CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
May 28, 2008 – 11:30 p.m.
CQ Answers Five Burning Questions About Saturday’s DNC Rules Meeting
By Marie Horrigan, CQ Staff
Will the Democrats seat the Florida and Michigan delegations at the August Democratic National Convention? Should they, if those states broke the party rules?
The Democratic National Committee’s 30-member Rules and Bylaws Committee will meet Saturday in a Washington hotel to discuss what to do about Florida and Michigan. Once the exclusive province of political insiders, the Rules and Bylaws Committee has become central to the ongoing battle for the Democratic presidential nomination because the states’ 366 delegates, if seated, could affect the balance of the tight contest.
Florida has 210 delegates and Michigan has 156 (including superdelegates). According to the Associated Press, Barack Obama currently has 199 more delegates than Hillary Rodham Clinton .
CQ Politics answers some of the central questions regarding this weekend’s tete-a-tete:
1. What exactly will they be doing on Saturday?
Starting at 9:30 a.m., interested parties will get the chance to speak for 15 minutes to the Rules and Bylaws Committee (RBC) about the delegations to the Denver convention from Michigan and Florida.
The list includes Democratic National Committee member Jon Ausman of Tallahassee, Fla., and a representative from the Michigan Democratic Party. They are actually bringing the challenges to the penalties the party imposed.
In addition, there will be representatives from the campaigns of Clinton and Obama and representatives for Florida and Michigan Democrats. The committee then will break for a private lunch.
At an open afternoon session, members of the committee will discuss the challenges and proceed according to parliamentary rules. Luis Miranda, a spokesman for the DNC, said he expected most of the panel’s 30 members to attend the meeting Saturday. Of those members, 13 support Clinton, eight support Obama and other nine haven’t committed, according to a Los Angeles Times count.
2. So, these specific challenges from Florida and Michigan, what are they?
There are three pending before the committee:
• From Ausman: The Florida party charter requires the state’s ex officio delegates, known as superdelegates, to be seated regardless of any penalties to the state’s pledged delegates. (Eight of the state’s superdelegates back Clinton and five support Obama while 13 are uncommitted, according to a tally by the Florida Democratic Party.)
• From Ausman: The DNC’s delegate selection rules specify that any state that breaks the scheduling rules will be penalized half — not all — of their pledged delegates. Florida has 185 pledged delegates and three unpledged add-on delegates. “The reduction should have been 50 percent in the first place and I’m asking that that be imposed,” Ausman said.
CQ Answers Five Burning Questions About Saturday’s DNC Rules Meeting
• From the Michigan Democratic Party: A compromise plan to fully seat the state’s 128 elected delegates, giving Clinton 69 delegates and 59 for Obama. The party said the plan “splits the difference” between the results of the Jan. 15 primary, which, based on the vote, would give Clinton 73 delegates to 55 for “uncommitted,” and Obama’s call for an even 64-64 split of the delegates. Earlier this month, Clinton rejected this plan as unfair.
The Michigan Democratic Party argues that the state’s full delegation should be seated because Michigan Democrats were already punished by the candidates not campaigning in the state. The party said that the lack of participation by the candidates cost the state exposure and influence in the national debate. “Further punishment in the form of no Michigan delegation or a reduced Michigan delegation at the National Convention will only aid the Republicans in their effort to win Michigan in November,” the party said in its challenge to the Rules and Bylaws Committee.
3. OK, those are the challengers. Who else is going to be there and what are their positions?
• The Democratic National Committee: Tuesday night, the DNC sent a staff analysis of the challenges to the members of the Rules and Bylines Committee. Among other things, the memo examined the possibility of imposing a 50 percent sanction on the states’ delegations, either by cutting the total number of delegates in half or by giving each delegate half a vote at the convention. In a statement Wednesday the DNC characterized the memo as “intentionally neutral,” but throughout negotiations over the issue, DNC Chairman Howard Dean has maintained the states should face sanctions for breaking the national party’s scheduling guidelines.
• The state parties: The Michigan Democratic Party has outlined its position in the challenge it will present Saturday. The Florida Democratic Party is hoping the full delegation will be seated but is looking to move forward, said spokesman Alejandro Miyar. “Florida needs to be represented at the convention. ... We’re hoping that Saturday brings a resolution so that we can move on ahead and focus on winning in November.” Miyar added: “We want our full delegation, considering we’ve elected our delegates, to be represented. At the same time it’s really for the DNC and the campaigns to come to a satisfactory agreement between the three of them.”
If a full contingent is seated, the distribution of Florida’s pledged delegates would be 105 for Clinton, 67 for Obama and 13 for former presidential candidate John Edwards .
