Sat, May 31, 2008 - 7:27 PM

Florida and Michigan's delegates will be seated at the Democratic convention, but with half of their votes under rules adopted by the Democratic Party's Rules and Bylaws Committee.

The two states voted before the Democratic Party allowed this year and had faced the punishment of their delegations being barred from voting at the convention in Denver this August.

The Florida deal was nearly unanimous, but several members voted against the Michigan plan. Barack Obama was not on the ballot in Michigan. Clinton won Florida handily, though neither candidate campaigned there.

Clinton adviser Harold Ickes, a committee member, voted against the Michigan plan and said the committee was "hijacking" the primary process, by approving an allocation plan that would give Obama delegates, though he was not on the ballot in that state. Ickes, who said he was speaking for Sen. Clinton, said she reserved her right to challenge the day's decision before the party's Credentials Committee.

More here andhere.

And don't let this story miss your political radar -- Obama quits his controversial church. More here.

-Neil Simon

WASHINGTON -- Let the healing begin! So says Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean, in opening up today's crucial rules meeting that will determine the fate of Michigan and Florida's delegates.

The committee's decision, expected by late afternoon , could play a big role in whether Hillary Clinton will continue her campaign, or possibly fold her tent as early as next week.

Dean is not a member of the rules committee, but just delivered some opening remarks.

He said that the party is going to nominate either the first woman or the first African-American presidential nominee.

"This has been a very long and hard-fought race," he said. "They have made our party stronger, and I want to thank them very much."

"It has been a very long, tough, difficult campaign.”

He said that over the course of the primary, there also have been some ugly moments, including "blatant sexist comments" in the media -- prompting applause from the jampacked room -- and even racist remarks.

“But I remind you that our work is just beginning," he added.

“The cynics in the media and elsewhere will look at today’s meeting and find conflict," Dean said. “Understandably, the compromise you will discuss and make today will not satisfy everyone.”

“Your actions today will put us back on course for party unity," he said.

-- Billy House

Thu, May 29, 2008 - 4:22 PM

WASHINGTON – Democrats have confirmed that state Sen. Arthenia Joyner, a Tampa Democrat and civil rights activist, will be making the case Saturday on behalf to the Clinton campaign to the DNC’s rules and bylaws panel.

Joyner is vice-Chair of the Florida Senate's Judiciary Committee. She's also an attorney.

Word of her role in Saturday’s meeting came during an appearance on MSNBC by Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe.

“We are actually ceding our time to a state senator from Tampa,” said McAuliffe, though he did not mention Joyner by name. State Democrats later confirmed she was he senator he was referring to.

-- Billy House

WASHINGTON – Barack Obama is in excellent health, says his primary care physician in a letter just released by the Illinois senator’s campaign today.

Also noted is Obama’s fight to kick the cigarette habit.

“He has quit this practice on several occasions and is currently using Nicorette gum with success,” says Chicago Dr. David L. Scheiner in the letter.

-- Billy House

Wed, May 28, 2008 - 4:58 PM

5 p.m. May 28.

If you've watched any of the chatterers on cable news today, Scott McClellan's confessional about his stint as White House press secretary, titled "What Happened," is Topic A, B, C and D in Washington. At last, something to talk about besides Hillary and Barack.

Nothing could be more delicious than McClellan's harsh criticism of the president he once idolized -- and his critique of the Washington press corps for being pussycats. Reporters have been explaining all day that everybody was wrong -- not just them -- in the runup to the war in Iraq. Typically, though, White Houses try to ignore giving credence to such unflattering books. The "sad" reaction from the White House endowed the book with that much more buzzworthiness..

Current White House press secretary Dana Perino read this statement to the pool of reporters traveling with the president this morning as he was en route to the Air Force Academy to give the commencement address.

"Scott, we now know, is disgruntled about his experience at the White House. For those of us who fully supported him, before, during and after he was press secretary, we are puzzled. It is sad - this is not the Scott we knew. The book, as reported by the press, has been described to the president. I do not expect a comment from him on it - he has more pressing matters than to spend time commenting on books by former staffers."

