By Billy House
Media General News Service
Media General News Service
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WASHINGTON -- Some members of the panel that stripped Florida and Michigan of their presidential delegates are now clamoring for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to reach a compromise to undo that move.
"If I were one of their campaign managers, I would cut a deal," said Donna Brazile, among the Democratic National Committee’s rules and bylaws committee members who previously took a hard-line stance against Florida and Michigan.
Otherwise, Brazile and others on the committee warn that not giving Democrats in those two states a say in a tight presidential nominating process will alienate many of them, and undercut the party in November’s presidential and other elections.
Their comments came in interviews Tuesday as chances of a Democratic presidential primary revote in Florida had wilted, and efforts for another primary in Michigan remained in doubt.
As of yet, however, the rules committee itself cannot make a move without a solution being formally proposed and brought before it, said the committee’s co-chairman, James Roosevelt of Massachusetts.
Both Florida and Michigan were punished with the loss of convention delegates for bucking the national parties and scheduling their primaries before Jan. 29.
Republicans only cut their delegate total in half – while Democrats took away all of Florida and Michigan’s delegates. At the request of four states that held sanctioned primaries or caucuses before Feb. 5, both Obama and Clinton agreed to boycott the states and did not campaign there.
Clinton went on to win the Florida, where 1.7 million voters participated in the state’s primary, and in Michigan Democratic primary. But Obama did not even have his name on the ballot in Michigan.
Most of the rules committee members interviewed Tuesday said there was no way of knowing last year when they took their action that two Democratic candidates would by this late still be running such a tight race.
And as it turns out, the delegates stripped from Florida and Michigan could represent decisive votes at the nominating convention. But the question goes beyond whether the Florida and Michigan delegates should be counted – to how they might be counted.
And as of late Tuesday, the prospects of both candidates signing off on any settlement continued to appear remote.
Clinton’s backers continued their push for Obama to agree to do-over primaries in both states, and accused the Illinois senator of a “passive-aggressive” effort to thwart that possibility.
"We’re saying that Sen. Obama’s campaign does not want a primary," said Harold Ickes, a senior adviser to the Clinton campaign and a member of the national party’s rules committee.
Obama’s camp did not return telephone calls Tuesday about Florida specifically. But it did release a statement regarding reports that legislative support in Michigan is eroding for a redo primary there.
“We understand that when it comes to counting votes, the Clinton campaign favors whatever they think will benefit them,” the statement from Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor said.
Ickes conceded it will be difficult for the New York senator to win the pledged-delegate race against Obama without Michigan or Florida – but said that should not be the issue. Ickes said the party is in for a tough road in the general election if the voters of Florida and Michigan are not counted, calling it “a politically stupid thing to do.”
Ickes was pressed during a call with reporters about whether it is Clinton, not Obama, who is blocking other potential compromises, such as one forwarded by Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida that would seat the Florida delegation, but with each delegate getting half a vote based on the Jan. 29 primary.
Ickes said he is not aware of any such formal proposal yet, and is not clear the party procedurally could even agree to cutting delegate votes in half, or a quarter or an eighth.
However, there is a move afoot – an appeal already filed -- challenging the national party’s original decision to ban the Florida delegation. Party activist Jon Ausman contends the party’s own rules say the delegation should not have been banned entirely, only cut in half.
Roosevelt, the national party’s rules committee chairman, said that Ausman’s appeal has been received by national party staffers, though it has not yet been formally referred to him or other rules committee members for review.
Without discussing its merits, Roosevelt said he does believe there is time for the rules committee to hold a hearing to consider the appeal, or a proposal. In fact, he said, “I think it’s very likely that either the rules or (convention) credential committee will consider a matter regarding Florida’s and Michigan’s delegates.”
But if it did not make a decision by June 29, the authority to rule on the matter shifts to the credentialing committee of the Democratic national convention, which can come up with its own solution.
“The huge thing that brings us to this juncture now is we don’t have a candidate,” said former National Democratic Chairman Donald Fowler, a rules committee member who had argued against stripping Florida’s and Michigan’s delegates, but refuses to play the “’I told you so’ game.”
But Fowler warned: “I am sure that John McCain is going to arrange for Florida and Michigan to have full delegations seated at the Republican convention.”
