That's My Party!

It was loud, raucous, rancorous, angry, and we wouldn't have expected anything less. The DNC made their decision, seating all of Michigan's and Florida's delegates with half a vote each.

Also, the new delegate number for nomination is now 2,118. The new breakdown:

Obama picked up a total of 32 delegates in Michigan, including superdelegates who have already committed, and 36 in Florida. Clinton picked up 38 in Michigan, including superdelegates, and 56.5 in Florida.

Obama's total increased to 2,052, and Clinton had 1,877.5.

Obama's now 66 away from nomination and Clinton's 240.5 away.

Now, my obligatory snark. Ickes' comments? Very Ickes - aka grotesque.

Clinton's chief delegate hunter Harold Ickes angrily informed the committee that Clinton had instructed him to reserve her right to appeal the matter to the Democrats' credentials committee, which could potentially drag the matter to the party's convention in August.

"There's been a lot of talk about party unity — let's all come together, and put our arms around each other," said Ickes, who is also a member of the Rules Committee that approved the deal. "I submit to you ladies and gentlemen, hijacking four delegates ... is not a good way to start down the path of party unity."

Hijack. Nice. What other Pandora's Box lynchpin terms do you have in your playbook? Assassination? Oh, wait...

And to the Clinton snakes who hissed every time Obama's name was mentioned during the hearing, congratulations. You really made an impact with your "assistance." The entire panel got more and more fed up the more you did it. Enjoy the fruits of your labor. You lost the game for your candidate.

For more samples of their fine work, check this out. Talk about obnoxious.

As we say so many times vis a vis your campaign, if you want to find blame, look in the mirror. Maybe next time, you'll pay attention to the news and be a little informed before you cast your vote.

We try to expect it from Republicans. We definitely expect it from ourselves.

UPDATE: Al Giordano did outstanding live blogging through the whole long day, including this clip where Carl Levin takes Ickes to school.

Comments

[David Aquarius]

If there's one thing I've learned throughout this entire campaign with Clinton; it's that no matter the situation, the needs of the people, the Party and the country will always take a backseat to the needs of Hillary.

[Sarah K]

I'm hoping that a lot of the people who never knew who Harold Ickes is, know now. What a hump.

[J.McCarty]

The DNC/RBC gave Obama 59 delegates, equal to 276,562 Michigan VOTERS even though he did not receive a single vote in the officially certified election. They did not steal 4 votes for Obama, they stole 59 for him and stole 4 from Clinton. The 55 delegates won by Uncommitted should have been awarded to Uncommitted! If the available delegates had been allocated according to the RULES of the Rules and Bylaw Committee Clinton would have gained a total of 92 (19-FL and 73-MI) delegates on Obama today. So tell me, would that have made a difference in this race?

[Ed]

Tell me how many votes Hillary would have got if HER name wasn't on the ballot in Michigan, then come crying back to me with your completely insane analysis, McCarty.

They gave her the win in those two states today when it was originally determined that the outcome was null and void. She's lucky to get THAT much.

[David Aquarius]

Hillary, Obama, Edwards, Biden, and all the rest SIGNED off on the rules that said if any state jumps ahead of Iowa or New Hampshire, they get sanctioned. Obama followed his signature, his word. He wasn't on the ballot. Clinton SIGNED the rules but threw all that out to be on the ballot ALONE. She knew Obama would keep his word, so she saw an opening and took it. Keeping her promise wasn't part of the strategy.

If she can't keep her word in this case, what makes you think she'll keep it at any other time?

She isn't entitled to a damn single delegate. Reference my post above. She is all about Hillary; not us, the Party or the country. It's all about HER.

Haven't we had enough of this bullshit with the Texas Idiot?

What happens next is the proof. Will she tank the party to get her way? Scorched Earth? Go Nuclear? How is that going to help Democrats take the White House?

[Nancy]

I watched some of this on C-Span yesterday! My gosh it was long. I have also seen clips of the Democrat in the Fla legislature making fun of rejecting the Republican proposal to have Fla move their primary - yet they still want to blame the Republicans because they wanted something else to pass. There was no fight there, they went along.

How I can see the rules committee got it wrong, OF WHICH HILLARY HAD 12 OF THEM or more ON HER SIDE, and voted to deny the seating of all delegates from Michigan and Florida - and that vote was unanimous except for one - and that one was an Obama supporter. Hillary was so far ahead at the time, no one thought denying those citizens the right to vote a problem.

I live in Texas and while Hillary was here one reporter asked her why she left her name on the Michigan ballot and she said it was just an oversight for not removing her name.

