(CNN) – A Democratic National Committee spokeswoman confirms to CNN that the party has returned $45,000 to three Florida donors unhappy with the continuing uncertainty over the seating of that state's delegation at the party's presidential nominating convention this summer.
The move follows reports that some major Democratic donors from Florida and Michigan - the two states penalized by the party for moving their presidential primary votes to January - would look to have their donations returned if full delegations were not seated at the convention in Denver, or new votes held that would abide by DNC rules.
This week, Howard Dean met with Florida's Democratic congressional delegation and party leaders, and released joint statements with that group and with the Michigan committee looking to craft a resolution of the controversy in that state. Democratic state party leaders in both Florida and Michigan have announced that new votes are not logistically possible.
From CNN Politics
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If your not a socilist at 20 then you have no heart,
But if your not a conservitive at 30 then you have no brains.
Howard Dean has neither.
Don't blame Obama for the MI & FL screw up. I'm so tired of all of you HRC supporters blaming everything on Obama. Take responsibilty for yourselves for once! Sheesh! Grow up!
I say we put the Governator in the white house. Vote Arnold!
YES WE CAN travel back in time and blow stuff up.
Does the fact that Obama is getting close to reaching the all time high for the presidential campaign donation funds record mean anything?
Will he beat it?
Get a clue people, there is no RIGHT to vote in a primary!!!! I
It is not vote for an elected position.
It is a vote to determine who will run in the general election and is subject to the rules set by the party.
You have the right to vote in the general election.
Why is it wrong to want your vote to count?
Why does the Obama camp want to keep the votes from counting?
Why can't he win fair and square?
Count my vote or no money....
ok seriously...it frustrates me how stupid some of you bloggers are. Since when were the regular people (that's supposed to be us) rallying for the big wigs who throw money around because they've violated rules and are now being punished. Yes, the florida and michigan voters should have a voice, but it's not totally the DNCs fault. you can't break rules then demand how the situation be resolved. and for goodness sake, Obama said he would operate with whatever plan was agreed on and crafted a well-thought memo to adress some concerns. ughhhhhhhhhhhh im glad i'm neither democrat nor republican. on both sides with all candidates, it's just a bunch of hypocrites.
The DNC will need ALL dems to unite come November.
After the way they have treated Clinton, like she was Ann Coulter or something....well, your in for a HUGE suprise come November. I cant vote for Obama now in Nov, as his supporters have been just like what i would expect from the Republican Hate machine. I cant support a party like that. McCain, has been very civil. No name calling on his part.
So dear Obamabots....get ready for a real CHANGE come November. Hee hee! Youll have to change B.O.'s slogan from "YES WE CAN" to "NO WE CANT WITHOUT ALL DEMS".
In the 2000 election the supreme court upheld the notion that you can not change the rules in the middle of the game. I did not like that decision at the time as I felt the will of every FL voter needed to be sort. Now I understand the important principal they were upholding. For better or worse, the integrity of the election system is "the most" important factor. If the FL and MI delegates are seated according to what everyone agreed was a vote that would NOT count, then that principal of not changing rules mid-election would be violated.
Those who disagree might well be Hillary supporters but try to see this situation as if you did not have a candidate in this matter or better yet imagine your candidate was Obama or any one of the other Democratics who were in the race then. Now consider how fair a redo at this point would be. seat the delegates certainly, but it can not be based on the results of these unapproved elections.
Dean is a fool, and should never had let the Clintons lead him around by the nose. He deserves everything that is happening to him. I hope he gets accustomed to this headache because there will be more to come in August. What an idiot.
people need to look up to Obama for following the rules set, Hillary stated the votes didn't count for anything, when she was campaigning in New Hampshire, if you Floridians, and michigan folks think she would push this if she was ahead your living in her bosnia fantasy land. Also she didn't not release her 2007 tax returns now i see why she caters to the uneducated. Maybe you will know how to look up Mark Penn
I told the DNC I would not send a donation unless Florida and Michigan were seated now. Seating those delegates at the convention is useless. I'm from Florida and I want my vote to count now. Hillary won and she should get the delegates.
Roxanne,
No. The DNC is not a party of rights. The DNC is a party of RULES.
The rules were not a secret. The rules were constructed WITH THE HELP OF MICHIGAN and FLORDIA DEMOCRATS. Michigan and Florida broke the rules. Now they have to pay for it. It is NOT their RIGHT to break the rules and not have some punishment.
It's not as huge a loss as it might seem. The Florida and Michigan voters will indeed get their chance. In the general election.
We would not be in this mess if Obama had not been so full of ppremature ambition. The perfect ticket would hqave been Hillary for Pres. and Obama for VP. Then he could have run with some mesure of experience and we would have had a shot at 16 years of Democratic rule. Now we are only paving the way for a McCain victory. The ""swift-boaters" will chew Obama up over his lack of patriotisim and his wife's really stupid statement about pride in her own country....After Harvard no less. After the way this party has treated Hillary there is no way I will vote for Obama...none. There is always Ralph Nadar.
