Clinton Says She's Willing To Take Fight To Convention

The AP reports on Clinton's latest proclamations about how long she plans to contest the Democratic nomination:

In an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press, Clinton said she is willing to take her fight to seat Florida's and Michigan's delegates to the convention if the two states want to go that far.

Asked whether she would support the states if they appeal an unfavorable rules committee decision to the convention floor, the former first lady replied:

"Yes I will. I will, because I feel very strongly about this."

"I will consult with Floridians and the voters in Michigan because it's really their voices that are being ignored and their votes that are being discounted, and I'll support whatever the elected officials and the voters in those two states want to do."

Taking her battle to the convention would fly in the face of an increasing number of party leaders who say the contest needs to be wrapped up shortly after the last primary on June 3 to prepare adequately for the fall election.

Asked if she now envisioned the race extending beyond June 3, Clinton replied: "It could, I hope it doesn't. I hope it's resolved to everyone's satisfaction by that date, because that's what people are expecting, but we'll have to see what happens."

In other remarks made Wednesday Clinton continued to press her case for the nomination, intensifying her language by comparing the Florida and Michigan recount to the Civil Rights movement. As the Politico first reported:

Hillary Clinton compared her effort to seat Florida and Michigan delegates to epic American struggles, including those to free the slaves and win the right to vote for blacks and women.[...]

"This work to extend the franchise to all of our citizens is a core mission of the modern Democratic party," she said. "From signing the Voting Rights Act and fighting racial discrimination at the ballot box to lowering the voting age so those old enough to fight and die in war would have the right to choose their commander in chief, to fighting for multi-lingual ballots so you can make your voice heard no matter what language you speak."

Comments

[whizkid]

You forget the good times.
And so you won't soon remember them.
The Democratic Party creed.

[McPander]

Yes, the good times...

NAFTA

Monica

Bonsnia....wag the dog

Dick Morris.

China most favored trading partner.

Thank Bill....I loved being a democrat under your rule

[BadChristian]

Glass-Steagall
96 telecom

[whizkid]

Mcpoofter
Real hard times weren't they? Compared to now.
You were a fool to respond.

[sharonh]

If you are the President of the United States, shouldn't you be able to get a bj? What the hell, given Monica a medal and move on.

[gadfly55]

This is in the realm of the absurd. Already in the UK, the media refer to Hillary as the patron of lost causes, or they wonder when Obama will put a stake through her to end this nightmare. Bob Strauss has already warned of the bitter divisions from '72 when he became Democratic Party Chairman and he has called for a resolution of this battle now. What are the superdelegates doing, what is the relevance of a popular vote or delegates from Puerto Rico, what is the the DNC doing, or Nancy Pelosi, or Harry Reid. This election is over and the battle for the general election has begun already. Obama should show some determination and strength to end this now.

[sharonh]

His strength and determination are probably still sleeping. I'm sure he'll give them a call later in the day and they will tell him what to do.

[whizkid]

gadfly
Tarry not with every word from the Limey press.
Where would I be without?

[BlueStateMan]

Synapse problems?

[TiffanyHusseinBanned]

Al Gore should be offended enough to endorse Obama.

[whizkid]

For what?

[FJRinLA]

TIRED OF THE BOTH OF THEM

I wish they would both just have more backbone and candor:

I wish The Clintons would just say it: "from our cold dead hands" will Obama get this nomination and tell us they just will never accept the skinny Black guy as head of THEIR DEM party.

And I wish Barack Obama would stop feigning graciousness, show her the door already, and take the good with the bad.

And it would be nice if Clinton Kool-Aid guzzlers here try some original commentary instead of parroting stale, irrelevant talking points meant to shield or cloak The Clinton Insurgency against Obama and the entire DEM apparatus.

Try on this INCONVENIENT FACT about FL & MI; and maybe it'll help cure your internalization of Clinton lies and spin:

In this DEM year with more voter registration, money and turnout favoring DEMS in every state the REP Primary turnout has only exceeded DEM same-day Primary turnout in four ("4") states:

1. AZ due to REP support for McCain
2. UT due to REP support for ROMNEY
3&4. FL & MI because Obama didn't campaign there with his New Voter Registration Drives

Only Obama made registering new DEM voters a central planning component of his campaign in every state he contested.

If Obama had campaigned there, it is safe to assume that he would have won or been within 10 points like he did everywhere the Clintons enjoyed superior name recognition: which was the case in every state.

[bentenrai]

Of course she feels strongly about it, that's her only chance to win? Quite the fighter. Always trying to bend rules in her favor instead of figthing fair and square. She can't win fair and square.

[McPander]

"I did not have Sex with that woman"

"Hard Working Americans, White Americans"

How soon people forget what the Clinton White House was about...and will be about

[naschkatze]

"It depends on what the meaning of is is." Don't forget that one. The Clintons are so shifty that they can manipulate any word in the English language to suit their needs at any moment. They would be an excellent subject for some linguistics Ph.d. candidate out there.

