CNN

I dunno what else to say about madame Clinton. She should go home!

The only fair solution is to abide by the rules. YOU CANNOT CHANGE THE RULES MIDSTRIDE AFTER THEY ARE BROKEN AND EXPECT A FAIR RESULT FOR ALL CONCERNED. That would be weakness, incompetency, and simply unfair in any organization. Florida and Michigan broke the rules. Now if any concession is given then it would not be fair for those millions of voters who did not turn out to vote because they knew their vote would not count because they believed that the party would stand by its rules. Further, Obama was not on the ballot in Michigan. Is this Democracy??? Democracy without fairness??? Rewarding those that break the rules? Penalizing someone that played by the rules? Penalizing voters that played by the rules? "The rule of law is the closest link between man and freedom." JFK. What that means is abiding by the rules we all agreed to is essential to fairness which, in turn, is essential to a free and democratic society. The Florida and Michigan voters that did vote should redirect their angst at their own legislatures that got them in this mess.

This is all going to end in very bad taste and the whole process is going to make the USA look even worse than ever.

The DNC will pander to HRC as most of those "high up" in the DNC did not expect or want Obama to be the nominee. At the time, no one was worried 'cos HRC was ahead. Now those in power in the DNC see the FL and MI case(s) as one last chance to help HRC over the top, which is what was "planned" and "expected" all along – her being the nominee that is.

Somehow, HRC is going to be "given" the nomination in spite of being beaten and it'll all be made to look "right" and "legal" following a new interpretation of the "rules".

Obama is the USA's best hope to move forward and from the brink of falling into a very dark period but he'll be ousted by the more "powerful" and the world will look on and groan and laugh (maybe) and loose even more respect for a once all-powerful nation.

Oh how the mighty fall. Not just Clinton, McCain, Obama but the USA as a whole.

Sad, but the whole world still looks on with a little hope and faith.

it is sad the way clinton is going about florida and michigan. my fear is this, if mrs clinton cannot stick to simply party rules how can she stick to the constitution of the united state if she becomes the president?

kris

Florida and Michigan deserve to be punished, because they broke the rules. And they must be punished – otherwise, the 48 states who obeyed the rules are cheated.

Sen. Nelson's smile looked like a shark's, baring his teeth just before he eats you. Wow... he was nasty to McDonald!

I wish they could get the states to go on that program,"Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader".Florida just doesnt get it do they?

The job of any state's Democratic Party leadership is to see to it that more Democrats vote than Republicans– ultimately, the state-elected Republican legislature in Florida is the result of a failing Democratic Party in Florida. If Florida Democrats don't like being the "victims" of Republican rule, then they need to take responsibility for getting a Democratic majority into their state legislature. At the end of the day, Florida voters' "disenfranchisement" is not the doing of the national party, it's the doing of Florida voters. They need to realize that it's not the job of the national party to rescue them from themselves.

I agree. Michigan & Florida should be penalized. A 50% restoration is fair but no more.

Punish Florida and you are punishing the Democratic Party for which should not be blamed. It was the Republican Legislature that changed the date not the Dems!!!!!!

Hillary should get FULL votes/delegates.

If not, you'll see McCain win FL in November.

Changing the rules in the fourth quarter after the two minute warning is far from "fair" no matter how you slice it. And, despite the sunny disposition of some, unifying the democratic party is a dream at this point.

What democrats need to look at is the fact that running a campaign really does relate to how the country is run once the candidate is in the whitehouse. Bush is a really good example of this. I only hope that you democrats follow the advice of the DNC and get it together and get it together soon. This endless and useless bickering has to stop because you are losing us independent voters that you tried so hard to win over.

By the way, I went through a 4-hour democratic caucus process to cast my vote in February...but apparently caucus state voters don't matter in this primary, only Florida and Michigan voters, so it's a mute point.

I thought it was popular votes that count, why is Hillary fighting for delegates so hard if she's won more popular votes!

The woman is a disgrace to her party, she's the most undemocratic person I know. She'll trample on anyone rights just to get her way. SORRY NOT THIS TIME HRC, BARACK HAS ALREADY WON!

