tri_blog (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} tri_blog) wrote in ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} obama_2008,@ 2008-05-31 09:15:00 |
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Florida compromise. Liveblog of RBC meeting.
You may watch the live RBC meeting at MSNBC (live video), http://cnn.com, or http://www.c-span.org/ now.
Marc Ambinder is liveblogging the RBC meeting every few minutes. It's the best minute-by-minute blog I've found.
New York Times' Liveblog.
Ben Smith's blog (Politico) is keeping a good record of everything that's happening at the RBC meeting.
Chris Cillizza in The Fix (Washington Post)---another good liveblog.
The Michigan presenters are beginning to speak now.
Rep. Robert Wexler, Obama's spokesman from Florida, just finished making his case. He showed how much Obama was willing to bend backwards for Clinton to achieve unity and get this argument resolved. He said Obama favors the Ausman petition for reinstating Florida delegates. It's the same petition that Hillary's supporters today, like Florida Sen. Bill Nelson and Florida State Sen. Arthenia L. Joyner, have favored.
However, Wexler wants HALF of the Florida superdelegates seated, as well as HALF the pledged delegates seated. The Ausman petition asks for ALL the Florida superdelegates reseated. Anyhow, both Obama and Clinton agree on seating half the PLEDGED delegates. "The Ausman petition calls for full seating of superdelegates (23), 50% seating of pledged delegates (50%), and 3 unpledged delegates."
He shouted way too much for me, and he dodged some direct questions from the committee. In fact, he sounded like a Clinton supporter in his disapproval for the RBC committee's move to strip ALL Florida's delegates. Almost like he was attacking the committee. Nevertheless, I hope he was doing this theater to get Hillary's supporters on his side.
DNC Florida Compromise Reached, Michigan Deal On The Table (HuffPo):
Two sources, including a high-ranking official with the Florida delegation, have confirmed that the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee (RBC) reached an agreement last night and will seat the state's entire delegation but give each delegate half a vote. The result would be a net gain of 19 delegates for Sen. Hillary Clinton, though there is no word yet on how the superdelegates from the state will be allocated. It is, the official says, a compromise that Sen. Barack Obama will be willing to make. "There will be theater but not much fight."
Moreover, the impasse over what to do about Michigan's delegation may be approaching resolution.
Sources with knowledge of the RBC's inner dealings say a compromise is being crafted in which all of the candidates who took their names off of the state's ballot would voluntarily agree that the now-uncommitted delegates would go to Obama, after which the state's entire delegation would be seated.
The proposal, which two sources confirm has been discussed, would stand the greatest chance of passing: it would pacify Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, who has demanded that his state's non-sanctioned January primary be fully honored; and it would circumvent the Clinton campaign's insistence that party rules prevent simply assigning all of Michigan's uncommitted delegates to Obama.
In addition to Obama, Sen. Joseph Biden, former Sen. John Edwards and Gov. Bill Richardson all removed their names from the Michigan ballot. The Clinton campaign has contended that it would be against party rules to simply determine that all "uncommitted" voters were backing Obama. The floated compromise would resolve that dispute.
Tad Devine, a veteran Democratic strategist who helped craft the delegate selection rules, says that such a compromise would be "based on the broad grant of authority under the charter of the [Rules and Bylaws Committee]." In other words, he said, the deal would rest on the agreement of all the relevant campaigns and Democratic leaders, not any specific party rules.
If completed, the compromise would net Clinton ten delegates -- 69 for her and 59 for Obama. It remains unclear how the superdelegates from the state would be allocated.
Another Michigan compromise -- splitting the state's delegates 50-50 between Obama and Clinton - was three votes shy of receiving majority support from the Rules and Bylaws Committee, The Huffington Post was told.
If both the Florida and Michigan deals are reached, the Clinton campaign would receive a net gain of 29 delegates -- far short of what the New York Democrat was hoping to pick up from the Saturday meeting.
Obama campaign asks for half (Ben Smith):
"As a designated representative of the Obama campaign, I ask them to restore in accordance with the Ausman petition," says Rep. Robert Wexler, speaking on behalf of the Obama campaign, and cheers break out.
"Sen. Obama should be commended for his willingness to offer this extraordinary concession."
The response is a combination of cheers and hisses.
But Wexler is only talking about the pledged delegate half of the Ausman petition — he thinks superdelegates should get a half-vote, too. Nelson, Joyner, and Wexler have all said they support the Ausman petition — but they all have their tweaks.
Alice Germond, DNC Secretary, tells Wexler, "You Florida elected officials take my breath away."
The Fix (Washington Post):
Posted at 12:10 PM ET, 05/31/2008
Wexler: The Rules are the Rules
INSIDE THE RULES AND BYLAWS COMMITTEE MEETING -- Florida Rep. Robert Wexler empathized with the plight of his home state but insisted that the Jan. 29 vote was not a "normal" primary and cannot be treated as one.
"Our state acted outside of the rules of this committee," said Wexler, the designate of Sen. Barack Obama's (Ill.) campaign. "We cannot reverse the fact that this election was held months ago without a compliant delegate selection plan."
Wexler insisted time and again that his candidate had followed the guidelines laid out by the Rules and Bylaws Committee and that punishing the Illinois senator for doing so made little sense.
"The Obama campaign respected this rule's committee policy," Wexler said to huge applause from those in the room.
Wexler voiced his support for the petition laid out by Jon Ausman earlier in the day, which would seat all of the state's superdelegates and half of the 185 pledged delegates despite the fact that it would give Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton a delegate pickup.
"Senator Obama offers this concession in order to prove reconciliation," said Wexler.