[peacekitten]

all things considered, i'd rather think that somebody in the white house was doing something pleasurable they enjoy other than plotting the obliteration of an entire nation, the needless deaths and suffering of millions, and using nuclear weapons. the enjoyment of one type of pleasure is normal, the kind that bushco enjoys is depraved and perverse.

[TopDog]

Hillary and Bill are two peas in a pod. What are their closely held beliefs? The ones they are fighting for today? Well, which way is the wind blowing?

[campgranata]

Hillary's ovaries for president: they can't be supporting her for any other reason.

[pleeezzze]

and what could you even imagine your sorry life is worth ?

[ccrnjr]

"I'm going outside the primary window," [Michigan Sen. Carl Levin] told me definitively.

"If I allow you to do that, the whole system collapses," I said. "We will have chaos. I let you make your case to the DNC, and we voted unanimously and you lost."

He kept insisting that they were going to move up Michigan on their own, even though if they did that, they would lose half their delegates. By that point Carl and I were leaning toward each other over a table in the middle of the room, shouting and dropping the occasional expletive.

"You won't deny us seats at the convention," he said.

"Carl, take it to the bank," I said. "They will not get a credential. The closest they'll get to Boston will be watching it on television. I will not let you break this entire nominating process for one state. The rules are the rules. If you want to call my bluff, Carl, you go ahead and do it."

We glared at each other some more, but there was nothing much left to say. I was holding all the cards and Levin knew it.

[Source: McAuliffe, Terry. What A Party!, p. 325.]

[Marrigan]

Thank you for digging this up!! And why haven't I heard about this from the numerous talking heads, esp. when they're interviewing McAuliffe?

[CocteausTwin]

I heard it mentioned once, possibly on Meet the Press.

[TopDog]

Will about 50 Super Delegates step up to do their job and put this woman out of her misery? Please?

[campgranata]

Her attempt to connect the actions against the delegates of FL and MI, who knew the consequences of their actions, with former injustices is so pathetic that even I feel sorry for Senator Sociopath. She has truly become a joke.

[sharonh]

I am a registered voter in Florida. I did not do anything illegal and want my vote to count. Let's say you are from Mass and your elected officials, whether you voted for them or not, broke a rule and disenfranched you. How is that fair? It is the voice of the people that deserves to be heard.

[McPander]

I would recommend that you lay blame where it belongs...

Your state representatives voted for the date change....Democratic and Republican

I recommend that you register enough voters to throw them out

[BlueStateMan]

Sorry... but NOT in a party primary.

The Democratic Party is a quasi- PRIVATE organization & it selects it's delegate it IT SEES FIT.

They signed on to a Charter.... they were WARNED that if they pushed their primary up that they would NOT count & they DID IT ANYWAY.

If you have a beef... take it up with your state party officials & stop whining.

[Dap]

If that is true, then you should have *STOPPED* your State party from disinfranchising you and the other Democratic primary voters, before your State party violated the rules.

You are the direct cause for your own problem ! Tough titty said the kitty.

[SayonaraSnot]

Then I think you should ask Hillary Clinton why her supportes on the committe voted overwhelmingly to strip Florida's delegates. It was the Clinton camp that voted to disenfranchise you. The one person on the committe who dissented was an Obama supporter.

[monique]

Ignore these rude people that tell you to stop whining.

You have every right to vote, and to expect your vote to count.

The party and state officials need to clear up their mess, but it should not affect the people.

When people vote, they should be heard.

If Obama had not fought the revote so, your state would have gotten to do it over, but he was worried that your vote would be actually heard and would affect his chances of winning -- he was not concerned with democracy working, and every citizen being heard.

[e2008usa]

TALKING ABOUT SKIN COLOR IS REJECTING A HUMAN COMING FROM A WHITE AND BLACK FAMILY. ITS LIKE INSULTING HIS WHITE MOTHER AND HIS BLACK FATHER BECAUSE YOU SHOW NO RESPECT TO THIS HUMAN KIND - OBAMAS GENES ARE WHITE AND BLACK... NOT ONLY WHITE NOT ONLY BLACK, OK! IT MEANS THAT, GENES consist of a long strand of DNA that contains a promoter, which controls the activity of a gene, and coding and non-coding sequence. Coding sequence determines what the gene produces, while non-coding sequence can regulate the conditions of gene expression. IT MEANS THAT YOU AND ME CANNOT CLAIM FOR BETTER THAN A BLACK AND WHITE COLOR UNITED IN A SAME CANDIDATE. DENYING HIM IS DENYING YOURSELF

NOW...

IF OBAMA HAS PROBLEM WITH WORKING CLASS _ THEN HILLARY HAVE AS MUCH PROBLEM WITH EDUCATED PEOPLES; RIGHT ! THEN FORGET THE POLITICS OF DIVISION AND OPT FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Right!

