What to do, what to do? The Democratic National committee made the rules. Hillary and Obama agreed to them. But now Hillary want"s to change the rules becuase she won in Flordia wherer no one campaigned and she won in Michigan where Obam"s name wasn"t even on the ballot! She wants more than the delegates, she wants the vote totals as well so she can get closer to Obama on that score as well. What"s fair?
Both the Michigan and Florida primaries were essentially nullified after they were moved into January in violation of national Democratic party rules. The party voted to strip both states of their delegates and all the candidates, including Clinton and Obama, signed a pledge not to campaign in either state. Of course Hillary did a fund raiser in Florida the evening of the Florida election so she could be there to claim the victory!
When it comes to the Clinton"s forget the rules (unless they make them).
Both states saw record turnout in their primaries. Her campaign has pressed hard for the results to be recognized, even as the Obama campaign has argued Clinton is trying to circumvent rules she agreed to long ago. Well, duh!
Clinton"s latest comments came a day after Michigan Democrats announced there would be no do-over of that state"s Jan. 15 primary, vastly dimming Clinton"s chances of catching rival Obama in the popular vote and in pledged delegates. Democrats in Florida had already announced there would be no revote there.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean has been conferring with party leaders in both states, hoping to find a way to seat their delegations. The Obama campaign has proposed a 50-50 split of both states" delegations, an option Clinton advisers have resisted. Need I say "duh" again? :-)
Obama spokesman Bill Burton said, "Senator Clinton herself said these contests "didn"t count for anything." But now that it serves her own political self-interest, she"s trying to change the rules and count the results of contests where she and every other candidate pledged not to campaign. In Michigan, Senator Obama wasn"t even on the ballot. Our focus should now be on seating the Michigan and Florida delegations in a fair manner."
Ah, but what"s fair for one isn"t fair for another! If the Obama momentum is halted it really won"t matter!
Thus A deal to allow delegates from Florida and Michigan to participate at the Democratic National Convention is unlikely before summer, party chief Howard Dean said Sunday. Dean said that was partly because presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama want to focus on the coming round of contests. Next on the schedule are Pennsylvania on April 22 and Indiana and North Carolina on May 6, followed by several other states and U.S. territories. Voting ends June 3. The big Democratic divide widens!
Let"s just wait and see! Shall we?