Clinton's Letter to Obama About Florida and Michigan
Hillary Clinton just sent a formal public letter to Barack Obama calling on him to work to find a resolution to the Florida and Michigan question that reflects the votes in those states and seats their delegations at the convention. She also attempts to shame him for what she calls his failure to "support those efforts" in Michigan, and for the Obama campaign's opposition to revotes in Florida. "In Florida a number of revote options were proposed. I am not aware of any that you supported," she writes.
As pointed out in a conference call yesterday, it is not clear that the Clinton campaign picks up enough support to change their dire position even if both states are counted. But as long as the Obama campaign doesn't budge, it's a talking point for the Clinton campaign.
Here's the letter:
Senator Barack Obama
Obama for America
P.O. Box 8102
Chicago, IL 60680Dear Senator Obama,
This has been an historic and exciting campaign. Millions of new voters have been brought into the process and their enthusiasm for the Democratic Party and the principles for which you and I have fought and continue to fight is unprecedented.
One of the foremost principles of our party is that citizens be allowed to vote and that those votes be counted. That principle is not currently being applied to the nearly 2.5 million people who voted in primaries in Florida and Michigan. Whoever emerges as the Democratic nominee will be hamstrung in the general election if a fair and quick resolution is not reached that ensures that the voices of these voters are heard. Our commitment now to this goal could be the difference between winning and losing in November.
I have consistently said that the votes cast in Florida and Michigan in January should be counted. We cannot ignore the fact that the people in those states took the time to be a part of this process and to make their preferences known. When efforts were untaken by leaders in those states to hold revotes to ensure that they had a voice in selecting our nominee, I supported those efforts. In Michigan, I supported a legislative effort to hold a revote that the Democratic National Committee said was in complete compliance with the party's rules. You did not support those efforts and your supporters in Michigan publically opposed them. In Florida a number of revote options were proposed. I am not aware of any that you supported. In 2000, the Republicans won an election by successfully opposing a fair counting of votes in Florida. As Democrats, we must reject any proposals that would do the same.
Your commitment to the voters of these states must be clearly stated and your support for a fair and quick resolution must be clearly demonstrated.
I am asking you to join me in working with representatives from Florida and Michigan and the Democratic National Committee to arrive at a solution that honors the votes of the millions of people who went to the polls in Florida and Michigan. It is not enough to simply seat their representatives at the convention in Denver. The people of these great states, like the people who have voted and are to vote in other states, must have a voice in selecting our party's nominee.
Sincerely,
Hillary Rodham Clinton
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I agree, coming from Florida, but the most equitable resolution is one that divides the votes up on a 50-50 basis. This way no one comes out on top or bottom, and the delegates do have their votes counted. The "shrill" is grasping at straws and thinks that counting these ballots will but her on top . . . again, another illusion coming from the "Shrillary" camp. Why doesn't she just save everyone the time . . . the money . . . the aggravation and drop out and her and her family ride off into the sunset . . . permanently!
BO should quit the race if he does not want all of the states counted. Go Hil GO!!
The DNC’s ‘Rules Committee’ offers Hillary a significant advantage --- 13 of its members have openly endorsed her, and just 8 are declared Obama backers.
FACT: (A Committee Chairman is Alexis M. Herman, Labor secretary under President Clinton; another is Harold Ickes, the top advisor to Hillary’s campaign in charge of stealing superdelegates; and another is from the Michigan DNC.)
The ‘Rules Committee’ has wide latitude concerning Florida and Michigan. It could uphold the rules and punishment it and both candidates agreed to initially, or it could --- seat the entire delegation from each state, split the delegations in half, or even seat all of the super delegates but only some of the elected delegates.
This is the REAL REASON Hillary is staying in the race. Hillary fully expects that the ‘Rules Committee’ with its almost 2-to-1 ratio of declared Hillary-to-Obama supporters will go along with whatever she wants regarding Florida & Michigan delegates. She believes, and probably rightly so, that the ‘Rules Committee’ will seat as many of the delegates from Florida & Michigan as Hillary needs to obtain the 2025 delegates needed to win the nomination.