Reporter Billy House can be reached at 202 662-7673 or at bhouse@mediageneral.com.
"If I were one of their campaign managers, I would cut a deal," said Donna Brazile, among the Democratic National Committee’s rules and bylaws committee members who previously took a hard-line stance against Florida and Michigan.
Otherwise, Brazile and others on the committee warn that not giving Democrats in those two states a say in a tight presidential nominating process will alienate many of them, and undercut the party in November’s presidential and other elections.
Their comments came in interviews Tuesday as chances of a Democratic presidential primary revote in Florida had wilted, and efforts for another primary in Michigan remained in doubt.
As of yet, however, the rules committee itself cannot make a move without a solution being formally proposed and brought before it, said the committee’s co-chairman, James Roosevelt of Massachusetts.
Both Florida and Michigan were punished with the loss of convention delegates for bucking the national parties and scheduling their primaries before Jan. 29.
Republicans only cut their delegate total in half – while Democrats took away all of Florida and Michigan’s delegates. At the request of four states that held sanctioned primaries or caucuses before Feb. 5, both Obama and Clinton agreed to boycott the states and did not campaign there.
Clinton went on to win the Florida, where 1.7 million voters participated in the state’s primary, and in Michigan Democratic primary. But Obama did not even have his name on the ballot in Michigan.
Most of the rules committee members interviewed Tuesday said there was no way of knowing last year when they took their action that two Democratic candidates would by this late still be running such a tight race.
And as it turns out, the delegates stripped from Florida and Michigan could represent decisive votes at the nominating convention. But the question goes beyond whether the Florida and Michigan delegates should be counted – to how they might be counted.
And as of late Tuesday, the prospects of both candidates signing off on any settlement continued to appear remote.
Clinton’s backers continued their push for Obama to agree to do-over primaries in both states, and accused the Illinois senator of a “passive-aggressive” effort to thwart that possibility.
"We’re saying that Sen. Obama’s campaign does not want a primary," said Harold Ickes, a senior adviser to the Clinton campaign and a member of the national party’s rules committee.
Obama’s camp did not return telephone calls Tuesday about Florida specifically. But it did release a statement regarding reports that legislative support in Michigan is eroding for a redo primary there.
“We understand that when it comes to counting votes, the Clinton campaign favors whatever they think will benefit them,” the statement from Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor said.
Ickes conceded it will be difficult for the New York senator to win the pledged-delegate race against Obama without Michigan or Florida – but said that should not be the issue. Ickes said the party is in for a tough road in the general election if the voters of Florida and Michigan are not counted, calling it “a politically stupid thing to do.”
Ickes was pressed during a call with reporters about whether it is Clinton, not Obama, who is blocking other potential compromises, such as one forwarded by Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida that would seat the Florida delegation, but with each delegate getting half a vote based on the Jan. 29 primary.
Ickes said he is not aware of any such formal proposal yet, and is not clear the party procedurally could even agree to cutting delegate votes in half, or a quarter or an eighth.
However, there is a move afoot – an appeal already filed -- challenging the national party’s original decision to ban the Florida delegation. Party activist Jon Ausman contends the party’s own rules say the delegation should not have been banned entirely, only cut in half.
Roosevelt, the national party’s rules committee chairman, said that Ausman’s appeal has been received by national party staffers, though it has not yet been formally referred to him or other rules committee members for review.
Without discussing its merits, Roosevelt said he does believe there is time for the rules committee to hold a hearing to consider the appeal, or a proposal. In fact, he said, “I think it’s very likely that either the rules or (convention) credential committee will consider a matter regarding Florida’s and Michigan’s delegates.”
But if it did not make a decision by June 29, the authority to rule on the matter shifts to the credentialing committee of the Democratic national convention, which can come up with its own solution.
“The huge thing that brings us to this juncture now is we don’t have a candidate,” said former National Democratic Chairman Donald Fowler, a rules committee member who had argued against stripping Florida’s and Michigan’s delegates, but refuses to play the “’I told you so’ game.”
But Fowler warned: “I am sure that John McCain is going to arrange for Florida and Michigan to have full delegations seated at the Republican convention.”
Reporter Billy House can be reached at 202 662-7673 or at bhouse@mediageneral.com.