Posted on 06/01/2008 6:36:36 AM PDT by Brilliant
Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign on Saturday angrily rejected a compromise deal among Democrats that was aimed at ending a bitter fight over disputed primaries in Florida and Michigan.
Clinton's supporters erupted in boos and catcalls after the party's 30-member Rules and Bylaw committee voted to recognize the Florida and Michigan delegates, but award them only half votes at the party's nominating convention this August in Denver.
The decision came amid another dramatic development Saturday in the Democratic presidential race. Obama announced he was renouncing his 20-year membership in Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ after a visiting preacher last week mocked Clinton and accused her and other whites of feeling "entitled" to the presidency.
DNC Co-Chair Alexis Herman watches as votes are counted during a DNC meeting at the Marriott Park Wardman hotel May 31, 2008 in Washington DC.
The Democratic committee's decision on Florida and Michigan was a blow to Clinton, who trails Obama by 200 delegates in the Democratic presidential race.
She had argued forcefully that the both states receive full voting rights at the Denver convention.
Harold Ickes, a senior Clinton strategist and member of the rules committee, said the committee had "hijacked" the will of voters and immediately threatened to appeal the decision.
Clinton's supporters jeered when results of the committee's vote were announced inside a convention room at a downtown Washington hotel. They shouted "Denver, Denver, Denver" - signalling their hope to fight Obama all the way to the Democratic convention.
While Clinton's campaign officially supported the Florida compromise - calling it a "victory" for voters in that state - it was outraged by the compromise reached on Michigan.
The rules committee, voting on a motion backed by the Michigan Democratic Party, awarded 69 delegates to Clinton and 59 to Obama.
Clinton's campaign maintained, however, Obama should get zero delegates from Michigan, because he had removed his name from the state's ballot.
"I am stunned that we have the gall and the chutzpah to substitute our judgment for 600,000 (Michigan) voters," said Ickes.
"Hijacking . . . delegates is not a good way to start down the path toward unity."
He said Clinton would "reserve her rights" to challenge the decision with the Democratic party's credential committee. That raises the prospect of a floor fight at the convention, a nightmare scenario party leaders believe could divide the party and ruin Democratic chances of winning the November presidential election.
"I cannot accept a deal that ignores the will of 600,000 voters," said Elizabeth Smith, another Clinton supporter on the rules committee.
Heading into the Democratic meeting, Obama was just 43 delegates shy of clinching the nomination.
The agreement on Florida and Michigan now means the "magic number" he needs to clinch the nomination moves from 2,026 to 2,118, a change that does not significantly alter the dynamics of the race.
If Obama and Clinton split the final three primaries - on Sunday in Puerto Rico and Tuesday in Montana and South Dakota - it's estimated the Illinois senator would need endorsements from just 24 of the 200 remaining "undeclared" super delegates to become the presumptive Democratic nominee.
By contrast, Clinton would need to win endorsements from about 150 of the remaining super delegates up for grabs, defying the recent trend in favour of Obama.
The fight over Michigan and Florida was sparked last year when the Democratic National Committee voted to strip the states of their combined 368 delegates for violating party rules and holding early presidential primaries in January.
At the time, both Clinton and Obama supported the punishment. Clinton even publicly said she believed the Michigan primary "would not count."
Clinton won both primaries, but neither candidate actively campaigned in Florida and Obama removed his name from the ballot in Michigan.
Obama's campaign contended the Illinois senator had a legitimate right to claim delegates in Michigan because the primary was held under a cloud of illegitimacy, making it unfair to penalize him. They also noted that 40 per cent of Michigan's voters cast ballots for "uncommitted" as a way to show their support for him.
Rep. Robert Wexler, an Obama supporter, said Obama had made "extraordinary concessions" to Clinton by agreeing to recognize the Michigan and Florida results.
Obama, meantime, hardly had a moment to savour his victory at the Democratic rules committee.