INSULTING OBAMAS MOTHER; GRAN PARENTS IS INSULTING YOURSELF IF YOU LOOK LIKE THEM
DON*T PUT YOURSELF IN CONFLICT WITH YOURSELF AND LIVE IN HARMONY WITH YOUR NEIGHBORS - WE HAVE A SHORT LIFETIME FOR NOT TO DESERVE TO APPRECIATE THE BEAUTY OF THE NATURE AROUND US - THE SKY IS BLUE - TREES ARE GREEN AND THE EARTH IS BROWN - IF YOU CANNOT APPRECIATE ALL THIS - THEN HOW CAN YOU FULLY LIVE YOUR LIFE
DON'T LIE TO YOURSELF. LIFE IS WONDERFUL FOR YOU AND ME - WHY I LOVE YOU BACK !

[sharonh]

Ms. Clinton is neither a race baiter nor a quitter. She fights because she knows that the majority of American voters want her in office and that she deserves to be there. Why would you not want the better candidate who is willing to go the extra mile. Even with his unlimited campaign funds, Mr. Obama still has not been able to secure the nomination. Why? It is not "uneducated masses", racists, or the GOP slur campaign. It is because the people support her. We want change and Mr. Obama is more of the same. Instead of blindly following him, lemminglike, listen to what he is not saying. Vote Hillary.

[Cyndee1113]

What yourself, Obama is about change not Clinton. She stole that from Obama.

[sharonh]

Obama has not had an original idea for this country his whole campaign. Every platform he takes is a watered-down version of Ms. Clintons. Simply electing somebody because they have never been President before doesn't mean a change will come. Change must be fought for, and Ms. Clinton is will to do it.

[SayonaraSnot]

Because she played the game, and she lost. She cannot overtake Obama's delegate lead. He will be the nominee, and her conviction that she "deserves to be there" means nothing.

[sharonh]

Mantra, repeat 500 times a day. It might relax you, you might believe it, but it means nothing.

[BadChristian]

And the war she voted for was about a mushroom cloud.

[sharonh]

Yes, it was she alone who voted on this, right? Bush, Cheney, and that whole administration do not deserve the blame for the planned propaganda war campaign. Hillary has promised immediate withdrawal from Iraq. What don't you understand?

[conscioushope]

Time to face reality of "math"...........

Sadly, though tenacious, Hillary needs to let go...........

[CocteausTwin]

Leave other peoples talking point wherever it is you find them.

[whizkid]

Its not just Obama.
What about Reid, Pelosi, Kerry, Dean, all of them?
When do they do anything for us without a Clinton looking over their shoulder?
While they try to shiv the Clintons and the people.

[McPander]

The "Clintons and the people" .....ya know "Hard Working Americans, White Americans"

HRC is a race baiter

[aliceblue]

I don't think Pelosi, Reid or Kerry have
any love for Clinton. Dean has to remain
neutral.

[richcpl]

She's as unstable and unsteady as they get. But this Michigan/Florida brinksmanship could just be her way of pushing for a resolution by May 31 so that she can leave the campaign after June 3 and be able to say that she vindicated the voters' fundamental civil rights.

[wolfi101]

And claim she was cheated... and split the party... and continue the fight... and cry foul... and cry sexism...

*sigh*

[abby4ever]

I don't agree. Hillary has no intention of bowing out in May, or June, or at all--she just wants the superdelegates who haven't endorsed yet, to think so. She is snatching at every argument, no matter how bogus or wild, that crosses her mind, and now making fraudulent comparisons, e.g. her fight is like the civil right's movement, or Zimbabwe, etc., all this to whip her supporters into a frenzy.
This woman is winding up for a big long nasty fight. I expect marches and protests next---unless she is stopped. However, I think we are at the point where, if she IS stopped, her supporters will go mad. And that she planned it this way. As if to say to the party leaders and the remaining superdelegates, "Force me out and I will have thousands marching in the street." God, I do now think she is what many have said she is: just plain evil. Or else just really sick with ambition.

[Cyndee1113]

abby4ever, you are so right! She know exactly what she is doing. The only way to stop this is the super delegates. If they come out for Obama then she has not argument because if sit FL or MI she cannot win because Obama has the required number. You see how the fools in Washington is letting this go on? He needs less the 25 more delegates

[duze]

Talk about civil disobedience, I think she's trying to form a lynch mob. Her speech today was bordering on organizing a mob against the delegates. She's already warned that people will remember at election time who the delegates choose. She's used Obama's nationality, patriotism, his parents, his lapel pin (she never wore one either, nor did any of the cable reporters who were so appauled by it) his wife's patriotism, and her threatening November surprise that she may have something sinister on Obama that will blow his campaign out of the water. Well if she does it will be something she manufacturers. Remember the Clinton's don't loose, what they want they get or simply take. http://www.lasuperiorcourt.org/civilcasesummary/index.asp Case # BC304174
Why haven't any of the major news outlets publicized this story, It's the biggest story in the country and no one wants to speak on it. WHY. Seems to me this is what Georgie S. and Charl.ie G. should have been asking questions about. this issue.

[ethancorso]

For a while now I've believed that Clinton may still make one last ditch attempt to destroy the reputation of Barack Obama. As well, I would not put it past her to pull a Lieberman and run as an independent after Barack officially secures the Democratic nomination. Am I being too cynical?

[sharonh]

In a word, YES.

[Cyndee1113]

Hell no! you are not being to cynical!