Yummy. Most of the chatter was by people who hadn't even seen the book, just excerpts. That's because the book wasn't on sale yet. It was supposed to go on sale next Tuesday.

But this is America and the capitalist spirit is a wonderful thing. Mid-afternoon, Barnes & Noble broke down and decided to sell copies today. I figured that would happen and had started calling bookstores this morning. Just before 4, I got the word the book could be mine, and a few minutes later, I slid my credit card across at the Barnes & Noble on 12th Street NW. The clerk told me I had gotten the first copy sold in the store. Woo woo. Just means I paid full price, no discount. The publisher moved the release date to today too.

I haven't read much yet, but here's something I didn't expect. McClellan begins by setting his decision to write and tell in a religious context. Quoting from the Gospel of John carved into the UT Tower on the campus of the University of Texas, where McClellan did his undergraduate degree, are the words: "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." He writes that God's greatest gift may be the ability to learn from our mistakes...

"Through contrition we find the truth and the freedom that comes with it, even as we improve ourselves and grow closer to the image that God our Creator has in mind for us to become."

Oh my. This could take a while.

-- Marsha Mercer

WASHINGTON – Harold Ickes, a senior advisor to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton predicts that neither Clinton nor Barack Obama will have enough delegates to clinch the Democratic presidential nominations after the final primaries next week.

It will come down to wooing the super delegates, he and other Clinton campaign aides say.

In a conference call with reporters just completed, the Clinton team said it will push for nothing less than the full seating of Florida’s and Michigan’s delegates during Saturday’s national party Rules and ByLaws Committee meeting. But even if that does not happen, Ickes said the race is not over.

“It always interests me that members of the Fourth Estate write that this nomination is over. It is not over,” said Ickes, of the media.

“By midnight June 3, neither candidate will have achieved the number to clinch the nomination.”

“Yes, we obviously believe there is a path to the nomination and we are following it,” added Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson.

“We believe that there is a strong case to be made to the super delegates based on electability …,” he said, adding Clinton wins that argument.

WASHINGTON – Florida’s Jan. 29th Democratic presidential primary results are a fair way to divvy up the state’s delegates if a Democratic National Committee panel this weekend decides to permit Florida to have some, party lawyers say.

“In this case, it can be argued, there is no basis for ensuring ‘fair reflection’ of presidential preference other than to use the results of the January 29 primary,” says a 38-page member, sent out late Tuesday to members of the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws committee.

The legal analysis was released as the committee is set to meet Saturday to consider how to address the ongoing dilemma over what to do with delegates from two key presidential battleground states, Florida and Michigan.

The memo states that seating half of Florida’s and Michigan’s delegates for the party’s August convention is “as far as it legally can go.”

Tue, May 27, 2008 - 5:35 PM

MSNBC.com is doing a little crowd sourcing to handicap the frontrunners in John McCain's search for a running mate.

The site set up an NCAA basketball tournament-style bracket and is inviting readers to pick which potential Veep picks will advance to the second round. The Republican (or independent, in Joe Lieberman's case) that garners the most votes advances to the next round.

So far the voters haven't picked many first-round upsets, although as of this writing Gen David Petraeus is losing to former Sen. Fred Thompson and Colin Powell is edging Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.

We assume that when it comes to the final round MSNBC.com voters will pull a Dick Cheney and pick themselves as McCain's running mate.

-- Mark Young

On Air Force One today, Dana Perino said her boss "thinks it's good that we have a two-term limit in the United States."

And you thought you and the president had nothing in common.

Perino continued that Bush believes: "It's good for the country to have that smooth, peaceful transition of power every four or eight years; one where you get new energy and new ideas across the board -- from the President on down, throughout the administration."

The president's spokeswoman also said Bush understands what the candidates are going through, and he likes being able to sit back and observe rather than trying to win an election.