While I wish none of this mess had happened, there are plenty of people to blame for this mess. But at THIS POINT something had to be done and it was done yesterday finally.

I have read enough posted of the actual folks that live in Michigan, those who did not vote at all because Obama's name was not on the ballot or those that voted in the Republican caucus instead just to give it to Mitt Romney or those that voted for Dennis or John Edwards or Obama as uncommitted and they seem mostly okay with how this was allocated.

I am 63 years old and this is the first Primary I have ever voted in and the reason for this is Howard Dean. His 50 State strategy has made this race exciting. And a learning experience. Edwards should have stayed in the race longer because this year is so different from the in the past primaries but that is another story too.

Supporters that like Hillary will come around. Folks that don't like Hillary but supported her because they hate Obama will never come around and all those Republicans who voted for her always would have supported McCain. And that's another first too!

Howard Dean was right yesterday when he quoted Al Gore - this election is not about you - it is about what is best for America, Think of that from now on!

[sammy1]

I looked forward to this hearing as much as a blockbuster movie and wasn't disappointed. I think the committee did a terriffic job with the subject at hand as well as in controlling the passionate crowd. Kudos also to c-span...Alright, so call me a political junkie/geek.
My first choice was to have the committee enforce the rules fairly and not seat the delegates of either state as they were warned (and agreed to that sanction ahead of time )as what would happen if they jumped the line.
Realizing this is politics though, I think a compromise was probably the best approach. And as with any fair compromise, no one is totally happy.
I gave on my position that the rules should have been enforced strictly as written; the least Hill's supporters can do is enthusiastically get behind our fairly chosen, excellent candidate, as I'm sure they will once they considers the alternative.

[Matt]

Yeah, the hissing pissed me off which was probably the goal. I wondered if I was the only one who thought they were also pissing off the RBC. Looks like they did.

[Bill le Pilgrim]

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/2170

Dean on Saturday went where no one goes... he mentioned the 2000 court decision

Posted by madfloridian in General Discussion
Jun 2, 2008

Right out in the open on C-Span. He was visibly upset at what had been done to Al Gore. There was great applause when he said that which is never talked about in public.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, in remarks opening the much-anticipated rules committee meeting, invoked the name of Al Gore, the party's nominee eight years ago. And in doing so, he asserted that the presidency had been "snatched from" Gore by "five intellectually bankrupt justices."

Howard Dean replays the 2000 election's legal fight

So much for the recent recommendation from Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia -- one of those who was part of the 5-4 ruling that led to George W. Bush becoming president -- that folks "get over" what happened and that the debate about it is "so old now."

Dean brought up Gore's name in telling an anecdote about his own disillusionment, as a presidential candidate in 2004, with the party he now hopes will unite after dealing with the Florida/Michigan mess and, at some point, settling on a nominee for this year.

Dean told of angrily pacing in a hotel room one night in Wisconsin -- where an impending primary loss would extinguish what had once been his front-running candidacy -- and talking with Gore on the telephone. For undisclosed reasons, he was venting, wondering why he should stay a Democrat and asking what the party had done for him.

Gore, according to Dean, finally cooled him down by saying, "This is not about you, it's about your country."

Who knows, more stories like this one -- and continued squabbling ... between the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama camps -- might give new life to that long-since-abandoned "Draft Al Gore" movement.

He also mentioned that not even his wife could have convinced him that night, but that Gore could understand.

Dean had repeated this sentiment that he first expressed in his book, You Have the Power, at a NH event recently. He also received an ovation for that.

Calling for party unity.

The most important jobs of the next President, Dean said, will be to "heal our nation" and "restore the moral authority of the United States in the rest of the world."

Dean recalled some gentle chiding he got from Al Gore at the end of Dean's own unsuccessful Presidential bid in 2004. "This is not about you. This is about your country," Gore reminded him.

And, Dean told the delegates, "This is not about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, either. This is about our country. This is not about George Bush and John McCain; it's about our country. We live in the greatest country on the face of the earth, and it's time we started acting like that again."

The crowd, which party officials said was the largest for a state party convention in more than 30 years, rose to its feet, cheering.

We had two bright shining candidates when this started. It was our year to be winners. Our decision to support Obama was made on the day she claimed the delegates here. We saw how it would be used, as a vehicle to hurt the party.

I am glad he brought up the 2000 court decision. Not one other media I can find has mentioned it. I have not heard it on TV at all. Gore's name was not mentioned in summaries given.

Here is the video if you missed it, under DNC Rules and Bylaws, Oral arguments.

Look under recent programs, and then the program.

http://c-span.org /