Breaking: Clinton Camp Concedes FL/MI Sanctions

[slinkerwink]

In today's conference call, the Clinton campaign conceded any rules-based or fairness-based argument for the full seating of the Florida and Michigan delegations. The Clinton campaign declared that, unlike Iowa, NH and South Carolina, Florida and Michigan did indeed break the DNC rules and without justification. The Clinton campaign expressly disagreed with the Michigan Democratic Party's contention that the DNC had selectively enforced its rules by allowing New Hampshire and South Carolina to break the sanctioned primary schedule, that Florida was not entitled to a safe harbor or waiver, and that the DNC had acted properly and within the rules when it stripped Florida and Michigan of its delegates.

This concession means that the Clinton campaign accepts that since rules were broken by Michigan and Florida, there is likely to be a sanction or other consequence. Therefore, as BTD points out, the only remaining argument the Clinton campaign has is that we must ignore the rule breaking by Florida and Michigan because 1) these states are important in the general election and thus their delegates must be seated in full and 2) these states are important to me winning the nomination, and thus their delegations must be seated in full.

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/30/13333/0744

This race is over.

[anonymous171]

1. Whoever pressured them into doing this, good job.

[Cha]

7. That is the most direct way to look at this..

and thank you for stating it and thanks to those who indeed did convince the bilary machine.

[PoliticalAmazon]

25. Okay, I'm cynical, I admit...but this is just too good to be true, coming...

from the Clinton campaign. It is totally out of character and totally out of their pattern of politics.

I hope I'm wrong, but I have this feeling that the other (bad) shoe is going to drop at the most incovenient time.

If this is what it appears on face value (and not much of what the Clintons can be taken at face value), then the DNC must have put some powerful mojo together to force her to concede. And I'm thankful they did.

Damn, I feel that other(bad) shoe looming over us, though....

[damntexdem]

39. All of these shoes!

How many feet does the woman have? ;-)

[sudopod]

58. It's like getting stomped on by the Luggage

[canucksawbones]

61. great A'tuin

not the sentient pearwood luggage...

Pratchett is a brilliant man

[sudopod]

59. It's like getting stomped on by the Luggage

[CoffeeCat]

47. With her little PR stunt...

...all keyed up and ready to go--tomorrow--it makes you wonder exactly what is
going on.

Ok, she's being nice and rational. That's totally out of character. She's been
irrational, and intentionally mischaracterizing the FL/MI situation as some
kind of voter alienation issue. Two days ago, she compared Floridians to people
who had endured slavery.

So, why the nicey-nice now? It's a legitimate question.

I hope I'm wrong. However types like this usually play nice to change perceptions
of them--before they do something really bad.

Again, I hope I'm wrong.

[Heather MC]

85. That has been her MO all along,

Remember after Kentucky, her speech sounded like a concession speech, she said both Senator Obama and I agree that MI and FL need to be seated.

She called him but his name and title 3 times, in stead of the usual "my opponent" or "the other guy"

She said she would "work hard for the nominee"


THEN:
the very next day her pantsuit wearing ass, went down to FL and compared their situation to Zimbabwe, slavery, and the civil rights movement. SHE sent out emails encouraging the protest

This woman is scum don't fall for her okie dokie, it will just make it that much more painful when she pulls the rug out from under us again.

Until she says on Camera, that she is throwing her full support to Obama the next President of the US, and backs it up with action, swearing on a Holy Bible, holding two forms of Government Idea, with a priest, rabbi, pastor, and tribal Shaw-man present. I will not believe her!

[peacetalksforall]

Please don't forget to include the DLC - they ARE her advisors and schemers.

[defendandprotect]

95. Right -- private corporate money pushing this ---

[Divine Discontent]

77. she knows it's over but this does some things for her, if I understand right

it gives her some more delegates to inch her closer to the # needed, and even though she's got no chance of passing Obama's total, she maybe is holding out hope that IF something happened she would be able to say to the SD's that she should get their backing b/c she's so close - otherwise - it's what we all knew, it's been over for a month, but she's just trying to hold out in hopes of a big scandal and to recoup lost money....


New Obama Items Weekly!
www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable

[YDogg]

94. agreed

[Schema Thing]

34. I think it was us. With a little help from Stewart and Colbert. n/t

[PoliticalAmazon]

52. I'm wondering if it was--of all people!--Scott McClellan who brought this about...

Regarding Hillary's surprising ceding of the MI/FL vote challenges...

I think the impact of Scott McClellan's book, and especially his interviews, are going to have a profound impact on our political system, including the media which is now an integral party of our politcal system.

