Hillary Clinton and her supporters are making what may be their last stand, at a Democratic Party meeting this weekend in Washington, D.C.Conventional wisdom says the DNC will grant 1/2 of the delegates from both states. Clinton could still appeal the DNC decision to the Credentials Committee, and they won't meet until August, but I think that's more and more unlikely. The panel on Special Report seemed to think that Clinton might be in negotiations to get out of the race in exchange for certain favors, such as money to pay off her campaign debt, or even a spot on the ticket.
When a rules panel of the Democratic National Committee takes up the issue of disputed Michigan and Florida primaries Saturday morning, Clinton’s campaign will continue to argue that the delegations from both states should be seated in full.
The Florida-Michigan decision is practically her only remaining chance of securing a tidal wave of delegates. As of Friday, the New York senator was more than 200 delegates behind Barack Obama, and in the three primaries left to go she cannot win enough to make up that difference.
“We are hopeful and confident that after having a full-blown discussion … all the delegates will be seated, 100 percent, all of them will have a full vote,” Clinton adviser Harold Ickes said in a conference call with reporters Friday.
Clinton won both states, but their delegations were stripped for holding early primaries in violation of party rules. The options before the Rules and Bylaws Committee on Saturday are to restore the delegates in full, restore part of the delegation or uphold the original penalty.
Obama has said he’s willing to have some delegates seated, and party leaders have expressed hope that DNC Chairman Howard Dean can broker a compromise to ensure party unity come June.
Clinton’s campaign, though, is encouraging supporters to head to the meeting Saturday to protest.
I hope the protests tomorrow and loud and big. The DNC could use the good press.
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