OBAMA – VP.CLINTON BOTH FOR 08

Let's show the ruling republicans that we what the two democrats to run together since they were both treated unfairly by Floirda and Michigan. This way they both can be heard and beat out the republicans.

OBAMA and CLINTON FOR 08
WE CAN DO IT TOGETHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TWO MINORITIES FOR OFFICE 08
WHAT A WONDERUFL HISTORICAL CHANGE THAT WOULD ME THE FIRST EVER.

GO OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO CLINTON!!!!!!!!!!!

Why is that Florida seems to be in a mess again? Why do republicans have the say when the democrats vote? This has to do something with the governor that wants the republican VP postition. So the republicans wanted the Clintons out early in the race. But they may be in a suprise if Obama should pick her as the VP.

Obama pick Clinton as your VP and really show you are for change by picking a woman as your VP. I wonder how Florida will then weasle their way out of losing to the democrat during the presidential election.

Obama pick Clinton as your VP its the only way to win. Especially in Florida.

THAT'S BULLCRAP CNN! Here you go again misquoting the facts. I have been watching the meeting and no one has conceded any such thing. The florida representatives have said that only the people's vote will count one person one vote. Delegates i1Delegate 1 vote. Super Delegates 1 Delegate 1 vote. So quit putting out what you wish to happen.

The DNC leaders are a set of "chickens" without gut! How else could they allow the Clintons' behaviour to influence thier actions and
(in)decisions so much.
They are not leaders but a set of "jokers"

Hillary's campaign said they will accept nothing short of having all the Michigan delegates apportioned to her. That is unlikely to happen. Because the resolution needs to presumably be approved by both candidates, if it is a deadlock who will actually decide?

According to the NYT, Donald Fowler supports Clinton while his wife supports Obama. Just a correction to the news account above.

On what day does this party SELF DESTRUCT ?

As I watch this hearing, I am shocked by the audacity of the members of the rules committee, specifically HIllary supporters on the committee, who seem to be the majority of the questioners/commenters, for"attacking" Senator Obama presenters for a willingness to concede to a compromise instead of disenfranchising Florida and Michigan voters as the rules committee initially decided. How dare any Hillary supporter from the rules committee ask a Senator Obama supporter why now they should not seat all, 100% of the delegates when it was their decision not to do so. Politicians are hippocrites if I've ever seen one and certainly this cowardly "Rules Commitee" is a joke.

Dear American Voters,

Hon. Senator McCain and Obama, besides each having many attributes and characteristics. The critical differences in my professional, political, and personal opinion are as under:

1. Presidential "Temperament and Integrity".
2. Little Washington "insider Versus outsider" connectedness.
3. Vision and mission for our nation future rather than past.
4. American policies first USA centric than other countries centric.

In my professional opinion one senator has it and the other does not. We need one for our Greatgrand Nation to address our all these challenges with a fresh, clean and new slate.

God Bless America. its diverse people, and our Greatgrand Nation.

Yours truly,

COL. [retd] A.M.Khajawall
Forensic psychiatrist, Las Vegas NV

I'd like to believe that Obama represents more than just rhetoric. A truly new politic, a politic of change that his compaign claims as their slogan means that he plans to "change" the old rules that have driven our government in Washington. If this is true I would support his efforts. So, why is this campaign relying of rules set by the party bosses who he proposes to challenge, diminishing the voting rights of the voters in Florida & Michigan.

If his campaign is in fact honest, then Obama should settle for nothing less than one person one vote.

Looking ahead, what's the DNC going to do about Florida in future primary elections? Unless the can change the date of their primary (which is unlikely with Republican control of the Florida State Legislature), won't they be in this same position during the 2012 primary?

Does it strike anyone else as wholly wrong that the very people who get to ask questions and decide the outcome of this hearing are Super Delegates who are in one candidate's camp or the other? Why is there no Independent body to hear these disputes and decide?
It's like asking the Fox to guard the henhouse.