In fact, I think it may be why he published it NOW and not after Bush leaves office. He sees the run-up to the Iran invasion as being similar to the Iraq run-up (at least that's what I got from his interview on KO last night). My impression of this Iran fixation by the Bush administration is that they want to get us committed before they leave office, and McClellan may think so, too. Anyway, by coming out now he has put the media, the neocon-appeasing Dems in Congress, and the American people on notice: you allowed youself to be lied into a Mddle East war before, so don't let it happen again!

I think McClellan's book is also a strong statement against Hillary Clinton's tactics and the longlasting damage it has on the party and the candidates. He used the example of Bush Sr's campaign take-down of Dukakis. Dukakis, a fine and more moderate Democrat, was painted as a leftwing loon, and this reputation has stuck.

I think the DNC and other party leadership have had to take a good look at Bush Jr's mistakes and the results, and weigh how similiar Hillary's tactics are, the way she is trying to destroy Obama (like Bush Sr destroyed Dukakis), and they don't want that for the Dem Party.

Perhaps the DNC remembered how Bush stole the 2000 election, and what a terrible thing it was for our country. They don't want to have a Democrat branded as an election stealer, and I think they must be wondering at this point whether, in fact, Hillary is completely ill-suited to being president.

So I think McClellan, intentionally or not, has really changed the political landscape by his book, which was a great big wakeup call on two fronts: the Iran invasion lead-up going on now and Hillary's Bush Jr tactics and attempt to steal the election. He's saying, PAY ATTENTION. You let this occur before, don't do it again!

It is a great big reality check for all of the pols who have the power to work for change.

[crickets]

62. Great post. -nt

[dmr]

80. Yes, I think McClellan has sobered-up quite a few people

Especially about Iran. The writing is on the wall that those in the WH, who have nothing to lose, want to get something going. Scotty's book is a huge wake up call for so very many people.

There are a lot of people who are belittling Scotty - for whatever their reasoning. I don't think his speaking out while still in the WH would have accomplished anything, in fact, I think he would have just been dismissed. Now here it is. The timing is right - at a time when more and more people are open to reflection. Those who are open can work on those who prefer to cover their asses instead of owning up to the part they may have played. Work on them to see what is facing us if we allow ourselves to be snookered again by the bullshit coming out of people like Cheney.

While we all reflect on the HBO movie "Recount" and on McClellan's book, Iraq and Iran, people most likely are reflecting on a lot of other things. Like this election, for instance, and the ones that preceeded and no one said a word except for a lot of disrepected citizens and the Black Caucus in January, 2001.

[defendandprotect]

96. Also . . .

I think the RFK comments were explosive for her campaign --

[dana_b]

63. I think you're right

at least about the "us" part.

[SharonRB]

2. Hallelujah!

At last.

[gal]

3. I don't think they ever said they did NOT break the rules...

They argued that the punishment disenfranchised voters and to seat them anyway.

[slinkerwink]

5. not anymore since they made the concession

[Higher Standard]

11. Which, in itself, is not a compelling argument

At least in terms of Michigan, where the absence of a number of prominent candidates from the ballot and the knowledge of voters that they wouldn't be on the ballot made it abundantly clear that whatever result came out of the election there would not accurately represent the will of the voters of Michigan.

[mohc]

4. Is it April 1st....

...something must be wrong with my calendar....

[truedelphi]

22. In Hillary land it might well be April 1st n/t

[damntexdem]

42. In HIllaryland, every day is April 1st.

At least until the convention. And maybe until January. ;-)

[blogslut]

6. good

n/t

[Major Hogwash]

8. So, the McCain-backed protest is off for tomorrow?

Hope those nutjobs got the memo.

LoL

[CaptJasHook]

30. I hope they already spent the airfare.

I know that is a-holish, but it would serve them right.

[stlsaxman]

90. i don't think Scaiffe will miss the money for their tickets...

:shrug:

[soleft]

9. Somewhere Rachel Maddow is breathing huge sigh of relief

[Shakespeare]

45. No, I don't think Rachel will do that until Hillary is officially out.

There've been too many times we've thought "okay, then, she's done." Remember all those zombie movies where you just THOUGHT the zombie was finally done in, only to have it rise up and grab somebody from behind? That's how I feel right about now.

[Hutzpa]

60. lol!

bwahahahaha!!

:rofl:


Zombie rising again....

[my3boyz]

10. Well, First Read has something totally different.......

*** UPDATE *** Also on the conference call, the campaign repeated what it said it earlier in the week: that it wants the full Florida and Michigan delegations to be seated; that it wants them seated according to the January primary votes in each state; and that the "uncommitted" votes in Michigan can't be given to Obama -- they must remain uncommitted.

