UPDATE: Obama surrogate Dodd is now pushing the meaningless 50%-50% Split
I guess he thinks people in Florida and Michigan are so stupid they won't notice that 50 minus 50 equals 0. How on earth do they propose this with a straight face. Could you be more insulting? -- see below.
UPDATE 2: Ga6thDem below has a great suggestion. If Obama wants to stall, why doesn't team Hillary just come up with all the money -- see below.
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Despite public statements by the Obama campaign that they intend to "support the DNC's rules," Obama supporter Al Sharpton is headed to Florida to prepare the groundwork for a lawsuit to deny Florida any chance of having their votes count.
Laying the groundwork for a court battle that could divide the Democratic Party, the Reverend Al Sharpton is threatening to sue the Democratic National Committee if it counts Florida's primary results in the official presidential delegates tally.Rev. Sharpton is traveling to Florida today to compile lists of residents who skipped the January contest because they thought their votes would not count. He plans to have those residents sign affidavits saying they would be disenfranchised by the seating of the Florida delegation, in the event the Democratic Party allowed that to happen.
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"One of the consequences will be legal trouble or lower turnout by African Americans. That's what they are threatening. I'm not saying that necessarily will happen" Mr. Sabato said. "Who knows whether legal action will occur? Who knows whether African Americans would actually take a walk -- they may end up voting Democratic anyway -- but that would be the threat."
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During an interview with Bill O'Reilly on Fox News on Friday, Rev. Sharpton said the rules that were set by the party mean that Michigan and Florida delegates should not be seated.
"We cannot have the perception that the rules changed because of some favoritism, or because some people didn't want to see Senator Obama as the nominee, when he legitimately pulled ahead," he said.
Lawsuit Eyed by Sharpton Over Florida - Seen as Maneuvering To Aid Obama's Campaign
Democratic leaders agree that stripping Florida and Michigan from their role in the nomination will have a devastating impact on the Democratic nominee's chances in the fall, and are pressing both campaigns and the DNC to come up with a solution. The Clinton camp has agreed to revotes, while the Obama camp has not.
Late last week the New York Times reported:
David Plouffe, Mr. Obama's campaign manager, floated the idea of allocating the delegates from the two states 50-50, which would erase Mrs. Clinton's hypothetical advantage and essentially make the two states meaningless in the competitive delegate count. It would, however, allow Michigan and Florida delegates to participate in the national convention.
NYT: Democrats Try to End Impasse Over Delegates
This meaningless 50%-50% split is the only specific plan that the Obama campaign has endorsed. Everything else seems to be "unacceptable."
On Saturday there was a report on the negotiations in Michigan:
The Democratic state party chair in Michigan says the Barack Obama campaign has rejected the idea of a "firehouse primary." The proposal would have included:Polls would be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and any eligible voter who hadn't voted in the state's Jan. 15 Republican primary could participate. The voter must be a citizen who turns 18 by the November election and declares himself or herself a Democrat for the day.On Obama's rejection:
Obama's campaign doesn't like the idea, said Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer. "That's what I've been told by his campaign, but it's not my place to inquire about motivations," said Brewer, who said he thinks a do-over primary has serious financial and logistical problems.
Obama Rejects "Firehouse Primary" In Michigan
Yesterday we learned that John Corzine and Ed Rendell are offering to raise $15M, one half of the projected cost of revotes in these states and are calling on the Obama camp to do the same.
Mr. Rendell raised the fund-raising proposal on "Meet the Press" on NBC as he pressed for re-votes in the two states. Former Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota, speaking for the Obama campaign, also appeared on the program and said he would go along."We don't have any problem with that," Mr. Daschle said.
Mr. Rendell said that, in the submission to The Washington Post, he and Mr. Corzine offered to "help raise the approximately $15 million which would be half of the $30 million it would take to run those two contests."
Asked about the proposal by WNBC-TV on Sunday, Mr. Corzine said it had not been cleared with the Obama campaign. He also said the best time for new contests, were they to happen, would be after the last scheduled primaries are held in early June.
New York Times: 2 Clinton Backers Offer a Way to Stage New Primaries
And what do we get out of the Obama camp? We don't have any problem with that. What does that mean? That they are willing to come up with the cash? Like so much out of the Obama campaign lately, it is not clear what the words actually mean.
Yesterday Tom Daschel, Obama's campaign chair told NBC Sunday:
We recognize that those are two very important states," Daschle told NBC Sunday. "We want to see this resolved. We want the parties to work with the states to come up with a resolution. We'll be competitive, whatever it is. Whatever fair approach that we can employ, we're for it. We'll take it. We'll do it."
CNN interprets this as Daschle agreeing to help raise their half:
Both Rendell and Corzine back Clinton, but former Sen. Tom Daschle, Obama's campaign co-chairman, said the Obama campaign would be open to the two campaigns raising funds for new primaries.
Clinton-Obama battle heads South
Is that a correct interpretation? I'd love to discover that it is, but I have my doubts. I'd be very happy to be proven wrong. It seems to me that this is just another stalling tactic. Let's parse the words. They sound a lot like the other tepid disengenuous assurances that the Obama camp has issued. I don't see that Daschle said anything like he would be willing to raise his share. He "wants to see it resolved." Sure. "Whatever fair approach we can employ." Easy. To me this statement looks like another big nothing. I hope I am wrong, but given the Obama campaign's passion for parsing non-denial denials, empty assurances and deceptive campaign rhetoric I think anything less than an unequivocal YES, has to be regarded with a healthy dose of suspicion.
And now, given that Sharpton--Obama surrogate in all but official endorsement--is going to take his valuable time to go down and start collecting petitions to lay the groundwork for a race based lawsuit to insure Florida is not seated, it seems like we know the way this is going.
But fine, let's ask Tom Daschle what he meant. Is the Obama campaign ready to raise their $15M and agree to full fair revotes in Florida and Michigan? Let's hear it Mr. Daschle. Time is running out. Or, is that Obama's objective, to run out the clock, while spouting disingenous platitudes?
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UPDATE: Obama surrogate Dodd is now pushing the meaningless 50%-50% Split
WASHINGTON - Sen. Christopher Dodd said Monday there's a simple way to end the wrangling between Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama over Florida and Michigan delegates: divide them evenly between the two Democratic presidential candidates."Split up the delegations, let 'em each have 50 percent of it and move on," said Dodd. "You don't have to go back over and re-do these things."
Dodd proposes dividing Fla., Mich delegates for Obama, Clinton
That should eliminate any doubts about team Obama's prevent defense.
UPDATE 2: Ga6thDem below has a great suggestion. If Obama wants to stall, why doesn't team Hillary just come up with all the money:
Why doesn't the DNC and Hillary just raise the money for the recounts, get an agreement with Crist and Granholm and then have a revote. Obama can choose to leave his name off the ballot again if he wants. Forget about him and just move forward. He obviously wants to disenfranchise those voters. He's acting like he's going to lose anyway. Maybe leaving his name off the ballot again would be a best case scenario for him.
That's a fascinating suggestion. If Corzine and Rendell can raise $15M, they can certainly raise $30M. Heck set up a website, I'd contribute.
Can you imagine how Obama would react...
That may be the next play. Obama is so out of his league.
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