Of the many last-minute petitions and pleas Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean will receive in time for the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting on May 31, one of those is a package sent FedEx from Los Angeles, with 6,756 signatures asking for the delegates from Florida and Michigan to be fully counted.
This online petition was put forth by die-hard Sen. Hillary Clinton supporters who have not only not given up, but are prepared for alternate solutions should their candidate fail to become the Democratic nominee. See this video of their rally, which they called, "It's No Joke: Seat Florida and Michigan":
Clinton Rally, Los Angeles from Natasha Chen on Vimeo.
It's ironic that these 50 supporters met at a comedy show stage, the Laugh Factory on Sunset Blvd., since they meant serious business. Supporter Robin Carlson called the idea of seating half the delegates from the two states "total crap. More manipulation from the DNC." Carlson, a cancer patient who has endured radiation and chemotherapy over the years, was out on the street holding a Hillary sign under the noonday sun after the event indoors had ended. She came out not just for herself, but also for her fellow patients in the hospital who could not get to the rally. Noting Clinton's handle on health care, Carlson said, "I'm voting for Hillary so they get support".
In the video above, Carlson is the one accusing the DNC of not equally punishing all the states who broke the rules in conducting early primaries or caucuses. Although she mentioned six states, a blog post on the DNC's own Web site outlines in detail how five states violated the rules and bylaws: Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and Michigan.
According to the bylaw text as reprinted in the article, all five of these states should have had their delegate numbers halved. Currently, only Florida and Michigan's delegates are in question for the meeting on May 31. Rule 11.A in the DNC bylaws state that Iowa can hold their caucus no earlier than 22 days before the first Tuesday in February, that New Hampshire can hold their primary no earlier than 14 days before the first Tuesday in February, and that South Carolina can hold their primary no earlier than 7 days before the first Tuesday in February. All three scheduled their elections this year earlier than typically allowed.
The meeting regarding how to deal with these two states' delegates unearthed a host of injustices that Clinton fans cannot take. The much discussed media bias toward Obama and the nation's sexist treatment of Clinton in general came up at the event. The participants' tones ranged from disappointment and hurt to pure outrage to hope.
Mary Margaret Finnan, a particularly zealous woman decked in stars and stripes, has worked for Democratic campaigns for decades. "If this weekend doesn't go right, we will be in the streets of Denver a la 1968 Chicago." 1968's Democratic convention erupted in a battle between anti-war protestors and police on the streets.
Finnan suggested people write in Clinton's name on the blank line, instead of voting for Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. John McCain. She said that once a person has qualified as a presidential candidate, his or her name on the write-in line must be counted. This goes for any of the candidates who have dropped out of the race. "Don't laugh it off," Finnan said into the microphone. "This is a possibility."
Janine Jones, who in the video described how she's been waiting since 1972 for a woman president, said: "When I voted for Kerry I felt sick to my stomach - I knew it wasn't right. I should have written [Hillary Clinton] in then, and I'm going to do it now." There has never been a female president -- not in 232 years.
Actress Anita Givens and fellow rally participants agreed that if Clinton were a man, she would not be receiving such flack for attempting to prevent disenfranchisement.
But the event wasn't just women discussing women's opportunities (or lack of). Seventy-five-year-old Evaristo Ramos said that real change is electing a woman because it's a sign that this democracy allows for equal opportunity. "She is more experienced, more electable, and has had more years as a senator," Ramos said.
Jared Feldschreiber, 27, threw his support behind Clinton based on foreign policy among other issues. "I've lost a lot of friends over this," Feldschreiber said regarding his young peers. A Jewish New Yorker who has lived in Israel, Feldschreiber said he disliked Sen. Obama's willingness to meet with any nation's leader . "I don't think [Obama is] naive when he says he will deal with dictators...it shows complicity with real dangers." As for seating Florida and Michigan delegates, his family has a real stake in it: "My parents live in Florida, and their votes aren't being counted. Again."
Clinton has said that she does not wish to divide the party when it comes to the general election. Finnan knows that, but expressed the dire need for Clinton to take the White House anyway. Many present agreed and vowed not to vote for Obama in the general election, while others kept quiet and tried to support Clinton with positive remarks rather than attacks on her opponents.
There have been so many new voters energized by the untraditional candidates on hand. But some of these people at the rally - and the drivers of cars who honked as they sped by - probably fall under the category of those new voters, and newly enthusiastic voters, who will be lost immediately if Clinton is not the nominee. Some may call their efforts desperate or delusional, but the attempt comes out of the same urgency once felt by Gore in 2000 when a few hundred hanging chads on ballots in Florida were all that stood between him and the presidency. Only, now there's an added internal anxiety within the Democratic Party for what kind of change is best. Maybe over the next few months, Clinton's supporters will give their loyalty to the Democratic candidate no matter what, but some may not. They'll be writing Clinton's name in; the impact of such a possibility shouldn't be written off.