"We are hopeful and confident that after hearing all the arguments and hearing all the facts ... that all the delegates will be seated and all of them will have a full vote," Ickes said.

Moreover, the Clinton's campaign general counsel issued a letter to members of the DNC's Rules and Bylaws committee, which takes issue with the DNC analysis suggesting that Florida and Michigan must be penalized by at least 50%. "The RBC," the letter says, "has broad powers to fully reinstate the Florida and Michigan delegations. Rule 20(C)(7) allows the RBC to forgive violations when a state party and other relevant Democratic party leaders and elected officials have taken provable, positive steps and acted in good faith to bring the state into compliance with the DNC’s Delegate Selection Rules."

[AllentownJake]

14. Show me the good faith effort

to be in compliance with the rules.

[madfloridian]

16. I will take First Read's opinion over Talk Left.

.

[Tinksrival]

20. Talk Left = Hillary08.com

Edit to add:

Big tent Democrat at Talk Left is Armando who left The Daily Kos. He originally was a big Clark supporter and was on that famous Hillary conference blogger call.

[IllinoisBirdWatcher]

69. Yes, the qupted paragraph is absolutely correct

but we've all seen the Florida Democratic leaders giggling on their house floor over the "provable, positive steps" they took in not-so-good faith.

A ten-year-old wouldn't buy that argument.

[Douglas Carpenter]

12. then expo-facto they are conceding the nomination to Sen. Obama

This along with hoping they could convince several supers was there only conceivable hope of keeping anything going at all

[Major Hogwash]

13. So, this won't screw up the weekend, now?

Faux Snooze is going to be dissapointed.

[Imagevision]

15. Now can she be VP.? (just kiddin)

[berni_mccoy]

17. UNBELIEVABLE! Please Let This Be True and what they are really thinking!

[Doityourself]

18. The Gang of Four released its own letter today..

laying out political consequences if the committee does punish Michigan:

"Senator Clinton and Senator Obama understand that penalizing Michigan would needlessly and pointlessly wound their candidacy. If you vote to penalize Michigan, you will keep this issue alive, distracting from the real issues in the campaign. You would also be penalizing our candidates and our party, and ultimately our nation, because you would be weakening our nominee's chances of winning Michigan, a state that is critical to our winning the White House in November."


In the midst of Democratic National Committeeman Joel Ferguson's delegate plan schizophrenia, the media missed a big story: Barack Obama supports the Michigan Democratic Party's compromise. In fact, that just might explain some of the Clinton hysteria.

The MDP plan awards 69 Michigan delegates for Hillary Clinton and 59 for Obama. Sen. Obama wanted a 64-64 delegate split and Clinton originally wanted a 73-55 division. Now Clintonistas have taken a harder line (more on that in a moment).

The Obama campaign supports seating the Florida and Michigan delegations in full, Obama's Michigan campaign director Michael Simon told me. A Democratic National Committee (DNC) memo indicates only half the delegates can be seated, but it might be possible for the entire delegations to go and their votes be worth half.

"That is not an acceptable solution. We'll be pretty disappointed if they're docked by half, but Barack Obama is not the nominee yet," Simon said. "That's something that he will work swiftly to prevent when he is the nominee."

Meanwhile, Ferguson -- who's ironically set to argue the MDP's case Saturday to the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee, says Obama should get zero delegates here.

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/contributors/1646

[truedelphi]

24. Thank you for all this info. My big fear is that

Hillary does something like this, in which she appears to make a concession, and then at the last minute, she has her gangs of protesters show up and they raise heck and the media takes the side of the protesters.

But if it is true that his is a real concession...

[Youphemism]

19. The race was already over. This implies unity.

Given that they're conceding to half-seating of delegates, I think this splits ranks between the Clinton camp and any "voter suppression" claims. It appears she's dropping the "civil rights" baloney.

They weren't going to win with that argument anyway, but they could have lost the GE for Obama by getting everyone upset.

Hillary has this habit of going soft, then hard again in her campaigning technique. But if they stick with this approach through the weekend, good for them. It would at least suggest that Hillary would not ruin the party's chances just because she is not the nominee.

Of course, it's possible that this release is based on some backroom deal to get her on the ticket. The delegate seating issue never provided an endgame that got her to the nomination anyway. But it did represent a threat she could use to gain some other advantage.

But enough conspiracy theory talk. For now, I'll accept this as a positive sign and, once we've made it through the weekend, offer my kudos to the Hillary camp, whether or not they were coerced into doing this.

If she shows up on the ticket later, then I'll have to wonder. But if this change is carried through the weekend, it represents a major hurdle passed by the democrats for winning in November.

