Delegate challenges concerning Florida, Michigan to be heard

WASHINGTON (AP) — A plan to award half-delegates for the disputed Michigan and Florida Democratic presidential primaries will get a hearing before party leaders.

The co-chairs of the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws committee sent members a memo Friday announcing a meeting May 31 to consider the idea.

The committee stripped Michigan and Florida of their national convention delegates because they held primaries too early. DNC members in Michigan and Florida have filed challenges to restore the delegates.

Under the challenges, all superdelegates from both states would get to vote. The pledged delegates would only count for half votes.

Hillary Rodham Clinton won both contests and has been pushing for the delegates to be seated.

Her rival Barack Obama has said it isn't fair to award delegates based on the votes because all the candidates agreed to boycott the contests and his name wasn't on Michigan's ballot. Most of the Democratic candidates had their names removed, but Clinton left hers on. Forty percent of Michigan voters chose "uncommitted" rather than vote for Clinton.

Obama's supporters have suggested splitting the delegates evenly would be a fair way to handle it, since all sides want to see delegates from the two important swing states participate in the convention.

Both states, knowing the potential penalty, held their primaries earlier than party rules allowed to try have more influence in the nominating process that long has been dominated by early voters in Iowa and New Hampshire. Few figured the campaign would last as long as it has, and now that Clinton and Obama are so close in the delegate race, both states want to help choose the nominee.

If it were valid, Florida's election would have given Clinton 105 delegates to Obama's 67. Michigan's would have given Clinton 73 delegates, while 55 were uncommitted. That means awarding half-delegates would give Clinton 89 more delegates and Obama 33.5, with 27.5 uncommitted.

The plan would narrow Obama's lead among the pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses. But Clinton still would not catch him in the remaining primaries.

The challenges were presented by DNC members Joel Ferguson of Michigan and Jon Ausman of Florida, who also are superdelegates because of their positions with the party. Ferguson supports Clinton, Ausman is uncommitted.

Ferguson and Ausman said in telephone interviews that they think half-delegates should be seated based on the outcome of the state's primary elections. That is not spelled out in their challenges and the Rules and Bylaws Committee could determine how many delegates each campaign is awarded.

"I think the allocation should be solely based on the returns on January 29," Ausman said.

Michigan's case is trickier, since Obama didn't get any votes in the state's Jan. 15 primary. Ferguson said all the uncommitted votes should count for Obama.

"The only thing that hurts my challenge is that I declared that I'm for Clinton, but this has nothing to do with Clinton," Ferguson said. "This has to do with making common sense."

He said it's only fair that the superdelegates be fully restored since they aren't bound by election results any way. The challenges argue that the party doesn't have the authority to strip superdelegates of their votes.

Ausman said as for the pledged delegates, it would be acceptable for the committee either to strip half of Florida's pledged delegates and send the other half to the convention, or to send all and give them half-votes.

The Convention Credentials Committee resolves issues about the seating of delegates, but doesn't meet until later in the summer after all the state nominating contests are over.

The co-chairs of the Rules and Bylaws Committee did not respond to messages left at their offices Friday. Party officials said it's unclear whether they will make a decision and vote on the challenges at the May 31 meeting or just discuss them.

The Register is managed by Gordon W. Watts, editor-in-chief, who lost his pro se bid to save Terri Schiavo by a 4-3 margin in Florida's Supreme Court. Watts' case, {In Re: GORDON WAYNE WATTS (as next friend of THERESA MARIE “TERRI” SCHIAVO), No. SC03-2420 (Fla. Feb.23, 2003), denied 4-3 on rehearing}, is shown here and a saved copy is here. Florida Governor, Jeb Bush also tried to save Theresa Marie "Terri" Schindler-Schiavo's life before the same court. Bush's rehearing, unlike Watts', was denied by a 7-0 margin. Watts' experience and ability to speak with some credibility is shown by the fact that he did markedly better in his rehearing before the same panel than Bush. Governor Jeb Bush's case, {JEB BUSH, GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA, ET AL. v. MICHAEL SCHIAVO, GUARDIAN: THERESA SCHIAVO, No. SC04-925 (Fla. Oct.21, 2004), denied 7-0 on rehearing}, is shown: here and a save copy is here. Mr. Watts is also shown on page 17 of 25 in this Federal Court's opinion: Court Website Copy or Saved copy of case No. 05-11628. Related case here in the Tampa Tribune. More links are in the in the article and at the very bottom.

How Hillary Might Win + Who's at fault in FLA & MI

Editorial

Last Updated: Sun. 18 May 2008.
LAKELAND, FL (The Register) Wednesday, 14 May 2008 - I live in Fla, & I'm upset our votes in both REP & DEM primaries were reduced or not counted, but, honestly, our state DIDN’T follow the rules: We deserve what we got.

As a Floridan, I'm thankful Hillary is "fighting for Florida's votes," but I think all the talk about Florida & Michigan is a DISTRACTION. Instead, if she ran a good campaign, she'd pick up the uncommitted superdelegates: In the process, Fla & MI would still be represented.

Also, if she wants to do well with working class folk in the remaining rural states, she might wanna "tighten up" on two issues:

#1 Country folk like their gun rights. If guns are outlawed, only outlaws can have guns. In Utah, for example, it's legal for students & staff to “carry” on campus, and guess what? There have been no shootings at Utah colleges. I wonder why!

"Utah students hide guns, head to class"
www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/20/cnnu.guns/index.html

"Utah only state to allow guns at college"
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18355953

#2 While Hillary's health care policy isn’t as much tax-and-spend as Obama's, let's face it: Just about ALL politicians including George W. Bush are tax-and-spend liberals -especially Bush, with his prescription plan for seniors -a pork barrel boondoggle!

