Clinton repeats calls to seat Florida and Michigan
(CNN) - Hillary Clinton repeated Thursday that delegates from Florida and Michigan be seated at the Democratic Party’s national convention this summer, and appeared to suggest she is open to the possibility of holding do-over contests in both states.
"I'm going to let the leadership of both states see what they think is the best approach," Clinton told reporters in Washington. "I think that it would be a grave disservice to the voters of Florida and Michigan to adopt any process that would disenfranchise anyone and I'm still committed to seating their delegations and I know that they're working with the Democratic party to determine how best to proceed."
Clinton's latest calls for the delegations to be seated come amid an increasingly heated back-and-forth between officials from both states and the national parties. Both the Republicans and Democrats sanctioned both states earlier this year for holding their primaries ahead of February 5 - the Democrats said Michigan and Florida's entire delegations would not be seated at the convention while the Republicans said only half of each state's delegates could be seated.
The Democrats’ decision on how to proceed with both states' delegates could have critical impact on the presidential nominating race - both Barack Obama and Clinton are locked in close contest for pledged delegates, and neither will be able to attain the needed 2,024 to clinch the nomination.
Obama's campaign has criticized Clinton for seeking to "change the rules" after Florida and Michigan voted, and said it will follow the party's leadership on the issue. Clinton came out on top of both states' meaningless contests in January. Neither candidate campaigned in the states, and Obama was not on the ballot in Michigan.
Clinton's comments come the same day Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, a supporter of the New York senator, formally wrote a letter to Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, calling on him to pay for a re-vote in his state. (Read Nelson's Letter [PDF])
“With two outstanding candidates battling so closely for their party’s nomination, there’s no way you can tell nearly two million Florida voters they don’t count," he said.
Dean has said the party will not pay for do-over contests.
"[The DNC's] job now is to elect the President of the United States and we're not going to have the resources to run a primary in Michigan or Florida," Dean said on CNN's American Morning Thursday. "So we hope they can comply with the rules, but they're going to have to figure out how to pay for it."
Related: Florida Gov Charlie Crist discusses the potential of a second primary
- CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney
Ok.
Let's ignore the voters in MI and FL.
And let's make Obama the nominee.
And then let's see what the people who voted for Hillary in MI and FL do during the general.
Since Obama says that Hillary is McCain Lite, then it should be easy enough for them to vote for McCain.
Remember, in the general it's winner take all and MI and FL are swing states. Only a few votes are required to win.
I'm ready to concede the nomination to Obama and the Obama-bots, but it will be a Pyrrhic victory. They will lose the general.
🙂
Hillary needs to have the foresight to get out now.
I know she will not but she has to know she can not draw independent or disenfranchised Republican votes. These votes are critical in November. Those votes will be the difference.
Hillary = McCain and more war, and more of the same.
Independent for Obama
Democrats are going bonkers. They're using Democrat tactics against each other (even though they're still blaming Rove), and the base is going nuts.
It's amazing to see the reactions when they discover the Democrats AND Republicans are equally crooked...
You guys want the Florida and Michigan votes to count? Well then, figure out a way to runa new election there, since majority of the candidates were not even on the ticket... if it is democracy you want. Otherwise this would be just a scam to support LCinton since she was the ONLY ONE on the ticket in Florida.