We *may* have avoided the iceberg. I still want to see this play out, though.

[polichick]

21. Do we dare to hope for a graceful exit!?

[ForeignSpectator]

27. It's way too late for a graceful exit, after all that has happened, the exit can no longer be

graceful.

[polichick]

28. Okay - do we dare to hope for a whacked-out exit?! :)

[ForeignSpectator]

32. Oh sure!

:hi:

[damntexdem]

44. Hey, I'm willing to vote an exit graceful so long as it's fast.

It's sort of like adopting by majority vote a proposal to make a decision unanimous. But I'm still willing to go along with it -- if only she will finally get out.

[The Wizard]

87. She'll get out

but she laid the groundwork to sabotage the GE for Obama so she can resume her campaign in 2012.

[PoliticalAmazon]

23. Dang. I guess the Pots-N-Pans brigade won't happen now on Saturday? n/t

[Why Syzygy]

41. Read again.

It's nothing. Probably a piece in a trap they are setting.

[truedelphi]

43. That's my take also

Having just watched "Recount" in which the media, circa Election 2000, is quick to jump on the Repuke organized protests as a sign that people of Republican persuasian had their vote denied, I expect the same thing to happen this Saturday with Hill supporters taking the place of the Repukes.

[CoffeeCat]

49. That's exactly what I'm wondering...

Hillary sounds reasonable and gracious now. What if she's just behaving that
way, so she can say that she's on record--conceding and "compromising"?

Then tomorrow, she'll see all of those protesters and say, "Ok, We all know that
I am willing to compromise and give in. However, after seeing all of these
Americans...who have paid their own way to DC--and fought so hard---how can I
deny them their vote? This is not about conceding or meeting this issue
half way. This is about Americans! This is about the right to vote and the
voice of the people! How can I look my supporters in the face, and tell them
that I gave up on them? I can't! We must take this fight all the way to
the convention!"

I heard that there will be 4,000 Hillary protesters on Saturday.

[PoliticalAmazon]

54. But who is doing the counting? If it's the Hillary campaign or its supporters...

there is no telling what kind of math they may be using.

[truedelphi]

100. I'm breathing a slight sigh of relief - only

I can't really exhale until this is over.

Reports are there are only 300 to 400 protesters. I have both fingers crossed, and my legts at the ankles.

[Coexist]

48. no, that will happen

[southern_belle]

26. Maybe I'm missing something, but "First Read"

seems to say something different? It doesn't sound like she is conceeding anything. :shrug:

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/

[Life Long Dem]

29. I think she is just conceding the rules.

MI and FL broke the rules and she admitted they did.

But that doesn't mean there isn't something else that can be argued in her defense.

[southern_belle]

36. Oh, o.k., thank you, LLDem

:hi:

[bigpenguin]

72. Yeah

"MI and FL broke the rules and she admitted they did.

But that doesn't mean there isn't something else that can be argued in her defense."

Insanity?

[Az_lefty]

31. Finally they come to terms with reality.

Hillary could easily gain her integrity back with moves like this one. I'm not saying this simply because I now support Obama (having supported Biden and Edwards earlier) but it's simply the right move in order to pull the party back together.

Cheers to the Clinton camp for doing the right thing! :toast:

[Cha]

74. Sorry to be the skeptic here

but, I'm not getting any hopes up for that crowd. My hopes are all on Obama and his campaign having the savvy and the class to work through the obstacles thrown in their way.

[yourguide]

33. Wow...is this for real?

[damntexdem]

46. Given where it comes from, I wouldn't say that it's for real.

But if HRC drops out, I'll be glad to call it for real.

[Coexist]

35. .

[Jersey Devil]

37. I'm guessing this means a settlement's been reached

Look, this is not a court or a jury so there is no secrecy required. The different sides and the committee members have probably been discussing this and making offers and counter offers for weeks at least. An announcement today that the Clinton camp is conceding that there were violations of party rules is something I think would be done only if there was a settlement. Otherwise it would be foolish to give in on that point before the meeting event starts.

If my hunch is true then tomorrow the meeting will consist of each side stating its case for the record (shortening things up by not having to recite an entire litany concerning the violations), then some discussion by the committee and a decision in short order. In other words, a dog a pony show, no announcement of any "settlement" per se, but a decision that both sides have privately said they could live with. Then each side can claim victory - Hillary in getting all the votes counted, assuring her supporters (many of whom will apparently demonstrate) that she fought hard for them. Obama can also claim victory by getting delegates in MI and stopping Hillary from getting all the delegates. The DNC can claim victory for having its rules enforced.

