The delegate fight

Posted: Friday, April 11, 2008 9:36 AM by Mark Murray

The AP: “Obama's presidential campaign reversed course Thursday and reinstated hundreds of people to lists that will be used to choose California's delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Campaign manager David Plouffe said in a letter to potential delegates that all names would be restored to ballots that will be used Sunday to elect the delegates, overturning the earlier decision.

More: “Earlier this week, Obama's and Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign took advantage of party rules to purge scores of potential delegates in a bid to ensure that only their loyalists travel to the August convention in Denver where the party will anoint a presidential nominee. Most of the cuts, about 900 names, were dropped by Obama, leading supporters to complain that they had been unfairly excluded. Clinton's campaign dropped about 50 names from its list of prospective delegates.”

Reuters: “Obama is gaining steadily on Hillary Clinton among Democratic superdelegates, nearly erasing her last advantage in a presidential race where those party insiders could be the ultimate kingmakers. In a danger sign for Clinton, Obama over the past few months has sharply cut her lead among superdelegates.”

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Comments

"Earlier this week, Obama's and Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign took advantage of party rules to purge scores of potential delegates in a bid to ensure that only their loyalists travel to the August convention"

Shocking! Candidates following party rules. What next?

nuanced (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 9:46 AM)

Watching Democrats vote is like watching Cirque du Soleil. Lots of drama and entertainment, but nothing really gets done and nobody understands what they are doing.

Francy Walberg, Rye NY (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 9:49 AM)

I'd like a racial, ethnic, and gender breakdown of the Obama and Clinton purges.

When Democratic Party rules are not perceived as democratic, the validity of the delegate count race itself comes into question.

Will the attempted 900 name purge by Obama become tonight's HARDBALL "Big Number"?

Gary, Franklin, WI (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 10:01 AM)

GO HILLARY !!!
900 Names! - NO OBama you cannot buy votes!
Count FL & MI - Hillary will win in PA and do well in the remaining states - Hillary will WIN the popular vote - Fact! The DNC knows they can never, never win the general election without these two important states - they must count the votes and Hillary wins!
Obama cannot try to "fix" the problem by blocking the votes. Thank you FOX news for reporting all the facts concerning some new Obama associates that are very questionalbe - this will be a huge problem.

molly (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 10:09 AM)

Molly you are right. Fox news is the only one who will report anything negative about Obama. The other two networks are too busy trying to destroy Hillary.

Brother Odd (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 10:17 AM)

Brother Odd:

The Clinton's don't need the news media to destroy them...........they seem to be doing a fine job of that themselves. Did the news media MAKE Bill give those speeches to Columbia for $800,000? Did the news media MAKE Hillary BENEFIT financially from that $800,000? Did the news media MAKE Hillary say she ducked sniper-fire in Bosnia? The Clinton's have destroyed any legacy they hoped to leave behind by running a sloppy, ill-managed campaign. They have no one to blame but themselves.

Diane from Illinois (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 10:32 AM)

My biggest problem with Obama is that there is no substance in anything he says. It's sort of like...
"something, something, something, hope... something, something, something, change..." An old Simpsons episode also reflected this when Mr. Burns ran for mayor... he also ran on 'buzz' words but had absolutely nothing to say on HOW he was going to accomplish this. Obama's whole campaign is based on the idea that he can single handedly can change Washington overnight. yea right. At least with Hillary you know where she stands and she's honest about it. McCain is Bush Light so if he's elected, I don't expect things to be much different... but at least I also know where he stands at what will likely happen. That being said if Obama wins the nomination, I will likely vote McCain because I'm not comfortable with the 'wave the magic wand' message that Obama keeps spouting off.

DB, Elkton Maryland (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 10:33 AM)

HILLARY AND BILL CLINTON ARE LIARS. Their LYING mouths have bolstered the self-proclaimation of their "mis-steps", "mis'statements" and LIES.

LIARS ALWAYS DESTROY THEMSELVES.

Hill-Bill-ites observe closely how your lying heroes are getting "tickled" and "laughing" in your face
all the way into their 109 million dollar bank account with your donations to Bill's Saudi Friends and TO HRC AND her "mis-managed" campaign.

They are going to leave all you in the political dust bowl.

Buster (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 10:34 AM)

molly and Brother Odd -

What do you think about Bill's comment:

"Whatever the rules are, we'll suit up and play, but we should all be under the same set of rules."?

The DNC imposed the penalties because the rules were established. Old Hillary (Bill's words - she is 60 and forgets things at 11:00 at night) agreed to play by the rules then wants to change them. Also, the rules state the nomination is determined by elected delegate. Not electoral college projections by your husband. Not popular vote, but only including the states deemed important by one candidate.

MBM Chicago, IL (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 10:35 AM)

DB, Elkton Maryland

Hey Republican, how's it going? Any true Democrat will vote for a Democrat before voting for McCain. I don't care who gets the nomination, a Democrat will win the White House and not a Republicant. So please, save us you scare tatic and vote McCain like you were going to anyways, we bloggers are not as dumb as you think.