Supporters were brilliantly selected, however for "Hillary's Uncle Tom"
supporters . this message is for you, you will never ever get ahead in in this country or have another chance to have an honorable man such as Obama run for president of the United States, you must be angry that Obama was not born from slavery, huh? (father was from africa, not an african from slave decendant) a totally different culture. thankfully he was not, and did not have to carry on that baggage, and by the way.. that is what makes him so special, that he is both white and black. Now go ahead you uncle tommers give Hillary the nomination and watch what happens to this country when an ambitiously power hungry woman get us in trouble with world leaders for over exercising her powers. thank you. no pun intended, we have modern days slaves in this country right now growing our crops and bringing the food we need to the table.

May 31st, 2008 12:56 pm ET
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Supporters were brilliantly selected, however for "Hillary's Uncle Tom"
supporters . this message is for you, you will never ever get ahead in in this country or have another chance to have an honorable man such as Obama run for president of the United States, you must be angry that Obama was not born from slavery, huh? (father was from africa, not an african from slave decendant) a totally different culture. thankfully he was not, and did not have to carry on that baggage, and by the way.. that is what makes him so special, that he is both white and black. Now go ahead you uncle tommers give Hillary the nomination and watch what happens to this country when an ambitiously power hungry woman get us in trouble with world leaders for over exercising her powers. thank you. no pun intended, we have modern days slaves in this country right now growing our crops and bringing the food we need to the table.

Every body have right to vote all have to be count. I agree no award to Obama in Florida or Michigan because he the one campaign for Pres and he pull out his name by him self so, that mean he don't want to be Pres for that state and stand for those people. Obama was racist campaign from beginning to the end and when he start enter in political.
Slow react that's mean bad Pres, bad judgment and bad leader. Obama not have enough qualification to be our President in the United States look at him without adviser he have no idea at all same as his cousin Bush.

Do not break the rules for Hillary's Party.

Loretta-A former Clinton Supporter

Using the "rules" as an excuse to deny the voters of Florida & Michigan the principal of one person one vote is not in sync with the Obama's campaign's promise of "new politics" or "change". IT IS MERELY MORE OF THE SAME POLITICS. The voters of both states are paying for the errors of their leaders. Sounds a lot like our soldiers who are bravely paying the price for Bush's mistakes in Iraq.

If clinton step down all the problem solve it self ,,,,but this lady is not ready to unite us ,,,how can she be a good president if she is not a good person

I'm glad that the Florida Representative concedes that Florida should be punished for violating the Democratic Party Rules. Now, hopefully everyone will realize that you can not break the rules without consequences.

Maybe, this lesson will help President Bush and Sen. Clinton since they both think that it is okay to break the rules as long as you get what you want.

Florida and Michigan both should expect punishment. And that punishment should prevent the seating of ANY dem delegates at the convention from either of the two states. Their DNC made the rules and the governing authorities CHOSE to break those rules. This is a no-brainer. Every vote should NOT count. All members of the DNC should be criminally indicted for violations of the Civil RIghts Act. Blame? You know exactly where the blame lies. Justice? INDICT EVERY MEMEBER OF THE DNC AND THE DNC AS AN ORGANIZATION ! ! ! Hard time is in order here. Maybe this will not happen again if there are consequences for this action.

Yep....punish the voters good for what their elected representives did!

Count all the votes! No! half votes, Voters are whole people not half, I am so disgusted, with The Democratic Party! I am quitting, registering as an Independent! I will NOT! vote for Barrock Obama NEVER!

Let's blame everything bad on the Republicans and take all responsiblity for everything good! Now that's the Democrats at work, doing no wrong as long as everyone is willing to turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to what's happenned the last few years.

WEXLER DOES NOT SPEAK FOR ALL OF FLORIDA AND I CANT WAIT FOR HIM TO RUN AGAIN.

GOODBYE

Supporters were brilliantly selected, however for "Hillary's Uncle Tom"
supporters . this message is for you, you will never ever get ahead in in this country or have another chance to have an honorable man such as Obama run for president of the United States, you must be angry that Obama was not born from slavery, huh? thankfully he was not, and by the way.. that is what makes him so special, that he is both white and black. Now go ahead you uncle tommers give Hillary the nomination and watch what happens to this country when an ambitiously power hungry woman get us in trouble with world leaders for over exercising her powers. thank you.
a latina woman.

At the age of 52 I have been a Democrat and voted Democrat all my life. I was shocked after the last election when Pelosi immediately said "immpeachment is off the table". That was strike one.

