by Taylor Marsh
Michigan and Florida count and so do the voters in both of these states.
Does anyone think Clinton can win the nomination without counting the voters of Michigan and Florida? Think again. Obama knows this all too well.
"Some say their votes should be ignored and the popular vote in Michigan and Florida should be discounted. Well, I have a different view," Clinton said at a rally here. "The popular vote in Florida and Michigan has already been counted. It was determined by election results, it was certified by election officials in each state, it's been officially tallied by the secretary of state in each state, and the question is whether those 2.3 million Democrats will be honored and their delegates seated by the Democratic party."
The Obama campaign wants a 50/50 split in Michigan, which isn't going to cut it. Their surrogates have also said they want to count both states as long as the count doesn't have an impact in the nomination process. This is just insulting:
"Senator Obama firmly believes that the Michigan delegation should be seated in Denver. A 50/50 split of the delegates is an eminently fair solution, especially since originally Senator Clinton herself said the Michigan primary wouldn't 'count for anything.' It's now up to the Clinton campaign: they can agree to a fair resolution or they can continue trying to score political points and change the rules. It's time to move forward. Senator Clinton should accept an equitable solution that allows Michigan to participate fully in the convention," said Obama campaign manager David Plouffe.
The Clinton campaign fired back:
"The issues and voters of Michigan are too important to be dismissed. Close to 600,000 Michiganians cast ballots in January and these votes cannot be ignored. We urge the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee to take all necessary steps to ensure the voices of the people of Michigan are heard and its delegates are seated at the Democratic convention this summer. Already, over 100,000 people have signed our petition calling on the DNC to seat the delegates from Michigan and Florida. We urge Senator Obama to join our efforts to ensure that the votes of the people of Michigan and Florida are counted."
If Obama thinks he can win the nomination without fully honoring Michigan and Florida, and suffer no blowback from Clinton supporters, he's drunk one glass too many of his own Kool-Aid. Without a real solution, which Senator Obama and his campaign are fighting against, the legitimacy of his nomination will be in question.
And since it's the Democratic nominee's job to unite the party, it's in Barack Obama's own interest to do the right thing by Michigan and Florida. But he won't. So if he's the Democratic nominee he's handing many Clinton voters a reason not to support his candidacy, which we cannot afford.
Democrats simply must defeat Cranky McSame in November, and anything that stands in our way is dangerous, because this country cannot afford a third Bush term.
So what exactly is Barack Obama afraid will happen if Michigan and Florida voters are counted? The answer is obvious.
... .. Crucially, Team Obama doesn't want to count the votes of Michigan and Florida. (And let's note that in a winner-take-all system, Clinton would still be leading in delegates, 1,430 to 1,257, even without Michigan and Florida.) Under the existing system, Obama's current lead in the popular vote would nearly vanish if the results from Michigan and Florida were included in the total, and his lead in pledged delegates would melt almost to nothing. The difference in the popular vote would fall to 94,005 out of nearly 27 million cast thus far -- a difference of a mere four-tenths of 1 percentage point -- and the difference in delegates would plummet to about 30, out of the 2,024 needed to win. Add those states' votes to the totals, and take a sober look at Clinton's popular-vote victories in virtually all other large states, and the electoral dynamic changes. She begins to look like the almost certain nominee. ... ..