Russert: Clinton now wants to seat ALL of the Michigan delegates- no punishment at all

[Guaranteed]

The rules are very clear: Those states that vote too early are NOT ALLOWED to seat more than 50% of their delegates. Clinton says we're not playing by those rules anymore.


And Obama wasn't even on the ballot.


How Clinton supporters might try to characterize seating ALL of the Michigan delegates as fair, after Michigan broke the rules and the voters COULDN'T EVEN VOTE FOR OBAMA, I have no idea.


This is just bullshit, Clinton folks.


You're tearing yourselves and the party apart, finding excuses to not play by the rules and hurt other people. Drop out already.

[WeDidIt]

1. It's the only way she gets close

It's her nuclear option.

It's what she's playing for.

[caligirl]

27. its one way to blame others for her loss, put it off on the DNC. Not sure

why she would want to do that. I don't think there is a vast left wing conspiracy but I wouldn't put it past her to invent one.

[The Ghost]

2. If that happens, Ill vote McCain. FUCK HILLARY

I dont give a shit if shes a Democrat, or a DINO really. Hillary is a VERY dangerous person, not fit for the White House.

[RBInMaine]

7. No you won't because AINT gonna happen. So don't worry.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. As awful as Hillary has become, I don't think she'd appoint Supreme Court justices

who would overturn Roe v. Wade. I don't like Hillary, but McCain is 100 x worse.

[The Ghost]

12. I understand what you are saying, but I cant express

how truly dangerous this woman is, she scares me. Maybe I wont vote McCain, but I will NEVER vote for her, and will laugh my ass off when she loses the general, if she ever gets that far.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. Realistically, I don't think you'll have to make that choice

because she isn't going to be the nominee. But I really can't imagine voting for McCain under any circumstances.

[Medusa]

16. I'm not so sure about that.

She seems to have reinvented herself as a GOPer-why wouldn't she do the same in her administration and her choices? I would never have believed 6 months ago, a year ago she'd warp into what she has but now that I've seen it with my own eyes, I would not put anything, and I do mean anything past her.

[TLM]

13. Voting mccain would help her..... she wants to run in 2012.

So if she steals the nomination by breaking the party rules, and the party lets her do it... then I'm done with the party.

If the party overrules the voters and the delegates, they will have made it clear they do not want me, my voice, or my support.

I'll go independent, and won't vote for president in 08.

[book_worm]

3. The Super Delegates will end this before long

Next week with a big win in Oregon Obama will get enough delegates to win the majority of the pledged delegates and the Super Delegates will do the rest as they have been.

[RBInMaine]

4. She can keep dreaming until dooms day if she wants, AINT GONNA HAPPEN !

Rules are rules. Period ! They'll get a compromise or get nothing and Obama will be the nominee either way. If Team-Hill wants to go down in history as the sorest loser and biggest RAGING WITCH in the history of the Democratic Party, just go ahead and try this crap.

[Cali_Democrat]

5. Clinton appears to be a fan of Soviet-style elections

I wonder what kind of President she would make. How many Obama supporters would end up in her Gulags?

[beachmom]

28. Egyptian ones, too. Hey, anything to win.

[skipos]

6. Clinton has ALWAYS been fighting for MI, right? I mean, that is what she said.

See my sig.

[nomaco-10]

9. It would all be funny if it weren't so tragic...

Her intentions could not have been more clear. She means to tear this party apart.

[DS1]

10. yes, just fuck off into to the night

please

[smalll]

11. No punishment at all?!?! Couldn't they at least get Cheney to waterboard them a little?

You know, I see this Michigan and Florida thing more along the lines of a civil than a criminal matter. One big question in civil disputes is, what's the damage?

As it turned out, WHAT DAMAGE did Michigan and Florida cause by jumping forward? What ill-gotten gains did they gain? How were Iowa or New Hampshire hurt? In fact, turns out, if Mich and Florida had stayed late, they would have been guaranteed far more influence, thanks to Dr. Dean's Rube Goldberg maddeningly-proportional nominee selection machine.

No damages. So I really don't see the need for all this Old Testament justice, all this "punishment" that Obamatrons are thirsting for.

[DS1]

14. I think the entire Primary system is stupid

however, the fact that she's suddenly wanting to count a state where she was the only option is completely pathetic and laughable.

Castro would be proud.

[Guaranteed]

23. Not seating 50% of the delegates would be called "punitive" in the civil courts. nt

[TahitiNut]

17. Hillary can want in one hand and shit in the other ...

... and guess which one fills up first? (Not that she can tell the difference.)

[WeDidIt]

18. It's cheat to win

that's the official strategy of the Clinton campaign.

[Edgewater_Joe]

19. I Know Where Hillary Can Stick Those Goalposts

Someplace where they'll never move again ...