When the Democratic Congress continued to fund the unjust war in Iraq after campaining so hard that they were going to end it, that was strike two.

I now find myself "on the fence" and if the party leaders do not count every vote from every state that truely does represent the will of the people or, the super-delegates tip the election away from the popular vote then I will be an Independent as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow.

To not count all of the Florida and Michigan votes lowers us to the Republican Party standards which gave Bush the election in 2000. We all screamed bloody murder then...remember? What this will prove is that the elections in this country are corrupt but called honest as long as the person they want to win does win no matter how.

while florida did violate the dnc rules, i do think that some of the delegates should be seated, if they were to compromise. half of them should be seated, and out of those numbers, the apporpriate percentages should be given to the candidates accordingly. giving all of them back to florida would not be correct, since rules are there for a reason, punishment must be given out.

HRC supporters, you now see how deluded you've been... Not anyones fault but yours because you bought a LIE

What's scary is how many Clinton people are on that committee making this decision to stick to the rules - or not. Once again, it will be the network of "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" politicians making decisions that affect the regular people – not only of Florida and Michigan – but of the whole nation.

I hope they do the right thing.

We all learn early in our lives that there ARE rules. Rules are rules and you don't get to change them in the middle of the game for any reason. I learned that by age 5, didn't you?

Apparently the Clintons didn't. One can only hope that those 30 on the committee DID.

THAT THERE IS ANY PUNISHMENT OR PENALTY AT ALL IS SIMPLY RIDICULOUS AND STUPID! THESE DEMOCRATIC LEADERS ARE ACTING LIKE CHILDREN IN MAKING SUCH RULES IN THE FIRST PLACE. WHY WOULD A DEMOCRATIC CHAIRMEN OF THIS PARTY WANT ANY SUCH RULE IN PLACE, ESPECIALLY DURING A PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY? THE REASONING IS SO FAR-FETCHED, IT'S ABSURD. ALL THE VOTES SHOULD BE COUNTED. ALL DELEGATES SHOULD BE SEATED. A PRIMARY FOR THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION CANNOT BE SANCTIONED OR MANIPULATED BY A POLITICAL PARTY. IT'S CROOKED.

YES YOU GAVE IN THE THE REPUBLICANS. THEY MADE SURE THIS HAPPENED. SHAME, SHAME, SHA,E/

A group of civil rights attorney have said that delegates from FL and MI should be seated as the popular votes indicated. They even pointed out previous cases that the Supreme Court decided that had similar points of contention.
Seat all the delegates.
Obama campaigned by TV ads for 10 days in Florida, Clinton did not run ads yet Obama lost. In MI, Obama's name was on the ballot and only removed it after he knew he was 20 points behind. Clinton . Obama wants to win by default. Such a sleaze.

if they are not punished the whole party will break the rules in 4 years and it will not be fair.

It was the Florida Superdelegates that caused this problem. They should be the ones that are not counted, and split the rest 50-50

Only full representation is acceptable. Anything less is not democratic and shows how the party has lost its way. Thats why so many old line dems are leaving the party this year. Obama may win this battle but he'll lose the general election. Its way to late to talk about party unity, but thats right, the new dem party doesn't need peoplelike me anymore. Where will the Obamabots be in the off year elections?

I have a very bad feeling that If the Clinton camp does not get its wasy exactly as Hillary wants it, she will not accept party findings and raise a very big stink that will make everything that has transpired up til now look mild.

Ridiculous, DEMOCRAP at its best!!!!

First off, what idiot decided to break the rules, and 2nd who cares, votes re vote's, but democrats like to argue about stupid things so they feel important.....

I say let them all sit and let this be done, the irony is this is the same state that didnt know how to read a ballot. LOL!

FROM A REPUBLICAN

Florida and Michigan should lose all their Super Delegates. They made the mess and they should have to clean it up! The rest of the delegation should be seated divided according to the pledged delegate count in the contests that actually counted. Anything else is unjust.

If DNC punishes Florida or Michagan by not seating their delegates in the national convention, we, as voter, will punish the DNC by voting Republican in the local, state, national and the Presidential elections.

