said, "I thought that that was inappropriate and whoever said that should not have said that." He added: "If it happens again, I'll fire the person who said it." When reminded that he laughed at the line when it was read back to him during a conference call with reporters, he said, "I think it was funny, but I still think it was inappropriate."

An Obama spokesman also seemed to try to squelch the dust-up when it happened.

"America doesn’t need juvenile name-calling from Washington," spokesman Bill Burton told Politico's Jonathan Martin, "we need a commitment to end this war and bring our brave troops home."

Wilson goes on to argue against the Illinois Senator's main theme: "Change." But he seems to be trying to re-frame the issue.

"Contrary to the myth of his campaign, 2008 is not the year for transcendental transformation," Wilson writes. "The task for the next administration will be to repair the damage done by eight years of radical rule."

Where change appears, it is Wilson taking another dig at Obama in justifying support for Clinton.

"In order to effect practical change against a determined adversary, we do not need a would-be philosopher-king," he writes, "but a seasoned gladiator who understands the fight Democrats will face in the fall campaign and in governing."