Clinton Camp To Step Up Efforts To Count Michigan, Florida

The NY Time's Adam Nagourney writes about Hillary Clinton's dwindling chances and hopes for a final rescue after Tuesday night's vote tallies in North Carolina and Indiana.

Nagourney points out that the Clinton camp will ratchet up it's already aggressive attempts to have the results for Florida and Michigan - states both candidates didn't campaign in, but Clinton "won" - to be counted. HuffPost's Tom Edsall wrote Sunday about how the Clinton camp planned to carry out the "nuclear option" to get the Michigan and Florida votes counted.

With few states left, she and her aides said they would step up their efforts to count the disputed results in Florida and Michigan, where the states held contests in defiance of Democratic Party rules. If Mrs. Clinton can win the battle to have the delegations from those two states seated at the conventions on the basis of the vote there, she could greatly reduce Mr. Obama's lead in pledged delegates.

But neither candidate actively campaigned in Florida or Michigan, and Mr. Obama did not appear on the Michigan ballot.

Still, in a sign of where the Clinton campaign is going, her aides are asserting that the winner will need 2,209 delegates, not 2,025. That higher number reflects the full inclusion of Florida and Michigan, which held their primaries before the date permitted by the Democratic Party.

Comments

[jeffp26]

Oh damn. No we get our Senator back, but she's roughed herself up, shown the world she lies, cheats, and now apparently wants to add stealing to that raap sheet.

Well, actually, taking bribes, like the cattle future trades, is stealing.

[CrazyDemocrat]

Hillary has tried to live on both sides of the fence for years and now it has come back to haunt her !!

[abby4ever]

The leaders of our party can block this, and they better.

[american2008]

I always suspected that all that hype right after the Penn. win about her raising over 10 million in one night etc. was pure BS. They never followed up with any evidence and a few days later quietly stopped putting out that myth. These weasals are now saying that Hillary loaned herslf 6.4 million within the past month, I think these people have NO shame. Just look at the skum that she sends out to speak on her behalf- Begala, Carvile and Lanny Davis.

[gerrylong]

If Obama is elected, (with a host of other Dems who will kick the Bush ass-kissing Republicans out of congress) the first thing they should do is restore the fairness (equal time) policy of the FCC. If Limbaugh had to face a response after each of his prevarication sessions on air, he would not last a month. Same goes for Bill O'Racist, Beck and the other hate mongers.

Remember, Limbaugh had such an effect on the 94 congressional election, that he was made an honorary member of that Gingrich congress.

Hate sells, let's face it. Every ignorant person in the country is looking for someone to look down on. The hate mongers foment that hate and fan the fires.

[juangault]

The times are changing. The big sin of the govt. will now hopefully be stopped. The youth will have a chance of living without a lifetime of debt, they could be free. The benefits of the present will need to be paid for by the taxes of the present. Our soldiers overseas will come home. World war two will end. I predict an earthquake, but I can only hope for some fairness in how the shakeout will happen. I've been saving all my life, only to see the pigs borrow it, then eat it with inflation. I hope the other side does better at respecting hard work and sacrifice, working wage savings, but I still don't have enough to pay my share of the national debt, ran up by the pirates of the republican party.

[speakingtruth2power]

Ummm, It's going to take a long time to pay off 9.5 Trillion dollars

& a while to disengage from the Crusade for Muslim Resources!

[LouisPWu]

The Hildabeast wants to change the rules well after she played the game. I guess she and her horny hillbilly husband won't be happy until they've totally destroyed any chances the Democrat Party has in November.

[Tankmaster]

Thank you North Carolina! Even if she gets her way with Fla and Mich, Obama will still lead in Popular Votes, Delegate count and States won. Fantastic! NC Rocks!

Barak Obama '08. POTUS!

[Novaseeker]

They can't simply count Michigan "as is" -- it was a one-person election. That would be grossly unfair.

What I could see happening would be agreeing to count Florida "as is" (still unfair, but at least the candidates were all on the ballot), and divide MI's delegates either 50/50, or proportionally based on the national division of delegates between Clinton and Obama.

Regardless, after yesterday evening, it doesn't matter much. MI and FL still won't put her ahead in delegates, even if both were counted "as is" (which won't happen, at least not until a candidate has been selected by the superdelegates).

[Sporin]

Well said Novaseeker.

[sxm342]

The DNC bears the majority of the blame. There is such a thing as being to fair and shooting yourself in the foot come the general election. Should McCain carry Michigan and Florida it will be four more years of a Republican Administration.

Obama should embrace seating Michigan and Florida before he has the Democratic nomination sealed. It may already be too late. Republicans will run advertisements constantly about how the delegates of Michigan and Florida were not seated at the Democratic Convention and that Obama and his campaign worked against seating those delegates; how that is a very exclusive attitude; and will attack Obama's theme of unity. Will those advertisements change the minds of leftist Democrats? No. Will they confirm the beliefs of the extreme right? Yes. They will pause center right and center left voters and give McCain another opening with those groups.

[frappe]

Those two delegations will be seated. At this point, Obama can't lose even if those two delegations are seated "as is".

[barrista]

For the millionth time, they're going to seat the delegates. And Obama is not against seating them.

[JadedAggie]

Count Florida as is. Count Michigan with uncommitted votes given to Obama. Anybody that shows up a the polls and goes out of their way to vote against the only major candidate on the ballot obviously isn't trying to give her their delegates.

[cubs325]

no no no - there is no intelligent measure to think that the vote as is, is valid. 50-50 or some other arbitary % would be more valid then the vote.

[frantaylor]

It doesn't matter if Michigan is counted or not. She still loses. Some are suggesting to count it just to throw her a bone despite the fact that it doesn't change anything. Whatever.

[Jimmyboyo]

Acording to the Fein, the Obama camp has signaled it is willing to talk about sitting FL and Michigan. Especialy since even giving them both completly to hillary as is still leaves her trailing him in pledgeed delegates and popular vote

[frappe]

Exactly. This race is over and the Clintons finally see the handwriting on the wall.

[dartagnan]

Hillary is making an increasingly sorry spectacle of herself. This is the time for her to bow out gracefully, but grace is a quality she simply doesn't have in her. It's really sad to see her destroying her credibility and political stature as she blindly runs her head against a wall. I mean that sincerely, as somebody who once admired her.

[jewel4Obama]

I agree. I campaigned for Bill and I loved them both but I have zero respect for them now. That actually makes me sad because Bill was my boo.

[finsfan13]

I honestly believe Hillary wants Obama to lose to McCain so that she can say "I told you so" So now she will try to ruin him while she can.

[GravitonX]

No concessions on MI or FL. No net benefit to either, at best.

[merhoba]

Soon, very soon, the SD's will move to Obama and this argument, too, will be moot. Since the last election, when the Dems won by the majority, the Dems saw they no longer needed the Clintons. That is why we are where we are today. Sohappy day, soon the cobra looking Carville wll be a citizen of New Orleans and will stop his vile remarks and stop polluting the airwaves. There is a God!

[dartagnan]

"Since the last election, when the Dems won by the majority, the Dems saw they no longer needed the Clintons"

The Hillary candidacy, I believe, was the Custer's Last Stand of the DLC "Republican Lite" crowd, the gang that believed the only way for Democrats to beat Republicans was to become Republicans. They were discredited in 2006 and when Obama wins the presidency they will be utterly demolished. Good riddance.

[AndrewShuttleworth]

Apostrophe rhymes with catastrophe, at least in Greek.