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Hillary's Last Hope
Wall Street Journal ^ | 27 March 2008 | LAWRENCE B. LINDSEY

Posted on 03/27/2008 4:41:53 AM PDT by shrinkermd

...It also looks like only lawyers have a chance at the Democratic nomination. Harvard Law (Obama) and Yale Law (Clinton) candidates have survived, while University of North Carolina Law (Edwards), Syracuse Law (Biden), and the University of Louisville Law (Dodd) have been eliminated. And lawyers at the DNC Rules Committee will decide what happens next.

Discussion among Democrats on how to deal with Florida and Michigan centers on three options. The first is not to seat them at all.

The second option would be to seat delegations that were evenly split between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama. This would make the votes of 2.3 million Democrats irrelevant, while creating artificial representation for the states. It is very much like the 72 bonus delegates selected by party leaders to "represent" women, ethnic minorities, the gay and lesbian communities and the handicapped.

The third option would be to let the early primary votes stand, and select delegates according to the outcome. On a statistical basis, this is clearly the right result for Florida. The easiest solution for Michigan is to simply award the 45% of the vote uncommitted or for another candidate to Mr. Obama. This appears to be the intent of those voters, as well as the likely result of a rematch. It would reduce Mr. Obama's current edge in pledged delegates to 115 from 167. It would also reduce the adjusted popular-vote margin, that converts caucus votes to primary votes, to an edge for Mr. Obama of 466,000. If Mrs. Clinton wins Pennsylvania by the margin polls now suggest, the two candidates would be essentially tied in popular votes, with an Obama edge in delegates of about 80. That would leave the remaining primaries and the superdelegates to decide the outcome of an essentially tied race.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: clinton; florida; hillary; michigan; obama
Another idea. In the future no candidate for POTUS can be a lawyer. No one, lawyer or not, can be a candidate for either the House or Senate if they are Harvard graduates. Other lawyers would be permitted to run for Congress provided they have actually practiced law full time for at least 10 years.

These policies would benefit the country more than anyone could imagine. Further they would reduce the number of candidates with Nietzschian "master morality" to a minimum.

1 posted on 03/27/2008 4:41:54 AM PDT by shrinkermd
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To: shrinkermd

2 posted on 03/27/2008 4:45:31 AM PDT by Diogenesis (Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum)
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Comment #3 Removed by Moderator

To: shrinkermd

Aaahhh.............Dhimmocratic politics.
It all comes down to the lawyers in the end, doesn’t it?

The party of the Lawyers, by the Lawyers, and FOR the Lawyers.


4 posted on 03/27/2008 5:08:16 AM PDT by Flintlock (that)
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To: shrinkermd
The Wall Street Journal, like many other media, got the heart of the story wrong. As a former Parliamentarian for a national political convention, I know how the process works. Here it is:

The Credentials Committee clears and urges the seating of all delegates who have no questions about their elections and authority to act. Those delegates go on the floor and organize the Convention and choose its officers.

Then, the Committee reaches a conclusion about the disputed delegates. The Committee Chair presents that conclusion as a proposal to the floor. It is voted on by the already-seated delegates, in this case meaning those from all states except Florida and Michigan.

The bottom line is quite clear, and the WSJ missed it. HOWEVER CONTROLS THE ALREADY-SEATED DELEGATES, also controls the final outcome of the Florida and Michigan questions. The Credentials Committee is only a way-station. It does NOT have the final say.

Sorry for shouting, but so many reporters have missed this vital point that ought to be obvious to anyone who had even attended any convention and paid attention to what happened.

Congressman Billybob

Latest article, "The Uber-Nigerian Scam"

Help a Freeper into Congress.

5 posted on 03/27/2008 5:08:42 AM PDT by Congressman Billybob ( www.ArmorforCongress.com)
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To: Congressman Billybob

I’m sure that there are plenty of moral, brilliant lawyers around. However, it appears that Harvard and Yale are not the major sources.


6 posted on 03/27/2008 5:12:20 AM PDT by Da Coyote
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To: shrinkermd
Another idea. In the future no candidate for POTUS can be a lawyer. No one, lawyer or not, can be a candidate for either the House or Senate if they are Harvard graduates. Other lawyers would be permitted to run for Congress provided they have actually practiced law full time for at least 10 years.

Irwin Schiff argued that lawyers should not be allowed to serve in Congress because as lawyers they are officers of the court. That being the case, they are already part of the judicial branch. "If they are in the judiciary, then they ought to be OUT of the legislature," he said.

That actually makes a lot of sense to me.

7 posted on 03/27/2008 5:17:49 AM PDT by Maceman
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To: shrinkermd
This appears to be the intent of those voters, as well as the likely result of a rematch.

Again, we have a proposal that people guess the "intent" of the voters. A lot of voters in MI and FL to stayed home because they were told their vote wouldn't be counted at all so why bother. If you're going to divine the "intent" of those who came out and voted, why not divine the "intent" of those who didn't bother because they were told it didn't matter? And if you do that, why don't you divine the "intent" of the registered voters in ALL states who didn't vote? Why stop at MI and FL?

8 posted on 03/27/2008 5:47:15 AM PDT by randita (I'm a "typical white person" and I voted for Lynn Swann.)
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To: Congressman Billybob
The Wall Street Journal, like many other media, got the heart of the story wrong

FWIW it's an opinion column by Larry Lindsey

9 posted on 03/27/2008 6:14:11 AM PDT by nascarnation
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To: shrinkermd

The ‘Rats could save a lot of money in the primaries by restricting to voting to people who have graduated from a law school. After all, lawyers are supposed to decide everything for the rest of us anyway.


10 posted on 03/27/2008 7:33:12 AM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: shrinkermd

Thought the thread was about ‘conservatrive’ talk radio for a moment....:^D


11 posted on 03/27/2008 8:11:32 AM PDT by The Ghost of Rudy McRomney ("Rush has unsealed the mummy's tomb-he has unleashed the undead."-Hugh Hewitt)
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To: The Ghost of Rudy McRomney

Is Obama able to go to the convention with the nomination if he gets the superdelegates to commit to him? Why hasn’t it happened by now?


12 posted on 03/27/2008 11:46:03 AM PDT by Thebaddog (Dog breath? I don't think so.)
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