The crowd, which had been generally polite until now, cheered wildly and hissed occasionally during Wexler's presentation.
You may watch the live RBC meeting at MSNBC (live video), http://cnn.com, or http://www.c-span.org/ now.
Marc Ambinder is liveblogging the RBC meeting every few minutes. It's the best minute-by-minute blog I've found.
New York Times' Liveblog.
Ben Smith's blog (Politico) is keeping a good record of everything that's happening at the RBC meeting.
Chris Cillizza in The Fix (Washington Post)---another good liveblog.
The Michigan presenters are beginning to speak now.
Rep. Robert Wexler, Obama's spokesman from Florida, just finished making his case. He showed how much Obama was willing to bend backwards for Clinton to achieve unity and get this argument resolved. He said Obama favors the Ausman petition for reinstating Florida delegates. It's the same petition that Hillary's supporters today, like Florida Sen. Bill Nelson and Florida State Sen. Arthenia L. Joyner, have favored.
However, Wexler wants HALF of the Florida superdelegates seated, as well as HALF the pledged delegates seated. The Ausman petition asks for ALL the Florida superdelegates reseated. Anyhow, both Obama and Clinton agree on seating half the PLEDGED delegates. "The Ausman petition calls for full seating of superdelegates (23), 50% seating of pledged delegates (50%), and 3 unpledged delegates."
He shouted way too much for me, and he dodged some direct questions from the committee. In fact, he sounded like a Clinton supporter in his disapproval for the RBC committee's move to strip ALL Florida's delegates. Almost like he was attacking the committee. Nevertheless, I hope he was doing this theater to get Hillary's supporters on his side.
DNC Florida Compromise Reached, Michigan Deal On The Table (HuffPo):
Two sources, including a high-ranking official with the Florida delegation, have confirmed that the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee (RBC) reached an agreement last night and will seat the state's entire delegation but give each delegate half a vote. The result would be a net gain of 19 delegates for Sen. Hillary Clinton, though there is no word yet on how the superdelegates from the state will be allocated. It is, the official says, a compromise that Sen. Barack Obama will be willing to make. "There will be theater but not much fight."
Moreover, the impasse over what to do about Michigan's delegation may be approaching resolution.
Sources with knowledge of the RBC's inner dealings say a compromise is being crafted in which all of the candidates who took their names off of the state's ballot would voluntarily agree that the now-uncommitted delegates would go to Obama, after which the state's entire delegation would be seated.
The proposal, which two sources confirm has been discussed, would stand the greatest chance of passing: it would pacify Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, who has demanded that his state's non-sanctioned January primary be fully honored; and it would circumvent the Clinton campaign's insistence that party rules prevent simply assigning all of Michigan's uncommitted delegates to Obama.
In addition to Obama, Sen. Joseph Biden, former Sen. John Edwards and Gov. Bill Richardson all removed their names from the Michigan ballot. The Clinton campaign has contended that it would be against party rules to simply determine that all "uncommitted" voters were backing Obama. The floated compromise would resolve that dispute.
Tad Devine, a veteran Democratic strategist who helped craft the delegate selection rules, says that such a compromise would be "based on the broad grant of authority under the charter of the [Rules and Bylaws Committee]." In other words, he said, the deal would rest on the agreement of all the relevant campaigns and Democratic leaders, not any specific party rules.
If completed, the compromise would net Clinton ten delegates -- 69 for her and 59 for Obama. It remains unclear how the superdelegates from the state would be allocated.
Another Michigan compromise -- splitting the state's delegates 50-50 between Obama and Clinton - was three votes shy of receiving majority support from the Rules and Bylaws Committee, The Huffington Post was told.
If both the Florida and Michigan deals are reached, the Clinton campaign would receive a net gain of 29 delegates -- far short of what the New York Democrat was hoping to pick up from the Saturday meeting.
Obama campaign asks for half (Ben Smith):
"As a designated representative of the Obama campaign, I ask them to restore in accordance with the Ausman petition," says Rep. Robert Wexler, speaking on behalf of the Obama campaign, and cheers break out.
"Sen. Obama should be commended for his willingness to offer this extraordinary concession."
The response is a combination of cheers and hisses.
But Wexler is only talking about the pledged delegate half of the Ausman petition — he thinks superdelegates should get a half-vote, too. Nelson, Joyner, and Wexler have all said they support the Ausman petition — but they all have their tweaks.
Alice Germond, DNC Secretary, tells Wexler, "You Florida elected officials take my breath away."
The Fix (Washington Post):
Posted at 12:10 PM ET, 05/31/2008
Wexler: The Rules are the Rules
INSIDE THE RULES AND BYLAWS COMMITTEE MEETING -- Florida Rep. Robert Wexler empathized with the plight of his home state but insisted that the Jan. 29 vote was not a "normal" primary and cannot be treated as one.
"Our state acted outside of the rules of this committee," said Wexler, the designate of Sen. Barack Obama's (Ill.) campaign. "We cannot reverse the fact that this election was held months ago without a compliant delegate selection plan."
Wexler insisted time and again that his candidate had followed the guidelines laid out by the Rules and Bylaws Committee and that punishing the Illinois senator for doing so made little sense.
"The Obama campaign respected this rule's committee policy," Wexler said to huge applause from those in the room.
Wexler voiced his support for the petition laid out by Jon Ausman earlier in the day, which would seat all of the state's superdelegates and half of the 185 pledged delegates despite the fact that it would give Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton a delegate pickup.
"Senator Obama offers this concession in order to prove reconciliation," said Wexler.
The crowd, which had been generally polite until now, cheered wildly and hissed occasionally during Wexler's presentation.