People mixed up the punishment of MI&FL moving up their primaries with voter rights. No one wants to deny voters their right, but rules are rules so it should be some form of punishment for sure. No doubt about that. The sticky point is: how to have a equitable SHARE for Clinton and Obama when a primary without campaign gave Clinton the BIG ADVANTAGE of being a very well-known, an ex-president's wife no less, candidate against Obama who was a new candidate in the national scene. Clinton knew she would get more votes so she didn't care about "no campaign rule". The primary is not normal and not fair at the beginning so voter rights of the people who decided not to vote are violated. if people want to stick to voters rights then no-vote voters have right too.

you break the rules, you pay !!!

no special treatments....avoid future primary moves by sticking to the
punishment....

Superdelegates in FL and MI definitely need to be stripped of their status for this convention. They are way more to blame than the voters.

Obama will compromise but will Clinton?

Why bother with rules!

Contrary to what some Clinton supporters have alleged in print, the choice not to let Florida and Michigan vote early in the primary wasn't arbitrary. Michigan and Florida are large states where it is very difficult to campaign because the media market is large, spread out, expenisve. If the large states vote early, less well known candidates have almost no chance to be heard because well known and financially well-backed candidates will dominate the process from the get-go.

I want small states Democrats to get a close look at all the candidates. I like that all the candidates can be face-to-face with my fellow Democrats in N.H., S.C. and Iowa before I vote here in Florida.

It's true that Florida Democrats were put in a bad position because of the Repbulican Lege and the Republican governnor. If Democrats had scheduled their primary at a different time than the main election, down-ticket Democrats wouldn't have had a chance, lacking the draw of the presidential primary.

In Michigan's case, a Democratic governor had the option of following the rules and wouldn't.

So how to balance this out so it is fair? That small states go first regardless of the machinations of large state legislatures and governors, but that down-ticket Democrats aren't hurt and that agreed upon rules are honored?

It's complex.

If Clinton were a different kind of person, the difficulty would be reduced. She would adhere to the rules she agreed to and not threaten the Party and the likely candidate with a destructive convention fight.

But the Clitnons are who they are. It's all about them and their ambition, and no pretense of her canidacy being best for the party can change that. Many of her supporters appear to be following her lead; for them, it's Clinton or no Democrat.

Now what?

I am from Michigan and I wanted to vote for Obama. I couldn't because he followed the rules and took his name off the ballot.

My vote doesn't count, but the votes Hillary gets from cheating do? This is absolutely unfair.

Why should they get even half of their delegates seated? You broke the rules, you pay the price. Since the citizens of MI and FL were led to believe their elections wouldn't matter, and there was only one name on the ballot, these delegates can in no way be representative of the population of those states!

True strength is in holding up principles and following the rule of law, not giving in by compromising. The Democrats need to learn this.

Lets get this done and over with.

Obama 08!

Yeah, right Howard; blame the media........

I see Democratic leaderlessship is bending over for the DNC

Wake up Florida and Michigan!

You knew the rules, you knew the penalty yet you decided to go forth anyway. Do the crime, do the time. YOU are responsible for your votes not being counted!

Mrs Clinton did NOTHING to stop the process before your primaries, she backed the decision of the DNC. ONLY once she realized that she NEEDED those delegates to have ANY hope of winning did she run to your corner. My friends, that is not called supporting you, that is called USING you.

So.... these "superdelegates", the "elected officials" that made this mess to begin with.... they want no penalty for them but a penalty for the innocent voters in FL and MI???

I think the FL and MI voters need to realize the real problem here, their state officials. VOTE THEM OUT IN NOVEMBER.

That means turning FL into a Democrat state and putting in new people in MI. This is especially true in MI, that saw that FL was an issue, knew what would happen and STILL WENT AHEAD.

There is no excuse!!! They made their people lose their vote but want to keep their power.

Let's just get this over with. Hillary is trying to find a way to win. If the DNC gives her all the delegates and takes the NOD away fro Obama there will be riots in the streets. Hillary has lost and the people have spoken. They want Obama.