[Ravy]

20. Obama took his name off of the ballot voluntarily.

I am sure that helped him in the primaries of the anointed 4. But he shouldn't be whining about that decision now.

[stillcool]

26. Along with Biden, Richardson, Edwards...

and Kucinich..way back in October!! I think they should get delegates too! Split the delegates up among all the candidates!!!

Kucinich Files Affidavit To Remove Name From Michigan's Primary Shortly Before Deadline

October 10, 2007 8:19 a.m. EST
Ayinde O. Chase - AHN Staff
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7008781843
Dover, NH (AHN) - The Kucinich for President campaign Tuesday afternoon officially requested that Kucinich's name be withdrawn from the Michigan Democratic primary ballot. The affidavit came by way of to the Michigan Secretary of State's office.The Ohio Congressman and Democratic Presidential candidates
National Campaign manager Mike Klein said in the statement, "We signed a public pledge recently, promising to stand with New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, and the DNC-approved 'early window', and the action we are taking today protects New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary status, and Nevada's early caucus."
The statement continued: "We support the grassroots nature of the New Hampshire, small-state primary, and we support the diversity efforts that Chairman Dean and the DNC instituted last year, when they added Nevada and South Carolina to the window in January 2008. We are obviously committed to New Hampshire's
historic role." Klein who actually recently moved to Dover said, "We will continue to adhere to the DNC-approved primary schedule."

Governor Granholm and other Michigan Democratic leaders have openly criticized the decision by several presidential candidates to keep their names off the state primary ballot. The Michigan lawmakers are taken back by Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John Edwards and Bill Richardson's decision to withdraw their names from the January 15th ballot.

The only ones who remain on Michigan's primary ballot are Hillary Clinton, Mike Gravel and Chris Todd.

Editorial: Follow DNC rules on seating delegates
February 25, 2008
By Editorial Board

On September 1, the campaigns of Clinton and Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) issued press releases stating that they had signed pledges affirming the DNC’s decision to approve certain representative states and sanction others for moving their nominating contests earlier. But now that the race is close, Clinton — whose top advisor Harold Ickes voted as a member of the DNC to strip Florida and Michigan of their delegates — is pushing for the delegates to be seated.
Her argument is that not doing so disenfranchises the 1.7 million Florida Democrats who voted and that her pledge promised only that she wouldn’t campaign in the states, not that she wouldn’t try to seat the delegates. However, the results of the contests in Florida and Michigan are not necessarily representative of the voters’ preferences in those states. Given that most of the candidates removed their names from the
Michigan ballot, and that many voters stayed home from the vote in Florida with the understanding that their contest would not affect the final delegate count, the delegate totals that the candidates accumulated in these states may not accurately reflect the will of the voters. Had there been no restrictions in Michigan and Florida, the turnout, and thus the results, may have been different.

The Four State Pledge all candidates signed on Aug. 28 stated, “Whereas, the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee will strip states of 100% of their delegates and super delegates to the DNC National Convention if they violate the nomination calendar...

Therefore, I ____________, Democratic Candidate for President, in honor and in accordance with DNC rules ...pledge I shall not campaign or participate in any election contest occurring in any state not already authorized by the DNC to take place in the DNC approved pre-window.” When the candidates pledged to campaign only in approved states, they were also agreeing to the terms listed above, which explicitly mentioned stripping noncompliant states of their entire delegation.


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) recently said that the Florida and Michigan delegates should not be seated if they would decide the nomination. Other compromise proposals include holding new nominating contests in these states, but such contests would be expensive and cumbersome. The irony is that had Florida and Michigan not moved up their primaries, they would have voted in February and March, when they would have been even more important than in earlier months in determining the Democratic nominee — and would not have created an enormous controversy that has the potential to divide the party.
http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2008/2/25/editorialFollowDncRulesOnSeatingDelegates

[housewolf]

21. Here's what worries me about this...

We've just had 7+ years of a president and an administration who believe that laws and rules don't apply to them.

Now here's Hillary, saying "those rules don't/shouldn't apply."

If she so cavilierly wants to disregard her own party's rules for her benefit, can she be trusted to restore dignity and adherence to the nation's laws if she's in a position of power?

I kind like don't think so... especially with her history of secretivness.

[jsmirman]

22. Yep. Hillary "Banana Republic" Clinton.

Dear God, she is just such a horrible, miserable human being. She doesn't have a shred of decency.

Thank God that I renounced the Clintons long ago. I was always a strong democrat who could admit that the Clintons have always had problems with the truth. It's a good thing that *I* am a man of principle.

It is appalling, however, to watch those two sewer dwellers confirm my worst suspicions of them.

[billyoc]

24. Those plus Huckabee's and Ron Paul's delegates might get her close.

:rofl:

[2rth2pwr]

25. They could have written him in if they really wanted to vote for Obama.