THE CASE FOR HILLARY

(A) Mrs. Clinton is very close (some polls put her ahead) in popular vote -for both primary -and even general election matchup against John McCain:

PRIMARY NUMBERS:
For example, this poll has Obama trailing Clinton 13,104,492 to 13,243,919 in popular vote with, of course, FL & MI, excluding caucuses:

www.usaelectionpolls.com/2008/clinton-obama-popular-vote.html

GENERAL ELECTION NUMBERS:
Also, this poll indicates Clinton would beat McCain in a general election, 280 to 241 with 17 ties, while Obama would be defeated by McCain, 237 to 290, with 11 ties:

http://dailybarf.typepad.com/daily_barf/2008/05/clinton-vs-mcca.html

UPDATE:
Late Wednesday, it was learned that West Virginia returns put Sen. Hillary Clinton ahead on the total popular vote in the Democratic Primary, as reported by ABC News -

* CLINTON - 16,691,639
* OBAMA - 16,648,060

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/politics (Page visited on Fri. 16 May 2008.)
End of Update.

(B) The greater electability of Hillary (Rush Limbaugh was wrong here, folks) is clearly shown by the most updated polls show one thing: Claims that Hillary Clinton is "more electable" in a general election apparently have merit - It appears she indeed is more able to beat Sen. John McCain than Obama.

(C) We know Sen. Clinton has far more experience than Sen. Obama. (She has been a senator longer and has had hands-on experience in the Whitehouse.)

(D) Hillary is more in touch with American voters on the issues (isn't that all that really matters?), but (see above) even she has room for improvement.

I'm not prejudiced because Obama's Black -in fact, I suggest that Hillary ask one of the following to be a running mate:

* Ambassador Alan Keys
* Dr. Ron Paul (although he's White, he's really a "minority" within the faltering Republican party: Most party leaders don't agree with his common sense)
* Dr. Bill Cosby (yes, the actor is a "Dr." having earned his PhD in Education -bet ya didn't know that!)

All 3 are men of integrity -and very qualified too. (Plus, all 3 are "minorities," who can offer diverse viewpoints.)

* Lastly: A History Lesson *

The superdelegate process was created when it was known that the candidate with the most pledged delegates might not be the best candidate in the general election (such as Jimmy Carter).

Since the best candidate -or the one with the most popular vote -sometimes doesn't get enough delegates to win the primary, "superdelegates" who could vote their conscience, were added as a corrective factor.

Accordingly, at present, most Superdelegates are still uncommitted. Thus, calls for Hillary to "bow out" are inappropriate.

The "system" seems to be working -so far -so, people and press should chill out & let it work.

CONCLUSION
While I'm not a fan of Hillary, she'd still make a fine president, if she somehow gets in -but Hillary, once a Republican while in college, needs to get back in touch with her roots regarding the common man's issues.

I plan to write in Dr. Ron Paul for this election, but if Hillary or McCain pick a "qualified" Vice Presidential running mate (hint, hint), and/or make some "course corrections" on important issues, I may change my mind -and vote for him (or her).

This is my view. Do you agree?

Last Updated: Sun. 18 May 2008.
NEW: Neither the Florida Democratic Party nor the Republican Party of Florida is at fault for moving up the date of the primaries.

So, if those rumours are not correct -and they aren't at fault, then "who did it?"

Well, it looks like Michigan did the same thing as Florida, so let's just concentrate on Florida, to make things simple, OK?

Florida's Legislature (that is, the lawmakers in the state house & senate) passed -by overwhelming majorities of both Democrats and Republicans in both houses -House Bill 537, which moved the date of the state's primary to January 29th, a week before the Democratic National Committee (DNC) rules permit: http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=35049

The earliest allowed date under DNC rules is February the 05th, 2008, aka "Super Tuesday," but Fla. Gov. Charlie Crist signed this bill into law. Apparently, the lawmakers' intent was to have a greater influence on the primary; they wanted to "make a splash" in the news media with their early primary.

Well, they did, but not in the way they wanted: They got penalised by both the Democratic and Republican parties -the former stripping all Florida's delegates, and the latter stripping half our delegates.

The Florida House, on May 03, 2008, passed this bill 118-0, and the Senate passed its version by a 37-2 margin on April 27, 2008, with almost all lawmakers of both parties voting in favour of the moving up of the primary dates. (TRANSLATION: There were *very* many stupid lawmakers in both Democratic and Republican parties.)

Although both The Democratic Party and the Republican Party of Florida have a lot of members who are also lawmakers, the parties themselves were *not* at fault here -and neither were voters -and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) was not at fault either. So, in conclusion, to those Democrat voters who want to "count Florida's votes," let me suggest this: If you persist in annoying the DNC, you might "win the battle, but lose the war" -you might cut off your nose to spite your face.

If you really want to help Sen. Hillary Rodham-Clinton get the nomination, I would suggest this:

Be polite and humble: Admit to the DNC that your elected leaders were inbred Florida morons who wanted to grease up yet another election in "we can't count the votes" Florida. Then, rather than asking that Florida's delegates be seated, instead respectfully ask the remaining undecided "Superdelegates" to review Sen. Clinton's candidacy on the merits (see above), and, in doing so, Florida' and Michigan's delegates would get meaningful representation.

Remember: Humility before greatness -and pride before a fall. All you democrats do not have to follow my recommendations, but if you don't, polls suggest Sen. Obama gets trounced in the general election. With all due respect for Sen. Obama, I think Hillary Clinton is the more qualified, more experienced candidate, and here is common ground on which conservative Republicans (like me) and pro-Hillary democrats (like you) can agree.

This is my view. Do you agree?

Gordon Wayne Watts, LAKELAND, Fla, USA www.GordonWayneWatts.com or www.GordonWatts.com

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