Grow up Florida......when you don't play by the rules, you get kicked out of the game! And the Clinton campaign knows this.....they even agreed to this until Hillary got desperate for delegates. When you are told that you vote is NOT going to count, then who votes? Throughout all of this, I keep asking myself.....'who appears more presidential? Hillary with all her ranting and raving and riling up the crowds to support her unfounded position.......or Barack, sitting on the sidelines and letting the DNC make the decision?
Oregon supports Obama big time! Did the media notice?

It's over. Let's do this and move ahead to the fall.

If the DNC's remedy garnished 50% delagates from both Florida and Michigan and Obama was not fairly represented in votes in either state then to splt the remaining delagates 50% between Clinton and Obama sounds fair and equitable in my opinion. The surrounding issues will only complicate a remedy. And if Obama offers to give Clinton a few from his split...that's his perogative.

To all committee members: Seat ALL the delegates. If not we will Remember in November – EVERY NOVEMBER for the rest of your political careers!

If FL and MI followed the rules all this show will not be going down.the need to be penalize and any body blaming obama for this need to check them salf to the hospital.

The Florida Democratic Party does not realize what is at stake which is the future of the Democratic Party. Hillary Clinton's legacy will be the death of the Democratic Party. Why? She knew the rules and she agreed to them in the first place. This is an issue of integrity. Surely, everyone's vote should count, but the political process must be followed. That is the democratic way. Hillary is attempting to manipulate the process. Ethical and moral issues are at stake, and Hillary is trying to manipulate the situation. If she doesn't like following the democratic process, she should excuse herself from the Democratic Party and run as an Independent. If she gets her way, their will be two deaths-one to the democratic process and the other to the Democratic Party.

as a sports fan pete rose broke my heart, new england's coach showing power corrupts, clinton has shown power directs. to hear someone admit a mistake and knows the punishment is coming is so clean and "new". EVERYONE agreed when this started that fl and mi would not be counted. break the rules and get to washington dc and you break the rules and start a war like Iraq.

The Obama campaign representative said that Florida Superdelegates should be reduced by about 12 or 13 for Hillary Clinton. How is that? She did nothing wrong regarding the Florida primary being moved up. The Republican leadership in Florida was at fault! Why should one Democratic candidate be punished while the other gains? Why should Hillary Clinton be punished while Barack Obama gains?

plz behave like adult, don't cry over the punishment

forget the neo-con-owned corporate media!

google democracy now and start to get real information, insightful analysis, and real alternatives!

Why not seat the people's vote and remove the super delegates. The average voter had no say as to when they could vote, that is decided by party leaders. Let these states superdelegates stay home and send the representative delegates of the voters.

This orchestrated display of upset by the Clinton campaign is really showing all of us how "committed" to party unity Hillary Clinton really is.
She and her camp could not care less about the party being unified. She has convinced thousands of women that her not winning the nomination is somehow discrimination against women. Ridiculous.
As a woman, I want to reach out to these disillusioned ladies and beg of them to not make this about men vs. women. I, for one, am not at all interested in Hillary Clinton carrying the flag for women in this country. She certainly doesn't represent my philosophy in life of honesty and integrity. And, frankly, ladies, can't we have a stronger woman to rally behind? I am sorry, but letting your husband and partner in life carry on physical relationships with other women is not exactly the behavior of a strong woman. And, then, to go out and declare to the nation that the "outing" of his numerous affairs is part of some conspiracy against him... silly.
Just about as silly as the claims of conspiracy against her are today.

A financial penalty on the State Party would have sufficed.
Why punish the people who took the time to vote?

Your Democratic Party System is corrupt and vile.

At any rate the State Superdelegates MUST be treated the same way as the " regular " delegates.

The DNC lost me this time. THIS time (only the second time), I don't vote party — this time I vote for the country I love and have ALWAYS been proud of.

WHO ARE YOU REALLY, SENATOR OBAMA?
I happen to live in So. Cal., and yesterday I visited the Reagan Library here, which I’d planned to do for over year. I also remembered that, even though I'm a lifelong Democrat, I voted for Reagan. And seeing and watching him in action in film and photo, I remembered why.

He was a moderate politically, but he was a REALIST and packed a punch when it mattered: He simply WALKED OUT of discussions where the Soviets (then the perceived "terrorists") were trying to sabotage his defense strategies to protect Americans.

