Clinton, Obama Are at Odds over Plans for Florida, Michigan

[DeepModem Mom]

Democrats Are at Odds Over Plans for 2 States
By JOHN M. BRODER and ABBY GOODNOUGH
Published: March 13, 2008

WASHINGTON — After a week of shadowboxing, Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama on Wednesday issued their clearest statements yet on the impasse over the disputed Florida and Michigan primaries. Naturally, they staked out opposing and irreconcilable positions.

Mrs. Clinton, speaking to a Hispanic business group Wednesday morning in Washington, argued that the Michigan and Florida delegates should be seated based on the results of the primaries. The Democratic Party has stripped the states of their delegates because they held primaries in January, earlier than party rules allowed. Mrs. Clinton won both contests by sizable margins and would narrow the delegate gap with Mr. Obama by about 60 delegates if the results were honored. She trails by more than 100 pledged delegates, according to most counts.

“The results of those primaries were fair and should be honored,” she told the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce here. Alternatively, she said, Florida and Michigan should hold new primaries, probably in early June after the scheduled primaries are completed, and perhaps by mail-in ballot.

In a news conference in Chicago on Wednesday, Mr. Obama said his campaign would work with the Michigan and Florida delegations to find an “equitable way” to ensure that they would be represented at the Democratic convention in August. But he said he would not go along with plans to accept the January results or to conduct a vote by mail. “I know the Clinton campaign seems to want to make up rules as they go along on this issue,” Mr. Obama said. “We’ve simply said we’ll play by whatever rules are established — that’s what we did with Florida and Michigan at the outset. We were told that they wouldn’t count. Senator Clinton agreed that they wouldn’t count — until she thought maybe they should count.”

Mrs. Clinton said last October that the Michigan primary was meaningless, but she left her name on the ballot. Mr. Obama and the other major Democratic candidates removed their names from the ballot in a gesture to early-voting states whose primaries were allowed by the party. Neither candidate campaigned in Michigan; Mrs. Clinton won with 55 percent of the vote to 40 percent for “uncommitted.”...

Any plan to redo the primaries would require the state parties to submit a plan to the Democratic National Committee’s panel on rules and bylaws. Officials from both states are locked in heated negotiations on the timing, type and financing of any new contest....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/us/politics/13delegates.html?_r=1&oref=login

[papau]

1. F'ck Obama if he rejects primaries he will lose - some Democrat - he is a disgrace

[skipos]

2. Clinton is delusional if she thinks MI was anything close to fair

1. tell the voters their vote won't count towards delegates
2. have the faux primary
3. tell the voters "Suprise! Those votes are now going towards delegates!"

THAT is fair?

And as for FL, a majority of voters disagree with Clinton.
Mason-Dixon poll
28% say redo the vote
24% say Clinton's win in Florida to count toward delegates.
15% say the penalty should stand
13% say split the delegates 50/50.