Most of all, I think it might indicate that maybe Hillary does realize that it is indeed over and one last hope on my part that she will come back to reality and concede once Obama has an absolute majority of all delegates.

It could be just wishful thinking on my part, but a concession today of anything by the Hillary camp makes no sense whatsoever unless my hunch is a fact.

[damntexdem]

38. If the delegations are seated at half strength, that does away with argument #1.

The Dems will treat the states the same way the GOP intends to.

As for argument #2, anyone with any sense realizes that it is full of #2.

[Why Syzygy]

40. I smell a set up. They haven't "conceded" anything is my bet.

[WeDidIt]

50. Sounds like she's getting ready for a concessioin

Good on Hillary.

She's proving she is the Democrat I always thought she was.

I will apologize profusely when she does concede, not just for some f the posts about Hillary I've made, but more importantly, for some of the things I've thought about her character but never expressed openly.

[mzmolly]

70. Yes indeed. And she'll be a killer advocate for Obama.

No pun intended on that killer thing. ;)

[NotThisTime]

51. I'm sorry, but I don't believe this... they will not concede this argument

[quaker bill]

76. of course not!

the fact that it is a correct interpretation notwithstanding.

[Willo]

53. If you sleep [on Hillary] you're in for a rude awakening n/t

I EXPECT nothing good to come from Hillary at this point.

I really HOPE that she will prove me wrong.

But, there is no basis for me to trust her or give her the benefit of the doubt.

Do the right thing Hillary AND keep your hands where I can see them.

[not_too_L8]

55. Hopefully true.. I'll believe it when I see it

[dsomuah]

56. I'm suspicious

Especially since I just read that Hillary's lawyer plans to argue that the Florida and Michigan delegates should be seated as is, and that Obama should get no delegates in Michigan. His argument is that it is - get this - "against the rules" for the DNC to take Michigan-allocated delegates and reallocate them to Obama.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

57. No way.

This doesn't fit my construct.

[Tatiana]

64. I don't believe this.

It sounds just a little too good to be true.

[Bucky]

65. On my iPod right now... "Favorite Sing-along Songs for Fat Ladies"

Um, no offense meant toward fat ladies

--signed

Fat Bucky

[Lost-in-FL]

66. in mine "Favorite Sing-along Songs for the Lady in the pant suit". n/t

[phrigndumass]

67. Kick

Hope it's true

on edit: She probably found someone to pay her bills

[gateley]

68. Read the First Read excerpt upthread.

THIS sounds more believable that TalkLeft's piece.

I don't believe for a moment that she's going to concede ANYTHING.

[goclark]

73. Me either ~ she is having a beer

and talking over evil deeds right now.

[treblemaker]

97. Make that a Crown Royal.... n/t

[phrigndumass]

89. Unfortunately, I believe you're right, gateley

I'm willing to bet she'll slither under this wall just like she has done all along. She certainly can't jump over it.

Let's hope we're wrong (this time).

[frog92969]

71. Psy-ops

No way this is good news.

[Lerrad]

75. I don't believe it.

And I won't believe it until I find a main media source to back it up.
After all the complaining and fighting that Hillary has done on this, why would she just give in.

I don't believe it.

[lilyannerose]

78. Fool Me Once, And

I don't intend to be fooled twice!

[Bette Noir]

79. I'll believe it when I see it.

[LaPera]

81. Finally!

[OzarkDem]

82. On to the Convention

and thanks to Clinton for supporting a fair solution.

Could you ever imagine Obama being selfless and principled enough to do such a thing? :rofl:

[janx]

83. Thank you, Slink.

I appreciate your mind and don't doubt this in the least. I know you check your sources and your logic.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

84. The race is over

But not the party!:party:

[Jemmons]

86. She needs to chill out n/t

[Orsino]

88. This willingness to play by the rules bodes well for unity.

I won't demean the Clinton campaign by speculating as to what deal was struck over this point. Let's just hope that we have a similarly rules-based rest of the primary and nomination.

[uponit7771]

91. UPDATE: Clintons concede Fl\Mi violated rules but are arguing for 'forgivness' of those violations

[nachoproblem]

92. Dare I ask

if there are any other sources to confirm this? The only coverage I've seen is talking about the meeting that's starting right now, Saturday morning. If it is all superceded by a conference call that only a few people are privy to, I find that a little suspicious.

[Name removed]

93. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jefferson_dem]

98. How will seating the delegations reverse the terrible disenfranchisement ...

of the voters who didn't participate because Hillary told them the results wouldn't count?

[Arugula Latte]

99. "terrible disenfranchisement" -- why didn't Hillary think it was that when

she agreed to it?