Florida and the Dems
Posted: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 5:58 PM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC/NJ's Aswini Anburajan
The Obama campaign accused Clinton of campaigning in Florida in a memo it sent out today. The memo says the results in Michigan and Florida have no bearing on Democratic primary. Both states were stripped of all of their delegates by the Democratic National Party. And the Obama campaign also accused the Clinton camp of potentially violating DNC rules by schedulling a fundraiser in Florida on the Jan. 27 and organizing in the state. Of note, though, is that Obama has also raised money in Florida.
Here's an excerpt on Clinton from their memo:
"Florida, whose primary was scheduled for January 29th, is just like Michigan -- the DNC applied full sanctions for setting an early primary date and there are no delegates are at stake. As with Michigan, all of the Democratic presidential candidates signed a pledge to not campaign in Florida.
"Although Senator Obama did not remove his name from the Florida Primary ballot because Florida law did not allow him to do so, Senator Obama is firm in his commitment to neither participate nor campaign in the Florida Primary and its outcome has no bearing on the nomination contest. We raise Florida today because Senator Clinton has scheduled a fundraiser in Florida on Jan. 27th, and there are signs -- despite Senator Clinton’s public pledge to the contrary -- that she may be planning to campaign in the state -- inquiring about large venues and increased organizing activity -- ahead of the Florida primary."
*** UPDATE *** This evening, the Clinton campaign responded with a memo of its own. "Let us be very clear," it says. "Senator Clinton signed a pledge that she would not campaign in any state that violates the DNC approved calendar. Therefore, we did not campaign in Michigan, nor will we campaign in Florida in violation of the pledge. We have two small scheduled fundraisers in South Florida on January 27, as explicitly permitted by the pledge, but we will not hold any open public campaign events. The Obama campaign has also held numerous fundraisers in Florida since signing the pledge. Contrary to the Obama campaign’s memo, there are no events at large venues, nor have we organized in the state. We intend to do so as our party’s nominee in the general election, but will honor our pledge not to campaign there in violation of the pledge.
"Let us be clear about something else, however. While Senator Clinton will honor her commitment not to campaign in Florida in violation of the pledge, she also intends to honor her pledge to hear the voices of all Americans. The people of Michigan and Florida have just as much of a right to have their voices heard as anyone else. It is disappointing to hear a major Democratic presidential candidate tell the voters of ANY state that their voices aren’t important.
"Make no mistake -- the Obama campaign had no problems when its supporters and allies in Michigan ran radio ads and other campaign activities urging people to vote for “uncommitted” as a way to register their support for Senator Obama -- and to give him a chance to compete for those delegates at the national convention. Now, with polls in recent days showing that effort and their candidate running far behind in both states, the Obama campaign has shifted tactics to say that those who cast a vote in either state don’t matter. We couldn’t disagree more.
"Senator Clinton intends to be President for all fifty states. And while she will honor the pledge she signed and not campaign in either state, she intends to continue to give every American a voice during this election and when she gets to the White House."