But it is an unusual campaign for the Bush family. Perino noted that this is one of the few presidential campaigns in many years without a Bush on the ticket.

As for McCain's criticisms of Bush and his policies, all's fair in love, war and politics. Perino noted that when Bush and McCain appeared together in the Rose Garden in March, the president recalled that McCain had campaigned for Bush in 2004. They'd made up after the nasty 2000 campaign in which Bush shut down McCain's presidential bid in South Carolina.

"The President believes it's our turn to try to help him, and we'll do that in whatever way he needs," she said.

Bush remains popular with the Republican faithful, if not the overall population, which explains why he's still in demand as a rainmaker.

-- Marsha Mercer

Thu, May 22, 2008 - 2:12 PM

Thu, May 22, 2008 - 2:12 PM

In a segment set to air today on "The Ellen DeGeneres show," the talk show host and Republican presidential candidate John McCain talked about same-sex marriage.

McCain believes in legal agreements but not marriage between gay people. DeGeneres plans to wed her actress girlfriend now that California Supreme Court has said gay marriages can take place in the state.

After discussing their disagreements on the issue, DeGeneres joked with McCain.

"So, you'll walk me down the aisle? Is that what you're saying?" she asked.

"Touche," McCain said.

Now that would be an interesting wedding.

-- Amy Dominello

WASHINGTON – Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign says it will look to Florida and Michigan Democrats “for guidance” on what she should do if appeals to the national party to seat both states full delegation are rejected next week.

At the same time, Clinton campaign advisor Harold Ickes said in a conference call this morning with reporters that the New York senator will not settle for a compromise solution – such as seating half the delegates in Florida.

Obama has said he would consider such a compromise.

The Democratic National Committee’s rules and bylaws panel is scheduled on May 31 to reconsider its decision from last fall on whether to keep the Florida and Michigan delegates banished from the convention.

Ickes, himself a member of the rules committee, said the Clinton campaign has not ruled out taking its battle all the way to the Democratic National Convention’s credentials committee, if anything less than a full seating of both states’ delegates is decided next week.

-- Billy House

Wed, May 21, 2008 - 2:45 PM

WASHINGTON – Taking a vacation to Washington, D.C., next week? Want to give Democrats a piece of your mind?

The Democratic National Committee has just sent out an advisory of how its Rules & Bylaws Committee will proceed on May 31 during a much-anticipated meeting to reconsider issues in the Florida and Michigan delegate flap.

According to the notice, the rules committee will meet at a Washington area hotel and consider two challenges – including one from Jon Ausman, a national committeeman from Florida.

The two challenges are seeking to overturn the rules committee’s decision to strip Florida and Michigan of their presidential delegates.

Both the Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton campaigns will apparently also have a chance to state their cases during the meeting, which the notice today says will be held at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.

In order to maintain the decorum of the meeting, banners, posters, signs, handouts, and noisemakers of any kind are strictly prohibited.

The advisory says, “each challenger (including Ausman) will be entitled to present an Oral Argument before the RBC prior to Committee consideration for a period of 15 minutes each.”

“A representative from each state party and from each presidential campaign will also have an opportunity to address the committee regarding each of the challenges,” the notice explains.

“Oral arguments from the parties will be heard during the committee's morning session. Following a lunch break, committee members will consider and debate the challenges,” the notice says.

In a sign that the DNC is expecting a big crowd for the meeting, members of the public wishing to attend are being required to register on-line starting at 10 a.m. on Tuesday (May 27) at
http://www.democrats.org/rbcmeeting. Those lacking Internet access who would like to pre-register can do so by calling 202-479-5137.

Democrats in both Florida and Michigan were punished last year by the national party with the loss of all of their delegates because their states scheduled presidential primaries too early, in violation of national party primary calendar rules.

Hillary Clinton went on to win both primaries, but none of the candidates actively campaigned in either state and Barack Obama’s name was not even on the Michigan ballot.