Clearly the leftist Dean and the DNC want Obama. But at what price?
A divided party? A republican congress and white house? The party is evenly divided yet they favor one candidate. The biased media machine makes it worse.
The chairs of the FL and MI delegations should remain empty as a symbol of protest of this illegitimate election. Illegitimate because all voters were not allowed to vote. BOYCOTT the DNC convention in honor of those who died for the voting rights law. CHANGE the channel.
All is not lost because there is no rule against a four horserace in November when all of the people are allowed to vote. Make it four in swing states and big states.
I have a problem understanding why this is even a controversy. I am still unafilliated but I'm getting pretty disgusted by the calls to seat delegates from two states that only one candidate campained in despite the fact that all candidates had sworn not to. All the Democratic candidates promised to remove their names from the ballot in Michigan, all except one did in fact remove their names.
All the candidates said they would not campaign in Florida, they didn't except one who "visited" for a fundraiser 3 days before the election. All of the candidates agreed that becasue the two states had broken the rules none of the delegates from those two states would be seated. Now because that one candidate that cheated is behind they have changed their mind and say the delegate should be counted? And somehow the fact that the Democratic Party is enforcing the rules that everyone agreed to is the fault of the candidate that lived by the rules. Man that is twisted logic. I have come to expect that of the right wing loonies, I somehow expected better of Democrats.
The Obama supporters who want to disenfranchise MI and FL should have their own votes rescinded. The Obama folks are just upset because he lost those states. And, guess what, Clinton and Obama both played by the rules in both primaries, so those folks saying that Obama did, but Clinton didn't, do not have a clue what they are talking about, but have just been listening to too much Obama campaign propaganda.
I can understand the Mich and Fla voters are angry but their anger is being directed at the wrong party. The DNC nor Obama voted to have the primary moved, the Democratic party for those states did. They are supposed to speak for the people but in this case they did'nt, so for those 2 states I would vote them out of office.
FL and MI going to McCain if Hillary is not the nominiee. Good job DNC for the stupid rule. Good job Obama for not co-operating.
Mr. Dean:
Count and certify the votes in Michigan and Florida.
At the risk of sounding ignorannt, could some one please tell me, why the DNC or anybody else cares, if a state moves thier primaries up, or when they have them?
Right, she knows what the average American goes through when most are living pay check to pay check. That is if you are lucky enough to have held your job during this recession and her top campaign guy is making more deals to out source more jobs. What a bunch of B.S.
4/4/08
HI GLEN & STAFF,
OBAMA, A LEADER, RUNS ON A PLATFORM OF HOPE AND INSPIRATION TO HELP THE UNDERPRIVILEGED AND HEAL THOSE IN NEED. HE SHOULD PRACTICE WHAT HE PREACHES!
THE OBAMAS CONTRIBUTED A PALTRY AVERAGE OF I% TO CHARITY FOR YEARS, RAISING THE DONATION TO 3% WHEN
HE STARTED HIS RUN TO BE PRESIDENT. WHAT KIND OF EXAMPLE DOES THAT SHOW? I GUESS WITH "MILLIONS" OF DOLLARS THEY NEEDED IT MORE. OBAMA WANTS US TO SHARE THE WEALTH BUT HE IS FAR FROM BEING GENEROUS. HIS MESSAGE IS "DO AS I SAY DO, NOT AS I DO! DISILLUSIONED
DEMOCRAT VIVIENNE AVARE
It's utterly amazing how jaded and misinformed people are. Fl and Mich were never intended to be disenfranchised by the DNC, but because there respective gov's decided to break party rules by moving their primaries up, that's exactly what happened. Nobody in their right mind would intentionally try to disenfranchise anybody's vote (excusing republicans) expecially Fl because of what happen in 2000, so what's driving this outward and unjustified hostility towards the Dems? The republicans, and yours truely Hillary Rodham Clinton.. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that FL Gov Charlie Crist and the GOP are serving there own self interests by crying foul over the mistreatment of voters when there the ones who broke the rules in the first place. Gov.Crist knew what the outcome would be if he decided to go along with the move, so in typical republican fashion, he himself decided to disenfranchise the millions of FL voters and use the DEMS as a smoke screen. I remember back in Jan 08, when HIllary left her name on the ballots in MICH and FL, and how everyone said it was a beauty pagent because the rules were excepted by "everyone" as being broke, thus disabling the votes from counting, but Hillary had other plans. She wanted to get a cheap win, and she did. She ran off the name value of her husband, and without even a chance to make their cases, Edwards and Obama were themselves disenfranchised out of the race. This women is a cheater, a lier and a thief, and if hillary supporters can't see that then there a little more than blind, there just being plain stupid. I know you want your "woman president", but come on. If Barack had played the game in the fashion hillary's played it in, you people would be ready to lynch this guy...
Give me a break
didn't you hear? hillary's rich! she can pay for everything herself.
oh by the way hillary why don't you pay those small business owners back in Iowa and Ohio who are still awaiting payment from your campaign? you're obviously not short of cash
Hillary Clinton Ready to Lie from Day One