And for all those people who said that they will switch their vote if BO/HC becomes the nominee, stop it. Your not fooling anyone. And those polls that show a switch from one to the other, that is taken now when everybody is hot under the collar. When push comes to shove at the polls in November, NO TRUE DEMOCRAT will vote for McCain.

Trust me, a Democrat will win the White House (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 10:41 AM)

Have you noticed how the most qualified and most experienced are backing Obama. It does not matter what side they are on, most have really good things to say about this man. This just shows us how, without even being elected yet, Obama can bring people together. I think he will be one of the Great Ones that people admire for decades.

becky Iowa (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 10:43 AM)

I am a middle age white woman and I would like to see a woman to be our president, but that would have to be the RIGHT woman and Hillary is NOT the one. I can see clearly a deception in her eyes and speeches and I am surprised that other women refused to see that.

lucyna (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 11:16 AM)

Just a quick note the link to the Reuters is bad. There is a "\" on the end.

Also how come no one has made any references to another primary between an underdog one term congressman from Illinois and the party favorite from New York? It seemed to work out well for the nation...

Neil, NYC (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 11:40 AM)

This will be the end of Democratic Party: it will not exist in 2012.

Both campaigns are locked on an unchangeable and internecene course . . . it is too late for either camp to either win outright or withdraw gracefully . . . and the Party structure is too fragmented and corrupted to do anything about it.

For a great history lesson, read up on the corrupt election of 1824, which lead directly to the death of the old Federalist Party and the birth of the modern Democratic Party . . . history is getting ready to repeat itself!

I am an independent, and while I have been backing Obama so far, I am starting to get excited at the prospect of the disolution of the current parties and reformation on lines that make more sense in the 21st century. I don't particularly like either current party anyway, and look forward to a viable alternative.

You need nothing more than this morning's news of the Philly Democratic machine's expectations of being paid for votes to see that this shake-up is LONG overdue.

John, Knoxville, TN (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 11:57 AM)

I love your "First Read." You usually have the most up-to-date anaylsis on the election. Do you plan on reporting on the Saturday do-over caucus in Nevada?

TPina, San Diego, CA (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 12:08 PM)

This nomination will be settle when they resolve the MIchigan and Florida situation and with the super delegates. Out side of the black community and the liberal left wing nuts and the bias media, most of us realilze that Obama can not will the general election. He even now losing to McCain! He can not win any of the southern states, the border south states, the normal red states and will lose Michigan for sure and maybe both Ohio and Pennsylvania. McCain also has support in the hispanic community and with a republican Govenor in California he runs the risk of losing here as well.

gene (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 12:21 PM)

no the Clinton supporters will not vote for Obama and you are lying to yourself if you believe people will change their minds just to save the Democrats rearends.There are other parties in this election and Nader will be the beneficary of disgruntled democrats.Why don't you do some digging and find out how many people are not donating to democratic congressional funds in washington?Instead of money they are getting letters of condolences.

Nobama (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 12:44 PM)

Earth to Molly, earth to Molly... Hello... Think McFly think!... I've been accused of daydreaming a few times in my life, but you're waaaaaay out there. I hope you say no to drugs cause acid gives you those kind of trips... whoaaaaaaaaaaa!

Cross, Lauderhill, FL (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 1:27 PM)

"If we are going to be damned let us be damned for who we really are." - Cpt. Jean Luc Picard

I would rather vote for a good and honest person and lose than win at the expense of telling my children (by voting) that I believe lying, obfuscating, backroom dealing, lobbyist written legislation, and self-interest above public interest is good for this country.

Obama or No one (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 1:31 PM)

Wow. News Flash !read the Washington Post article pretty much debunking Obamas claim that he does not take money from lobbyists. It took three pages to lis the execs and and Corporations that have been bundling money for St. Barry.Turns out hes just another lying slimeball politician afterall Talk about a liar

Rich D (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 1:32 PM)

Democrats - PLEASE remember one of the most important reasons for voting for the eventual Democratic nominee - the Supreme Court. The next President could very well be selecting 3 new Justices over the next 4 years. Currently we are one supreme court justice away from becoming a theocracy instead of a democracy.

Hold your nose if you have to, but PLEASE think about the consequences of not voting for the Democratic nominee. Don't let John McCain appoint someone like Roberts, Alito, and Thomas!

any democrat better than McCain, FL (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 1:44 PM)

The whole issue of who is and is not a delegate is really confusing. I wonder where these rules that are mentioned are written down. I doubt those that are not party big wigs can see them. How does this work with the delegates that were elected in the primaries?

To Obama or No one -- Good quote!

S.B. Stein E.B. NJ (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 2:50 PM)

I voted for Hillary and contributed to her campaign, as I believe she is the most qualified candidate for president.

I will continue to support her all the way to the White House.

HILLARY, OUR NEXT PRESIDENT !!!

tsr, fl (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 3:21 PM)

The former president said that his wife called him last night to ask him to let the issue lie. "Hillary called me and said 'You don't remember this. You weren't there, let me handle it.'
------------------------------------------------------

Well, she did not 'remember this" herself ... she made it up. He just made up another version. Why not ? It's the Clintons !

Frank, Missouri (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 3:29 PM)

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