Clinton, who trails Obama in the Democratic presidential delegate tally, has been saying her victory in Florida’s Jan. 29 primary should count for some delegates and she has not conceded the nomination, even though he has clinched a majority of the delegates from other states.

The Obama campaign has said that anything other than completely eliminating Clinton's advantage – in other words, splitting the Florida and Michigan delegates between the two -- is unfair.
He contends the Florida primary wasn't fair because the candidates, even though they were on the ballot, didn't campaign here.

-- Billy House

WASHINGTON – Is time spent in Florida really a strategic feint by Barack Obama?

As the Illinois senator makes his appearances in Tampa and elsewhere in the state, one prominent national political analyst doubts that Obama will be able to carry the state in November against Republican John McCain, or that he even needs to.

“I think Florida will be competitive, but I’d be surprised if he wins it,” said Charlie Cook, of the non-partisan Cook Political Report newsletter, in an interview today.

The single biggest reason: “White voters over 60.”

“It doesn’t have anything directly to do with McCain,” Cook added. “Right now they (Florida Democrats who voted in Jan. 29 primary) are going with Hillary Clinton over Obama.”

“They have a problem with Obama,” said Cook, of the older, white Floridians.

But while “McCain can’t win without winning Florida,” insisted Cook, “Obama can.”

And Obama could even win the White House without Ohio, said Cook.

Cook rattled off a number of other-state combinations that he says can put Obama over the top without winning Florida this fall – succeeding here or there where Democratic presidential nominees John Kerry and Al Gore only barely failed.

In short, Cook said that if Obama can win Iowa, New Mexico, New Hampshire and Nevada or Colorado, he won’t need Florida or Ohio.

“And I would be very, very surprised to see John McCain win a single state that John Kerry won,” said Cook.

Still, Cook said he expects Obama to spend some time and some resources in Florida.

“A Democrat should not want to win without Florida and Ohio,” added Cook.

“But in 2000, Tim Russert said it’s all about Florida, Florida, Florida,” said Cook. “I don’t think anybody is going to be saying Florida, Florida, Florida this time.”

Still, Cook said he expects Obama to spend some time and some resources in Florida this summer and fall, if for no other reason than to make McCain expend some of his resources.

“To the extent that he forces McCain to spend money in Florida – he’s (Obama’s) accomplished something there,” said Cook.

-- Billy House

Mon, May 19, 2008 - 6:52 PM

Mon, May 19, 2008 - 6:52 PM

John McCain is at a fundraiser tonight in Savannah, Ga., and Democrats there took the opportunity to hammer him about the GI Bill.

Jane Kidd, the chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia, and Bill Gillespie, a Democrat who is challenging Republican Rep. Jack Kingston called on McCain to support the GI Bill sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia.

Webb’s bipartisan bill expands education benefits to veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and pays for it with a tax increase on the wealthiest Americans. It passed the House last week.

“It seems that Senator McCain and President Bush don’t like that bill,” Kidd said in a phone interview Monday. “We feel our vets deserve better.”

Georgia is home to a dozen active military bases.

As noted previously on the Herd, this isn’t the first time McCain has come under fire from Democrats for not supporting Webb's version of the GI Bill.

McCain supports a different bill introduced by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, which aims to expand educational benefits for armed service personnel who stay in the military. That version died in the Senate.

Both Obama and Clinton support Webb’s version.

-- Amy Dominello

Fri, May 16, 2008 - 1:36 PM

It seems to be much ado about nothing, but there’s still a lot of yammering out there about Barack Obama calling a female reporter “sweetie” this week.

(Check out the full story and ABC video here.)

Obama apologized and the reporter didn’t seem to mind too much. She just wanted her question answered.

So is it offensive? I think it’s all about the tone and tenor of the conversation. The tone wasn’t terribly condescending, but he should have been more respectful to the reporter doing her job.

What do you think? Is it a big deal?

-- Amy Dominello