He refused to merely "talk" to those wanting to tear down or impede democracy. And after he made sure that America was strong miliarily — only then was he able to shout: "MR. GORBACHOV, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL! " And down it came!

Suddenly I remembered why I voted for him— HE WAS A MAN OF SUBSTANCE — A REALIST — NOT FULL OF EMPTY RHETORIC
Only Clinton and McCain come even remotely close! WHO ARE YOU REALLY, SENATOR OBAMA?

This whole committee is out of order

I agree with thtis Ausman guy! Bill Nelson is an idiot.

Rules are Rules. I do not agree With Senator Nelson's argument that it was athe Republican ligeslator who set up the RULES. Does this man know what he is talking about? As citizens, we have to follow the laws and rules no matter who estabilsh them. Senator Nelson has to go back to LAW SCHOOL and learn this!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why is the RBC even considering this? It's ludicrous. Florida and Michigan were warned what the penalty would be if they held their primaries early and yet they did it anyway. Why?

If the RBC reinstated any delegates from Florida or Michigan, they better expect endless fights in the future. They will be handing over any control of how primaries are run and states will do as they please, fully expecting to challenge and win later on.

All the candidates agreed to how this would be handled – no seating of delegates. Florida and Michigan knew the penalty for holding their elections early. Everyone knew what they were doing from the outset. Why should the rules be changed now – especially when it can change the outcome of the democratic primary?

This is wrong. Hillary knows it's wrong but doesn't care what the consequences are for the party or country. And if the RBC goes along with this nonsense, I think the democratic party will be crippled for a long time. I know I will look elsewhere. I refuse to be a part of this.

In speaking for the Obama campaign, it sounds to me a if Wexler is saying that Obama wants to disenfranchise the voters of Florida by taking away their votes by virtue of punishing voters for the acts of Florida Republican leaders who caused the taking away of the votes of voters in the first place.

People in Florida who did not vote are akin to the people in caucus states. where a miniscule number of voters decide for the whole state. The people in a caucus are more committed to the process. That does not mean they should represent the whole state, yet they do. The people in Florida who did not bother to vote are most likely the reason we have had such small turnouts year after year. A record number of Floridians did vote. Should that not mean as much as a caucus? Less then 10,000 people in caucuses can determine a nominee, yet 1.75 million voters do not represent a nominee?

Wexler is the worst example of a person elected to represent the people. His voters, the people who put HIM in office are being shafted by him. He was 'hired' to represent them not his own shallow interests and his hope to jump on the Obama gravy train. I hope he loses his next election... and badly. If his voters are too cowardly to kick someone who stabs them in the back out, they get what they deserve.

CNN and other rovian neo-cons are conspiring to paint the picture of mess and division in the democratic party, hoping to put mccain in the WH.

not that the democratic party is infested with neo-cons in the first place.

Mr. Ausman is not a representative for the State of Florida. The State of Florida Democrats are asking for the full delegation to be seated.

He is representing his own challenge.

Did you notice the crowd of protestors at the DNC for Hillary? Yeah, just what I thought.

FL party leaders should resign from their posts.
They don't represent their voters any more.

Florida Democratic Reps are so ineffective. They knew all along the rules ..way way before this situation. Surely they knew especially since what happened in 2000 but just in a different way. Shame on Floridas Democrats Reps.

I hope they don't plan on Michigan and Florida voting for them in November because I along with many of my fellow Michiganders VERY dissatisfied with how we as voters / participants have been treated. We did not make the rules and we surely did not break them ... why don't they strip half of the super delegates instead of the people's delegates! I have been a life long democrat and a true patriot and I can't believe that I am saying this but: "I may either vote republican (or another party) OR not vote at all in November because the things the democratic party is pulling this year".

I need to reiterate that the people/voters in Michigan and Florida DID NOT break the rules it was the leaders of our great states who decided when we would vote, so instead of punishing the little guy why don't you punish the people who made the decision to hold an early primary in the first place.

What is going on in the democratic party is a good thing and if you leave it alone you will most likely get better than anticipated results. So our (so called) democratic leaders need to pull their head out, sit down and shut-up and make some REAL decisions with the proper facts!