Compromise in Michigan: Another Sign of Things to Come
| Thu May. 8, 2008 8:38 AM PDT
This may be how the Democratic primary race winds down: superdelegates endorsing Obama (and in some cases bailing on Clinton in order to do so) and Michigan and Florida coming to compromises that don't jeopardize Barack Obama's lead. Michigan appears on track to do exactly that.
Michigan Democratic leaders on Wednesday settled on a plan to give presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton 69 delegates and Barack Obama 59 as a way to get the state's delegates seated at the national convention.
Clinton won the Jan. 15 Michigan primary and was to get 73 pledged delegates under state party rules, while Obama was to get 55.
Clinton took 55 percent of the vote in Michigan, where only Kucinich, Dodd, and Gravel joined her on the ballot. "Uncommitted" took 40 percent.
The only question here is whether seating the Michigan delegates through this compromise erases any hard feelings Michigan voters have with Barack Obama. Michigan and Florida have been used a cudgel by Hillary Clinton and her campaign staff. They've pointed to those two states for months as evidence that Barack Obama doesn't truly want to hear the voice of every American — the unstated corollary being that Obama doesn't respect the people of those two states.
I'm betting, however, that Obama can do some internal polling in Florida and Michigan, see if he still has a chance in either state (probably; more likely in Michigan than Florida), and make up with voters there through a little extra attention in the general. And outside groups can work overtime pointing this out.
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Comments
Submitted by Greg Jones (not verified) on Thu May. 8, 2008 11:44 AM PDT.
From Blacks4Barack: Today, thanks to Huffington Post, it was reported that The Clintons have resorted to racial divisiveness. Earlier Hillary stated, "...our campaign caters to the hard-working Americans, White Americans!" That statement has sparked much concern from both blacks and whites (even Hillary supporters) across the country. The desperation of The Clintons is not only exposing their deep rooted ills, but becomes more destructive to not only the Democratic Party but the Unity of America. This final tactic is just proof that NOW is the time to end this campaign. Contact the DNC and every SuperDelegate that you can....let them know that HILLARY SHOULD STEP DOWN....NOW !!!!......to save the Democratic Party....and the Re-Birth of America !!! Call the DNC at 202-863-8000. Also, contact all of the news networks....ask why they aren't talking about her racial statements.
Greg Jones
www.Blacks4Barack.org
A Multi-Racial, Grassroots Org....Dedicated To Truth !!!
I am a Michigan resident and don't know anyone here who has hard feelings towards Obama. People are mad at their representatives and the state party, not at the candidates. As long as he does a couple stops in the state before the general election, he has nothing to worry about here. I get the impression Florida is a different story though.
No, Claire, it's not fair. But if the 69-59 split takes this issue off the table, I'm all for it.
Team HRC will hate it: they need the Obama shutout for their "viability math" to work. But one of their point people here in Michigan (DNC Committeewoman Debbie Dingell) helped to orchestrate this compromise.
Actually, the most self-serving thing that Hillary Clinton could do is to "STEP DOWN....NOW!!!!" (you really have mastered the Obama-tone punctuation) because that would ensure the loss of the Reagan Democrats and a big hunk of the white female vote. Obama would lose and she could try again in 2012.
Although whites are not nearly as racially aligned in their voting as African American voters, there's a big chunk of them that will not only spurn Obama but vote McCain. The only chance that Obama has of reconciling some of them is for the process to go to the end and for him to get the 2025. If he's such an evident candidate, he should be able to "eke" out the required number of votes between the super delegates who remain to declare their endorsements and the state primaries which are left. If he succeeds in observing the pre-established rules, the pro-Clinton Democrats will fall in line in greater numbers behind him.
There seem to be more than one Obama supporter calling pro-Clinton African Americans "Uncle Toms". The black community seems to have put undo pressure on certain of its members. A strange version of democracy.
Submitted by Eric Ferguson (not verified) on Thu May. 8, 2008 1:57 PM PDT.
Kathy, she needs to get out because it's not getting out too soon that will undercut Obama, but staying in to the convention. Since 1964 at least, the party with a nomination fight at the convention lost the presidency, every time. The GOP in 1964 and 1976, the Democrats in 1968, 1972, 1980, and 1984. So the concern about the campaign going on too long is hardly misplaced.
Since Reagan Democrats have been voting Republican since at least 1980 (1978 was a bad year for Democrats too), can we finally refer to them as Republicans? And will white females really be that ready to elect a Republican who promises more Alitos and Scalias on the Supreme Court?
"If he succeeds in observing the pre-established rules, ..."
And if she had observed the pre-established rules, as well as the agreement she pledged to uphold, Clinton's name would also not have been on the ballot in Michigan and Florida.
From what I gather, Clinton can't "catch" Obama even with a generous percentage of the Michigan and Florida vote. Barring another lecture tour by Reverend Wright, Obama should nail the election. It behooves him to MAXIMIZE his support within the Democratic Party. It's not only that he can afford to be generous and get the nomination, but also that he cannot afford NOT to be generous. It's not about being fair, it's about winning.
As for the Democratic Party, I'm inclined to be tolerant. The situation is tense. They have to proceed carefully. They don't need people screaming from the sidelines.
And for all the women who voted for Hillary Clinton, I believe there is a female candidate from a minor party. If the idea is to see a woman in the White House, women could make a staement by voting massively for a minor female candidate to wake the mainstream parties up for 2012.