IT WILL be GRAND THEFT by MANIPULATION of the RULES.COMMITTEE.
************************************************************
OBAMA and DNC should tell Hillary to 'DROP DEAD'
Obama and DNC should definitely not tell Hillary to 'DROP DEAD'. He needs to win those two swing states in the general.
While I actually support McCain, what Obama should do is say, "seat the delegates" and give her 55% of them.
He'll still win. The states will be happy. This will go over brilliantly with the superdelegates. Hillary will lose by a narrower margin and save face. Win-win-win-win.
Ugh, I hate how Clinton's been spinning the exclusion of Michigan and Florida into a "democracy" issue. How can we call the results of those primary contests, especially Michigan, where Obama was not even on the ballot, representative of the will of the people? Are we to believe NO ONE in Michigan would have voted for Obama? She agreed to the DNC rules when the states' primary dates were moved but still campaigned in those states, knowing that she could pull them out of her pocket as proof of her electibility in swing states. It's hard to lose when you're running against no one (but still only received 55% of Michigan's votes). She lost my vote months ago and she won't get my vote in NY for senator again.
This letter that Hillary has recently sent to the BO camp is absolutely warranted. If BO continues to shun the millions of dem's in these two critical states now, then how in the world does he expect to ask for their votes in November. You know what they say about paybacks. BO had his name removed from the ballot in Michigan. Well guess what? there happens to be a local democratic primary coming up soon. All they would need to do is simply add to the ballot BO and Hillary and let the people speak. As far as Florida is concerned there has already been one primary with both candidates on the ballot. Now I understand that neither candidate was permitted to do any form of campaigning since the votes were not supposed to count per the DNC rule violation. However, I find it curious that the BO campaign ran several commercial adds on T.V. in FL stating they had no choice but to run the adds in FL as they had purchased a 50 state add campaign. So your telling me they could not have pulled the adds and just pay their negotiated price? By the way, BO lost handily in this primary.
The bottom line is this...who cares what date the elections were held in these two states as long as they were performed in a fair and democratic manner? Who does Howard Dean and the DNC rules and regulations committee think they are by not only shunning the over 2.5 million democrats who turned out for these elections but also thinking the United States all of a sudden shrunk to 48 states?
The DNC and BO camp better think real hard about the decisions that have been made and understand it's not too late to undo it now. This will not only put a smile on the current disenfranchised democrats in these two states, but it will end the all the drama brought on by this outrageous set of circumstances.
Hillary is by far the most electable candidate in November. if these super delegates and the DNC want to tear apart the party, then it is imperative that they make this a 50 state primary.
Dale R.
Denver, CO
Not only does Obama need to win the votes in the General Election, the whole country is watching but you might pissed off some of the people that voted for you in the primary election before Rev. Wright issue but it was too late to change the vote. You have not thought about that or do you even care. Taking too much for granted. How can you come back later and ask for their vote, besides there is always Ron Paul.
It's amazingly funny to hear everyone says, "Obama better consider this or he will be left out to dry in November!"
Do you people realize that Obama has successfully put the NY Senator to shame with his success in this primary? Do you guys not realize that in the face of adversity and negative publicity, BO has beat the spouse of a FORMER PRESIDENT.
keep speculating people. But BO is going to do major things in November.
Don't make people feel sorry they voted for you. Fix Florida and Michigan ASAP. You are doing the same as the GOP did, you are already starting to change your HAT and you are not even there yet.
"don't make people feel sorry for you"
hahahahhaha
give me a break people. He doesn't NEED people to feel sorry for voting for him. This primary election by far has registered more new voters than any other primary in the history of the US
HRC has been anything BUT consistent in her support for counting the votes in Florida and Michigan. In fact, she inherently rejected the validity of those votes when she signed her written pledge not to "campaign or participate" in those two primaries. Obama is the one who has been consistent. He followed the rules, honored his pledge, and should expect the DNC to do the same. That's the sort of person I want leading my party and my country.
Yeah he signed the same pledge which clearly stated there would be no campaigning in either state too. Guess what...he aired hundreds of commercials over Florida T.V.. So as far as being honest I think you miht want to reconsider that that missy!
.
