To me this move away has tones of race. Not much but I think this has a lot to do with his lead. just IMHO only. So to keep up with the thread. here is my addition: Which I agre all votes need to count no matter what. And I would like a paper trail to each vote. Some thing about machines withou tthem.
Banned states may vote
Banned states may vote
Florida, Michigan might hold new, elections to select a presidential candidate
Sheldon Alberts , canwest news service
Published: Friday, March 07, 2008
Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean on Thursday rejected Senator Hillary Clinton's demands that the results of unsanctioned primaries in Florida and Michigan count toward the selection of the party's presidential nominee.
The former Vermont governor, a Democratic presidential candidate in 2004, suggested Clinton and others were trying to "change the rules in the middle of the contest." He also warned that any decision to recognize the results of the two disputed primaries -- both held in January and won by Clinton -- would potentially leave supporters of Barack Obama feeling "cheated" of the Democratic nomination.
But Dean, whose position requires he remain neutral in the hotly contested race, said the party may allow Democrats in Florida and Michigan to hold new nominating contests as a way to avoid a showdown over the matter.
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Font:****"What we can't do is change the rules in the middle of the game. Both the campaigns knew what the rules were," Dean said Thursday in a televised interview.
"What I can't do is have half the party go away thinking that their candidate got cheated. And the best way to do that is to start changing the rules around to fit one candidate's desires or another's."
The long-simmering controversy over what to do about the Michigan and Florida primaries has exploded since Clinton revived her campaign this week with wins in Ohio and Texas. The victories virtually assure the Democratic race will extend for several more months.
Obama has accumulated an estimated 1,573 of the 2,025 delegates needed to win, compared to 1,464 for Clinton, according to the political website RealClearPolitics.com
Clinton's campaign, which is searching for ways to overtake Obama, argues the Democrats cannot afford to exclude two of the biggest states from the selection of the party nominee.
"Our position is that the voters of Michigan and Florida have spoken and those votes ought to count, the delegates ought to be seated," Howard Wolfson, Clinton's communications director, said Thursday in a conference call with reporters.
The Democratic National Committee stripped Florida and Michigan of all delegates to the nominating convention when they violated party rules by deciding to hold presidential primaries in January in competition with Iowa and New Hampshire, the two traditional early-voting states.
In a bid to respect the party's decision and maintain support in Iowa and New Hampshire,
Democratic candidates including Clinton agreed not to campaign in Florida or Michigan.
The major Democratic candidates -- with the exception of Clinton -- went so far as to take their names taken off the ballot entirely in Michigan.
Clinton has subsequently, however, touted her victories in both states as legitimate.
She won 50% of the vote in Florida's Jan. 29 primary, compared to 33% for Obama. The former first lady won 55% in Michigan's Jan. 15 vote, while 40% of the votes were for "Uncommitted."
The fate of the Michigan and Florida delegations is so important because only 10 states have yet to hold nominating contests, giving Clinton little opportunity to close the delegate gap.
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