Campaigning in South Dakota, Obama announced he had written a letter of resignation from his church after enduring a series of controversies triggered by inflammatory preachers. The Illinois senator had already denounced his longtime pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, for making anti-American remarks in his sermons. The last straw came when last Sunday when Rev. Michael Pfleger, a visiting Catholic priest, mocked Clinton for showing emotion during the campaign. He alleged Clinton was upset because "there is a black man stealing my show."
In Washington, Clinton supporters staged a noisy but peaceful demonstration outside the Marriott Wardman Park hotel while Democratic officials debated the fate of Michigan and Florida.
"What Hillary won, she deserves," said Ed Burly, a Massachusetts Democrat who came to the demonstration dressed as Uncle Sam.
Hazel Rigby, a Clinton delegate from Virginia, disputed suggestions Clinton is too far behind to win, regardless of the outcome of the Florida and Michigan dispute.
"I'm here because I still think she has a shot at it," Rigby said. "I want her there in the worst way."
Loretta Pollock, a Clinton supporter from New Jersey, said the Florida and Michigan fight was more about voters' rights than giving her candidate a better opportunity to win.
"I think the votes should be counted and the delegates should be seated the way the votes were cast," Pollock said. "Otherwise you're disenfranchising voters."
Peggy Gail Forehand, a Clinton supporter from Tallahassee, Fla., said she would vote Republican unless Democrats recognized her state's primary.
"If the party wants to take away my vote that's fine. I will simply go to the other party," Forehand said. "Hillary Clinton doesn't need a last-ditch effort to stay in the race. She's staying in the race. She's made it very clear she's staying in the race."
Ickes is on...The Dem party and their candidates all stink!!
Meanwhile... John McCain replaces that guy crossing the bridge in Iraq during Desert Storm, as the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.
Hillary is not spending her own money.
She is spending OTHER peoples money so there is no cost to her.
She is spending like a democrat.
Without commenting on Romney the candidate, when he pulled out he pulled out because he saw the race as having consequences to his wallet and his party.
Hillary has not party it is only about power. You either have power or you don’t and if she pulls out she has no power.
With the Clinton’s, it’s always been a scorched earth policy. Why would anyone think that they were just going to accept anything other than a victory for them?
Reading this just reconfirms that the Democrats are the most useless, pathetic political party in existance. They continue to feed on each other while demonstrating their craving for power over the good of the country. Period.
Dishonest reporting. It was the outrageous racism towards whites that people are upset about, it's no surprise at all that these people hate America. Let's talk about the racism!
Will Barack the magic negro pull it out? ... Or will Hillary send him back to the plantation?
Recreate '68!
Isn’t this the corrupt “politics as usual” that Obama has now used to steal the nomination? What “change?”
We are witnessing self-destruction at it’s finest.
I urge Sen. Clinton to run as an Independent. This unfair treatment will not stand. Run Hilly, Run!
Affirmative action at it’s best. Nobama does not run in MI, yet gets 1/2 the votes !!
You go girls!
Nice to hear from Robert Wexler again. He’s a more profilic partisan liar than....than...Bill Clinton!
I don’t know about all the other timess, but, when he goes public, he’s lying through his teeth, always.
He came out again yesterday, saying how appropriate it was for Obama to leave the church, to get the issue behind him and move on. Like he actually thought he was convincing anybody. Do not ask me how I REALLY feel about him. Thanks.
So Democrats...choose your poison. Do you wish to be a racist or a sexist? Either way, you guys are a bunch of intolerant Archie Bunkers.
Now THAT is the quickest way to get Obama elected.
As an OC agent and Hillary supporter I am outraged(sarcasm). I just hope she can keep it going all the way to the convention.
The Clintons' egos cannot deal with losing. The Assault Weapons Ban of Sept 1994 is a case in point.
The AWB came very close to dying in Congress. Lots of gun owners were upset over it. But Clinton twisted every arm that he had to in order to pass it. And two months later the rage of America's gun owners caused the Republicans to sweep the 1994 Congressional elections
The Clintons would be willing to destroy the Dem party. The Clintons would be willing to destroy the Earth rather than accept an ego loss
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