Is Clinton trying to steal delegates in Florida?

Featured Topic | Posted 42 weeks 5 days ago

Is Clinton trying to steal delegates in Florida?

Florida broke the rules, so it was supposed to be punished. Now Hillary Clinton is trying to lift the punishment -- in a way that might add delegates to her nomination fight with Barack Obama.

The Democratic National Committee decided last year that Florida delegates won't count at this year's convention, because Florida defied party rules in scheduling its primary this early. And the leading candidates agreed not to campaign there.

Now Clinton is campaigning to get those delegates reinstated -- as well as delegates from Michigan, where she was the only candidate on the ballot -- days ahead of the primary vote in Florida. Why? It might not hurt that she holds a 20-point lead in the state.

Ben likes: Rules? The Clintons don't need no stinkin' rules!

Ed Morrissey/Captain's Quarters

Would Hillary defy the DNC if she hadn't won Michigan's primary after somehow neglecting to have her name removed from the ballot Would she champion Floridians if Barack Obama was beating her in the polls? Of course not. She'll wrap all sorts of high-flying rhetoric about fairness and empowerment of the voter around it, but Hillary would have become the Defender of the DNC Faith had anyone else won Michigan.

None of this should surprise anyone.

Joel likes: Clinton tries to reinstate delegates

Ezra Klein/The American Prospect

This is the sort of decision that has the potential to tear the party apart.

If this pushes her over the edge, the Obama camp, and their supporters, really will feel that she stole her victory. They didn't contest those states because they weren't going to count, not because they were so committed to the DNC's procedural arguments that they were willing to sacrifice dozens of delegates to support it. It's as hard as hardball gets, and the end could be unimaginably acrimonious. Imagine if African-American voters feel the rules were changed to prevent Obama's victory, if young voters feel the delegate counts were shifted to block their candidate.