The delegate fight: Getting desperate?
Posted: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 9:13 AM by Mark Murray
Is Clinton looking too desperate in her need for more contests? "In a sign of how badly she thinks she needs the Michigan delegates to catch the Democratic front-runner, Senator Barack Obama, Mrs. Clinton made a last-minute schedule change and planned to fly to Detroit on Wednesday to plead with Michigan lawmakers to approve a new primary election in June to replace the January contest that awarded no delegates."
More: "Obama’s campaign has resisted a new contest, saying that Michigan Democrats are divided, that a revote would not make much difference in the overall delegate count and that the Clinton camp was trying to change the rules to suit itself. The Michigan Legislature, which would vote on approving a new election, is deeply torn on it because of cost, legal questions and logistical difficulties." The Clinton campaign is accusing Obama's campaign of standing in the way of a re-vote. But "John Conyers Jr., a Michigan Democrat who supports Mr. Obama, said the Obama campaign supported a new election to resolve the impasse — in theory. But it would be expensive and possibly illegal.”
“‘While a redo would be an excellent way to solve it, there’s a little problem of about $12 million,’ Mr. Conyers said. ‘I also question the legality of someone raising private money to conduct a public election.’ Interestingly, Clinton supporters Ed Rendell and Jon Corzine, who ‘are trying to line up money to pay for a Michigan revote,’ contacted the financier George Soros, a Democratic donor, on Monday and asked him to help pay for a revote.”
“Mr. Soros, who has contributed to Mr. Obama but has no formal campaign role, refused, a spokesman, Michael Vachon said, adding, ‘George Soros does not support holding another primary in Michigan, because he believes doing so will further delay the selection of a Democratic candidate for November.’”
Debbie Dingell and Carl Levin have an op-ed in the New York Times calling for the seating of Michigan's delegates and arguing that New Hampshire cheated, too.
Meanwhile, former Iowa Democratic Party communications director Carrie Giddins has a companion op-ed in the Times arguing against do-overs in Florida and Michigan. "There is no such thing as a do-over. Do-overs are what you get when the end results don’t matter. Do-overs are what children do on a playground. Adults accept their mistakes, learn from them and move on." She calls for splitting the delegates 50-50.
And in yet another New York Times op-ed, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen calls for a post-June 3 superdelegate caucus, so that a nominee is decided before the start of summer, avoiding a Denver fight. "Here’s what our party should do: schedule a superdelegate primary. In early June, after the final primaries, the Democratic National Committee should call together our superdelegates in a public caucus. Of the 795 superdelegates, over 40 percent have not announced which candidate they are supporting; I’m one of them. While it would be comfortable for me to delay making a decision until the convention, the reality is that I’ll have all the information I reasonably need in June, and so will my colleagues across the country."