• The two candidates: The campaigns for both Obama and Clinton reiterated their positions in separate conference calls on Wednesday. Clinton’s campaign has called for the delegations to be seated based on the votes in the each state’s primary and says the delegations must be seated in full with each delegate granted full voting power.
Obama’s campaign originally argued the delegates for each state should be split 50-50 since the contests were not supposed to count in the nominating process, but has since amended its position. The campaign now agrees in principle to a solution that would give Clinton the advantage in the delegate count from both states since she won the primaries, but said that the full delegations should not be seated because the states broke the national party rules. “We’re hoping that there’s some fair resolution here that allows some participation in Denver of the two states, that would resolve, in all likelihood, in some delegate yield to Sen. Clinton,” Obama Campaign Manager David Plouffe said Wednesday.
4. Will Saturday’s meeting resolve the issue?
Not necessarily. The Clinton campaign’s stance — calling for 100 percent participation for the delegates from Michigan and Florida based solely on the primary votes — puts it at odds with both the Obama campaign and the DNC. However, in the conference call Wednesday, Clinton advisers remained coy about what the campaign would do if the Rules and Bylaws Committee does not settle the issue in its favor. “Our focus is on Saturday,” said Clinton campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson. “And our expectation and our belief is that the DNC will vote on Saturday to seat Florida and Michigan at 100 percent, and that’s what we’re focused on.” Wolfson added: “If there is some other outcome, we can deal with it then.”
5. If nothing is resolved Saturday, what is the next step?
The issue could go to the Credentials Committee, which is charged with coordinating issues around the selection of delegates and alternates to the convention. The members of the Credentials Committee historically meet in July or early August before the convention. The party has not yet set the date for a meeting, but all parties to the negotiations have said they hope the issue will be resolved Saturday and the Democratic National Convention has refused to speculate on next steps should the negotiations fail on Saturday.
Comments
Michigan and Florida primary votes should be counted. It's the American way. The people in those States should not be punished for whoever is to blame for this mess. If I were still living in MI and my vote didn't count I would never vote again for the rest of my life.
The obvious question is what HRC intends to do after Tuesday. Will she continue to campaign as Obama clearly will? She seems to have 2 choices. Stop campaigning (there are no more primary states), or begin campaigning against McCain. The problem is that she has no money to continue and McCain will not be campaigning against her. If she stops campaigning it will appear she has conceded? What will she do?
Quit speculating. Firstly, Obama hasn't yet won. Secondly, Superdelagates are admonished in their charter to NOT follow the will of the majority or plurality of the caucuses or primaries. They are REQUIRED to exercise their political acumen. Finally, be prepared to support either candidate against McCain. Contact everyone you know in Kentucky to vote for Lunsford. McConnell must be removed to ensure a successful Democratic administration, otherwise we'll have a chicken-choking contest between Congress & the president. Supreme Court will be no help, either.
The American way is not counting every vote but counting every vote that follows the rules. These rules and penalties were well understood and the state parties knew what they were doing. In Michigan, the order to move up the primary was signed by the Democratic governor. I'm getting tired of this revisionist history where Michigan and Florida are the hapless victims. They broke the rules to unfairly wield influence in the nomination contest. They knew it was wrong. They need to pay the price. The truly ironic thing here is, if Florida and Michigan stayed where they were at traditionally in the nomination calendar, they would have exerted huge influence. That's what short-sightedness gets you.
The Democratic party nominee is not chosen by popular vote; it is decided based on delegate count. There is no fair way of calculating popular vote totals, due to caucuses, where oftentimes no popular vote tally is calculated. Plan on Clinton taking this to the Credentials committee. She will not be happy with Saturday's decision unless they seat 100% of the delegations. Hopefully the DNC will move up the Credentials committee meeting to sometime early, and not wait until the Convention. If this goes to the Convention, the Dem Party is toast.
Hey Connie, shouldn't it also be the American way to keep your word? Hillary Clinton is on tape saying that Michigan and Florida would not count because they violated the rules so you are now defending a liar.
I am for counting every vote. I am an old lady, and believe me, every vote counts. I have seen where the popular vote lost and delegates won..A rich district has more delegates then a poorer one, The average person out here is penalized because their vote does not count. I have always said that the college delegates in the fall is not fair because of the size of the states and how it is handed out. Having all votes counted is a more fair way of doing it with modern day voting. But who am I to argue with representation for our country. That way we could have a 3 party system and who has the most votes win! I make no bones about it, I want Hillary to win. The media has not been telling the story about how Obama became the state senator for ILL.. Before he was elected to the senate in DC....There was other people running, and they did not get on the ballot because someone he ended up being the only one !!! Can you imagine that...that is ILL politics for you ! The woman that had that seat, has not run for politics since then....I think she was soured on politics all together.....Sorry to be rattling on here...Forgive me...Just my opinion!
