Clinton Presses Obama on Efforts For Revotes in Florida and Michigan
March 21, 2008 by morganwrites
(WP) - DETROIT, March 19 — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) shifted her schedule to make a last-minute visit here Wednesday, demanding that the state’s Democratic Party hold another primary vote or count the results of the earlier disqualified balloting, and she challenged Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to live up to his claim that he cares about making sure people’s votes count.
“This is a crucial test: Does he mean what he says or not?” Clinton said.
Her decision to plant the flag in Michigan came amid ongoing wrangling between the Clinton campaign and state parties there and in Florida, another state with a disputed primary. The Michigan legislature has not yet voted on a bill that would establish a state-run primary in early June, replacing the unsanctioned voting that took place in January. Florida and Michigan Democrats were stripped of their convention delegates after scheduling their primaries earlier than national party rules permitted.
The Democratic National Committee said it would accept a proposal for a new round of balloting in Michigan, but the bill has been bottled up in part because Obama’s campaign has raised objections to it.
Among those objections is that the legislation says that if an individual voted in the Jan. 15 Republican primary, he or she would be disqualified from voting in the do-over primary in June. Robert F. Bauer, an attorney for the Illinois senator’s campaign, raised other potential problems with the latest Michigan proposal for a revote, saying it would be “unprecedented in conception and proposed structure,” as no other state has ever “re-run an election in circumstances like these.” While all sides had hoped they could avoid the controversy, the nomination standoff has made the results in Michigan and Florida potentially scale-tipping.
Clinton, adopting an increasingly indignant tone, described the voting controversy in both states as part of a question of democracy — albeit one that just happens to address her deficit in pledged delegates. “Senator Obama speaks passionately on the campaign trail about empowering the American people. Today I am asking him to match those words with actions,” Clinton said.
“That is why generations of brave men and women marched and protested, risked and gave their lives for this right, and it is because of them that Senator Obama and I stand before you as candidates for the Democratic nomination,” Clinton said.
Obama supporters among the superdelegates who are likely to ultimately decide the nomination, conceded they still fear a late winning streak by Clinton. A big win in Pennsylvania on April 22, followed by victories in Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky and Puerto Rico, could change superdelegate thinking on which candidate is more electable. Clinton victories in Florida and Michigan revotes would make matters worse for Obama.
“It would make no sense for the Obama campaign to give the Clinton campaign that extra ammunition,” said an Obama supporter in the House. “That would make no sense at all.”
Without new votes or a new plan for counting the disqualified ones, Clinton is likely to continue to trail Obama in pledged delegates even if she scores victories in Pennsylvania and several of the states that follow. Both Democrats are campaigning in upcoming states despite the six-week lull until the next contest; Clinton is scheduled to campaign in Indiana on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the four leaders of the effort to get Michigan’s Democratic delegation seated — Sen. Carl M. Levin, Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger and DNC member Debbie Dingell — issued a statement urging the legislature to go ahead and approve the primary to assure the seating of Michigan’s delegation, to avoid a credentials fight at the convention and to enhance the Democrats’ chances of carrying Michigan in November.
The proposed legislation won informal approval from the co-chairs of the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, which ultimately must sign off on a plan submitted by the Michigan Democratic Party for a new primary.
One Democratic source said Michigan Democrats, in submitting their plan for a new primary based on the legislation, could ask to waive the provision barring those who voted in the Republican primary from the new Democratic contest.
The other development is a letter sent to Michigan Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm from Govs. Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania and Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey — all support Clinton — certifying that they have obtained pledges from wealthy fundraisers who are prepared to guarantee the raising of as much as $12 million in private money to cover the cost of the primary.
Of the 10 donors listed in the letter as being willing to guarantee the money, eight are Clinton contributors and five are “Hillraisers”: individuals who have raised at least $100,000 for her campaign. None of the 10 is an Obama donor.
If the legislation fails, it is possible that Democrats in Michigan would propose a vote-by-mail plan or a caucus to assure some kind of do-over contest.
Clinton’s stop in Detroit pushed back her schedule in West Virginia. A stop in Huntington was moved to late afternoon. When she finally arrived, Clinton offered a different explanation for her tardiness. “We got off to a bit of a slow start this morning due to some weather delays,” she told a group of veterans.
Obama is a chicken and will disenfranchise the voters of Florida and Michigan, and as a result, USA.
Read this post asking voters to boycott Obama if the Florida and Michigan Primaries don’t count.
http://www.arewethatstupid.com/2008/03/21/why-clinton-supporters-should-vote-for-mccain-if-florida-and-michigan-primaries-dont-count/
Joe - I read your post and the links that were in your story as well as the comments. My we do have some people who are quite myopic.
Anyway, I agree with you - and said so in my comment.
BTW - Would you mind if I posted your article - giving all links to you - or would you rather I just embed it in a post I write.
Take care and hope your weekend is peaceful.
The elections in both Michigan and Florida were not fair elections. We were told for eight months that the primary results would not count in the delegate tally. The election was to “influence” the election with our choice, but that was only with the media & political pundits.
At the start of this primary election, the name Clinton carried such recognition that it was like voting for the incumbent. Statistics show that the incumbent, unless extremely unpopular, usually wins elections because people are familiar with that “name” brand. In order for these primary elections to be considered fair, all of the candidates would have needed to campaign to get their names and positions out to the voters.
In Michigan, Clinton was the only name on the ballot. In Florida, the election also had a very important initiative on the ballot regarding home ownership and real estate taxes. If you owned a home in Florida, you were going to go to the polls to vote for the property tax bill. While there, you would cast your primary election vote.
However, if you did not own a home… You weren’t as affluent or you were a student or you had to work that day … and the property tax bill did not directly affect you, you were likely to say my primary vote doesn’t count so I don’t need to cast my vote. IT DIDN’T COUNT.
Now that the election has gone on, to say that the votes should be counted as cast is not fair. The election was not fair. All this B.S. about the Democrats in Florida not voting for the primary date to be changed is nonsence. The vote was 118 yea and 0 nay. 43 Democrats voted to change the primary date after being warned by the DNC for months that the delegates would not be seated.
For the record: Nelson, Wasserman ect ect are all Hillary supporters. This isn’t about the poor voters of Michigan and Florida. This is about Hillary Clinton’s campain. She’s entitled to fight for her campaign, but dragging all this through the mud for her own benefit and to the demise of the Democartic Party is really making me angry. If we loose the general election it will be because of her divisive rhetoric.
Pat, Florida
Right ON!
Personally, I cringe when I think of the Clinton’s being back in the White House. I also think, rather, I also know that Obama would be a poor choice as well.
The Democrat Party (there’s nothing democratic about them) has pretty much stuck their foot in it and those voters, whether they be Democrats or Republicans, who are being disenfranchised, are getting the short end of the stick. I’m glad I don’t live in either state.
Thanks for the cogent comment.