HILLARY IS ACTING LIKE A 'SPOILED CHILD' WHO CANNOT 'PLAY BY THE RULES OF THE GAME' ................
And She KEEPS THREATENING to Take Her BALLS and Go Home.
P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C.
Dear Hillary,
I would love to have the Michigan delegates seated according to the vote; unfortunately I was not on the ballot.
Sincerely,
Barack
P.S. You're starting to sound a little desperate.
I think some comments here do not realize what is at stake here. First of all, so what if Obama ran tv ads and advertisements in Florida. No doubt Hillary did the same and both of them did that when they both knew that Florida would count for nothing in this election. Hillary herself, out of her own mouth said that Florida and Michigan will not be a factor in this election process. So all of a sudden when she knows that the "handwriting" is on the wall and she can in no way win, she now wants to include two states that according to the rules will not include their delegates. Not only that she is wanting to change the DNC rules (or at best have the DNC change the rules)by counting the votes so that she can add them to her popular vote, thus trying to make them an issue so she can win! She sign in the beginning of this race and agreed that the winner needed to get 2025 delegates to win and now she and her campaign is saying "Oh No, we have to count the popular vote and that means we have to have 2209 and the delegates really are not a factor for winning!" In my humble opinion, the more she tries to SLEAZE her way into being the Democratic Nomination, the more people will lose respect for her. And no matter the outcome she has shown me that she will be a SORE LOSER!!
Hillary is one of the most desperate women I have ever seen. I have no respect for her
Four points:
1) When the DNC decided not to count these two states and when Hillary gave her written agreement, was the Democratic Party not intending to win the November election? Because the argument NOW goes: you cannot win the general election if you exclude these two states and thereby insult them. When the decision not to count them was taken (AND agreed to by Hillary), how come at that time nobody, including Hillary, spoke about the states being offended?
2) In regard to the tone of the letter, how can the supposed "dream ticket" Obama-Hillary EVER work?
3) If a small bunch of white men working behind the doors overturn rules so as to deprive a black man who has played by the rules of the rightly deserved nomination (sounds like Jim Crow!), is there any chance for the Democratic Party getting any of the black vote come November (this point has been made by others, too);
and, finally, a very personal point: I have been among this fairly large group of people who have agreed with Hillary's position and theoretically supported her (being a white woman, though, as fate would have it, educated), but every time over many-many years, whenever I have seen her, I have felt a deep, almost irrational dislike of her (I have read and seen very similar testimony from other people). What she has done over this campaign and is still doing has turned the dislike into visceral hate and given rational grounds aplenty for the feeling.
The Democrats showing their true colors. If you don't like the rules you agreed to at the beginning, just change them as you go. The DNC told the states that they wouldn't be seated if they held their primaries "early", so now they need to stand by their decision. Otherwise you "disenfranchise" everyone that played by the rules.
This is a classic case of knowing the consequences and proceeding with an action anyway. The people to blame here are the Democratic party leaders in the states of Florida and Michigan. They knew the consequences and decided to continue anyway. The FL and MI parties are responsible for letting their own citizens down, choosing to try to make a spectacle out of an early primary rather than follow the rules and be sure their votes counted. Now Ms. Clinton is trying to shift the blame to Mr. Obama and turn this into a political issue. At least Mr. Obama is sticking to the agreement. While one might argue that Mr. Obama would be trying to seat the delegates if it were beneficial to him, can you also argue that Ms. Clinton would be as passionate about making the votes count if it didn't help her? I don't think so. At least she will be able to play the martyr in 2012, having had the nomination "stolen" from her by election technicalities. Mr. McCain will help her chances by presiding like Mr. Bush in the meantime, signing every spending bill Congress proposes during his only term as President.
OPERATION CHAOS continues to function as planned by our brilliant Commander.
I don't quite understand Sen. Clinton's inconsistency, and I don't understand why no one is calling her out on this - she says "The people ... must have a voice in selecting our party's nominee", but at the same time her primary effort to be nominated is by convincing the superdelegates that she is "more electable in November" - thus she wants the superdelegates to nullify the peoples' voice. What am I missing here?
