Barack Obama should call for the Florida and Michigan delegations to be seated at the convention -- not as a concession to the Clinton camp or because of pressure but as an outside-the-box show of strength.
The Illinois senator has several things going for him right now: He has what everyone agrees is an insurmountable lead among pledged delegates; he has an imposing lead in total popular vote; and those facts give him this trump: superdelegates -- elected officials and party operators -- are not going coronate Mrs. Clinton in the face of all those advantages without a wildly compelling reason.
Put it another way: The superdelegates won't risk crippling the Democratic party by driving black voters out of it short of a colossal Obama collapse -- like wearing an al Qaeda flag pin while holding rallies with Jeremiah Wright. The Clinton camp has trotted out various arguments -- some quite silly -- for why the superdelegates should nominate her, but the nomination is his to lose.
But there's one argument that needs be addressed: Democrats don't want to go into the fall risking offending voters in a state they need for victory (Michigan) and one they desperately want (Florida).
So here's what Obama should do: Get bigger than the problem. Say that while the arguments against seating the delegations are all valid and helpful to him, as presumptive head of the party he needs to think of its best interests. And right now the Democrats' best interests lie in a united front in the fall. So he'll support the two states' delegations being seated.
Properly presented -- and if Barack Obama is good at anything, it's proper presentation -- it would demonstrate a position of strength.
Here's what would happen:
- The press and bloviators would go wild, entering new paroxysms of ecstasy over his ability to transcend old politics.
- The Clinton camp would be confused -- who knows, maybe they would even oppose seating the delegations out of sheer reactive instinct.
- The numbers would not change dramatically -- Obama would still have an insurmountable delegate lead and a formidable popular vote lead.
- The superdelegates, faced with more Obamamania, would have less room or reason to dislodge Obama.
Crazy? Probably. But it's time for a power play.
using his powerful oratorical and persuasive skills,.......
as well is his unerring ability to find and claim the moral high ground!!
What does that look like in this case?
In secret behind-the-scenes negotiations he has HIS LAWYERS scotch the deal to have the voters of Michigan and Florida (FLORIDA!!) heard. His rationale?...... as explained to the voters?...........(crickits chirping)..............apparrently he's decided that "the less said, the better".
(His TRUE rationale:?? "What's in this for ME?")
Thank God for the inspirational "new" politics in which .....WE! ......yes every ONE of us!.......(with the exception of residents of Fla. and Michigan) are the change WE'VE been waiting for!!
Now tell us a little more about bowling, Sen.
Let me be the first to affix my bumper sticker: IMPEACH OBAMA......................................................tm
Revote? Too expensive. Who would pay for it? If Sen. Clinton is serious about giving these battleground states their say, then caucuses should be held. One third of the cost should be paid by each candidate's campaign, and one third by the DNC. To counter Clinton complaints that caucuses would benefit Obama and his organizational skills, Mrs. Clinton should be allowed to decide when they would be held.
While this idea isn't perfect, nothing will be. If this problem isn't solved, then it could be remembered as the 'hanging chad' spectacle of 2008.
Second, I am sure the delegates will be seated at the Democratic Convention, but the solution will not be approved until the campaign is over. MI, FL and the Clinton's are not in a position to dictate the terms. OBAMA will be ahead even if Hillary gets all the delegates she is asking for so the whole thing will be mute.
But, this isn't cool for Hillary, she looks desperate and underhanded and Rendell is pathetic whining about it. SAD to be so desperate that it shows.
Florida - Clinton – 49%/Obama - 33%
105-67 delegates
becomes 53-33 Clinton gains 20
Michigan - Clinton-55%/Other (Obama) - 40%
73-55 delegates
becomes 37-28 (Clinton gains 8)
are by no means to be equated. Rev. Wright courageously pointed
to extreme racism by the US and our "stalwart allies" The State
of Israel against the people of Palestine. He perceived the
racism, perceived the Israeli/US STATE-TERROR against the
democratically-elected governemnt of Palestine, perceived
massacres, perceived labor exploitation of Palestinians, perceived
the occupation of GAZA, perceived the appropriation of Palestinian
land and water "for Jews only", perceived torture. Rev. Wright
perceived this against international law. Barack Obama wants
to dump all Muslims into one pit, to treat Palestinians like
a subspecies, not really human, not near the equal of those who
read the Torah. That is prejudice and discrimination.(See Ackerman
in this week's "The Nation", or Daniel Levy in "The American Prospect"
of April,08). Senator Obama is following his "mentor", Joe Lieberman
of Connecticut.
Member: Jewish Voice for Peace (Jews,Christians,Muslims,Other
20,000 Members currently
he can't even come up with a compromise in his own party and to address the "pouting" when he's losing, he always seems to need an Oprah or a Richardson to help him out of a mess(Rev Wright).
come read a few more stories at:
http://hillaryisourchoice.com/simplemachinesforum/
if he can;t settle this in his own party, how can he be the uniter, the change agent???
Hillary has proven she's a BIG liar about her coming under sniper fire and she said it three different times and what's the BIG secret about not releasing her tax returns? Says she will release them now on April 14th, don't hold your breath and let us not forget the WhiteWater scandal.
I'm from Michigan and I didn't vote because everyone was told Obama's or Edwards name would not be on the ballot because there were no delegates given in the democratic race because Michigan moved their primary dates and didn't follow the rules.
Rules are rules and Hillary even sent a letter to the DNC saying she accepted the DNC's ruling of not seating Michigan and Florida because they didn't follow the rules but since she is now losing she want those delegates from Michigan and Florida even though Obama's name was not on the ballot in Michigan, what a joke
A lot of people didn't vote in Michigan and a lot of people were mad because Obama's name wasn't on the ballot.
...................................................................................................................
RIP - HRC Presidential Aspirations
And what of the people who didn't vote because they knew their votes didn't count? The Clintons claim the Obama campaign is disenfranchising voters in Michigan and Florida, they are guilty of the same thing because they AGREED to it! It wasn't until AFTER Hillary was losing that she cried foul, which is essentially changing the game in the 9th inning.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am an Obama supporter, and I really want to include MI and FL because they should be counted. Splitting them half and half is more than fair based on how the country is split between the two candidates thus far (especially since Obama is winning). For Hillary to claim "wins" in these states is ridiculous because there was to be no campaign and no delegates. The dissonance is startling!
"THE BETTER PERSON"?! How do you become the better person by not disclosing your earmarks that didn't make it into legislation? How do you become the better person by not disclosing your taxes? How do you become the better person by lying about Bosnia, Ireland and NAFTA? How do you become the better person by then going to Canada and telling their government officials not to worry about your anti-NAFTA rhetoric while giving them a wink and a nod?
Please, go ahead and explain your better person theory. Please also explain how you can know for sure that the results in FL and MI wouldn't have been different had they been held when they were supposed to? Look at almost every other state in which Obama either overtook Clinton entirely or nearly closed enormous gaps.
Wishful thinking and telling yourself lies will only get you so far. You might want to try a different route.
your suggestion is nonsensical at best... he doesn't have anything to prove except that rules are rules, and changes to them have to come about in a way that is not prejudicial to the anyone's interests.