In Texas the disabled,elderly and anyone unable to attend the caucuses votes only counted as 2/3 of a vote. Now they are talking about Florida and Michigan votes only counting 1/2. the PEOPLE that voted could not help when the primary was held. I think the democrat party is violating the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Like Hillary told the voters of New Hampshire when she was sucking up to them: "Michigan's voters, votes don't count".
the unaware who continue to bash Obama about the idiosycratic method of getting on a ballot in Illinois is alarming and entertaining. Let's just agree that you have no clue about what you are talking about. If there were to be a test to determine whether someone had the knowledge to vote, I suspect you would not be voting. As for Fla & Mi, the one issue that Hillaryans refuse to answer is what to do about those millions who were told not to vote, because their votes would not count, so they did not vote? How is it fair to take away their rights, then suddenly, because Queen Hillary demands it, give back that rght only to her supporters? In what bent universe is that fair? Shame on hillaryans who lie and cheat and lie even more just to insure their failed, broken and broke candidate.
The American Culture of Corruption in the Age of Rage Curiosity has just begun for me, these Democratic political meetings are showing America one real thing, we have always been in a period of change, it is just now with today's technology more of our government is in front of us to be watched recorded and thought about. However, with all the technology and capability this resource due the American electorate has been shunted and suppressed by Mainstream Media for decades. For me the word is Curiosity, as in who has it, how is it expressed, or how do Americans help themselves with it? Turning the page in history is a lot easier than we think. One thing is plain to see, the Democratic Party is not perfect but at least willing to show America some striking pivotal difficult issues and extreme situations right in the open on the very media America gives away in the broadcasting spectrum. Ladies and Gentleman of America Mainstream Media is way over due in telecasting these political meetings for the public electorate. Should have been done a long time ago. Mainstream Media news programs are the "Butchers of Reality", especially with the influx of women telecasters with short skirts up the thigh view, or persons of mixed race with commentary about Black people, here, that person is so light skinned yet exclaims to be African American describing the transitional phase the people of color are in. The bias "Seducing" media is way out of control. Here, everyday suggesting candidates inject race and gender into the election theme, yet advertise twenty four seven about male enhancement drugs or sexual stimulants, loosing your identity but finding your self a mate on e harmony. Sheesh. Or Chris Mathews has a topic like "The Seed's of Politics" very elegant to be taken as solely chauvinistic male arrogance to the highest degree of ego hypocrisy. Here, Mathews tells you every day he loves politics. Indeed, direct deposit bonus is even more lovable. :) Now Obama resigns from his church of twenty years. Well, was it not just a few months ago that Obama talked about his religion? The most famous speech that is down in history as the next thing to John F. Kennedy? Now, obviously Obama fines it hard to believe in. So, Obama dumps the church that was his anchor of discovery, the friends Obama could not separate from. Now, looking for "Change or Exchange", what does not propel Obama to success is put aside, but exchange this church for something that will. There is something deeper and likely even more controversial where the curiosity of the press covers up what America needs to know About Obama. For me as a Christian, I never thought about resigning a church. I went to many and still love them all, remember them all even if they disagreed with me or the parishioners met. I still know some and how there is a remarkable divine spirit that is lasting that carry's forward with the people of the community in those churches. At least in those churches that I went to are still standing. If you're a citizen of Chicago that grew up in the west side or south side you will notice the alarming thing that many, many churches are closed shut down, run down, or proliferated to a point there maybe a church on one side of a building and a liquor store directly connected to it on the other. For me all this reflecting a shallow effort in the Judeo-Christian ideal Blacks have in this small part of Chicago. This is one curious thing, a community organizer of the spirit Obama preaches yet rejects. It's incredible for Obama not to appear and show support and comfort to aid in the spiritual "Grace" that is need in this time of debate. Obama showed America what he will do to solve the problem of conflict of ideals. Just embrace "Bitterness" and dump those people black or white that give him criticism. All, which will add to the decadence of that community. As an organizer this shows America Obama has only an "exchange skill" to lead a little community let alone the most powerful country in recorded history. Anyone can do that. Hell, why don't we just build churches in Wal-Mart then we could go to customer serve counter to exchange what we believe in. Perhaps America is already on that path perhaps that's why America is so screwed up. Obama will just make our trip to hell quicker. Obama the quick change artist.
The voters of Florida and Michigan did nothing wrong. They did not vote to move their primary. We all know republicans do not care about counting all the votes. Is this the change Obama is talking about, he will win just like George Bush. He is certainly running the same kind of campaign. Obama is dividing the democratic party. Is it really winning if you have to cheat to do it. We should all be upset when votes do not count, especially when they are taken from one candidate and given to another.
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