First, the Democrat committee in each of the strates, Florida and Michigan, ignored the very rules written and approved by the DNC, concerning primary voting. Disagree all you wish, but to "change in the mist of the game" is to prove how desperate Hillary really is to walk in the White House, no matter what.
Second, this is important...there is NO right to vote, anyone that can show me within the Constitution any wording that consitutes a "right" to vote (there are plenty indicating denying people the vote, but NO right to vote), please list the reference.
Third, Does ANYONE really believe this would be an issue with Hillary if the shoe were on the other foot? If you do, then you are living in the Twilight Zone.
I still do not understand why DNC change the rule. Obama and Clinton both agreed with exclusion of Florida and Michigan before the contest. Why did not Hillary worry then about Florida and Michigan ? Why she did not worry about 50 states and 2.5 million participants? This looks hypocrtical or fraud. She should have protested when it was being done. Why blame Obama. He followed agreed upon rules. Clinton has name recognition and Obama as new comer needs to compaign to be known. Hillary agreed with DNc so that she could raise funds in these states.
Fair thing to do is to split it 50-50. Both states get a seat and it does not affect the results as it should be based on the rules agreed upon by Clinton and Obama.
Both states knew the rules when they decided to change the dates of their primary. They should suck it up and quit whining.
Poor, poor, pitiful dear. Did you not understand the rules? Why even have any rules if you change them to suit your agenda? Go away.
This mess with Florida and Michigan only throws into doubt why anyone would support the Democrats. The blame for this mess goes to the DNC. They drew the line in the sand and said the votes in those primaries would not count. Now they are consumed with trying to come up with a solution to the mess they created. Before anyone says it was the Republicans in Florida that changed their primary date, stop. Even if it was the DNC could have come up with a solution. They did! They said the delegation would not be seated. Typical politicians however want to flip-flop on the issue all for the sake of votes. Should the voters in Florida and Michigan be heard? Of course, but the DNC said they should not. Anyone supporting either party should have their head examined. It has been a collaboration of efforts by both parties throughout history to bring us to the political point at which we now stand. The blind support for the two parties by the voting populace is an embarrassment to anyone with an ounce of reasoning capability.
If Hillary - and Barak and the entire Democratic Party leadership - truly valued democracy ahead of the bald aquisition and retention of political power, then we would not have the "Superdelegates", who disenfranchise the people in favor of Party power holders.
"In 2000, the Republicans won an election by successfully opposing a fair counting of votes in Florida"
In this simple sentence, Hillary displays characteristics typical of the Defeatocrats: (1) Lying, and (2) pandering.
Facts: In 2000, Republicans won the election in Florida by earning more votes. This has been proven so many times (even by the biased "news" media) it's not even debatable, but Defeatocrats are so brain dead that facts mean nothing to them. The SCOTUS stepped in when the corrupt Florida courts tried to change the rules in the middle of the game. Defeatocrats tried (and partially succeeded) in preventing valid absentee ballots from serving overseas military personnel from being counted. Even then, Bush received the greater number of votes.
The lie that Republicans "stole" the election has been repeated so often in Defeatocrat circles that their tiny brains now regard it as fact. To the degree that stupid Defeatocrats believe the lie, Hillary panders to the party line.
Here it is again....the lie that the Republicans prevented a fair recounting of the votes from 2000. The record shows that the Florida supreme court tried to change the rules of the recount rather than follow their own law. After Al Gore petitioned the courts for a ruling grasping at straws, the supremes voted that what Florida was doing, was unconstitutional and stopped the illegal recount.
Clinton needs to get over the old adage that if you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes fact. Gosh is she whining here!
Even if it was Republicans that made the choice in the FL legislature, the Dems did not have to move their date. Take a look at NM where the Dem led legislature moved the date up for the vote yet the Rep are having their vote in June.
Really simple, it is Dems being Dems. Agree to rules, break rules, then try to make the rule breaking legitimate. No different than the 2000 election. The rules were already in place by the FL legislature, the Dems didn't like them and tried every way to break them, then when it still didn't work, they tried to make their rule breaking legitimate through the courts. In the words of Rev. Wright, it seems like the Dems chickens have come home to rooooooooost!