Obama stirs fight with Florida memo
The Clinton campaign criticizes her rival's insistence that the state's votes won't count.
By ADAM C. SMITH, Times Political Editor
Published January 16, 2008
******he can kiss my royal ass in the GE .if he makes it that far......I and many others feel the same way!
Barack Obama doesn't care what Florida Democrats say on Jan. 29.
In a memo released Tuesday, he reiterated his long-standing view that their primary votes will be worthless. And he vaguely charged that Hillary Rodham Clinton may violate her pledge not to campaign in Florida by holding events here later this month.
"We signed a pledge not to campaign in Florida before Feb. 5, and we're not going to campaign in Florida," Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee said. "But it is disappointing that the Obama campaign continues to tell people that their voices don't count, that they continue to disenfranchise people. Hillary Clinton wants to be president of all 50 states."
The Illinois senator's memo stressed that the Democratic primaries in Michigan and Florida are meaningless because the states defied national party rules forbidding all but a handful of states from holding primary elections earlier than Feb. 5.
snip
Technically, Florida Democratic votes don't count because they won't lead to any delegates. But many observers say Florida Democrats will have significant influence just by voicing the preference of party faithful in America's biggest battleground state.
Jen Psaki, spokeswoman for the Obama campaign, said it's simply a matter of following the primary rules. "We plan to compete vigorously in both Florida and Michigan in the general election."
Florida Republicans had half their delegates stripped away, but all the leading Republicans are competing hard here.
http://www.sptimes.com/2008/01/16/State/Obama_stirs_fight_wit.shtml