Donor Hardball on Florida Delegation
March 15th, 2008 at 01:23am Mark Noonan
Hillary getting her backers to bring out the brass knuckles?
Democrats in Michigan and Florida struggled Friday to resolve the impasse over their disputed January primaries, coming up with a plan to hold a June primary in Michigan while remaining deadlocked in Florida.
Reflecting how tense the situation has become, influential fund-raisers for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton have stepped up their behind-the-scenes pressure on national party leaders to resolve the matter, with some even threatening to withhold their donations to the Democratic National Committee unless it seats the delegates from the two states or holds new primaries there.
The committee penalized Michigan and Florida for holding their primaries early in violation of national party rules, barring their delegates from being seated at the Democratic convention this summer. But with the Democratic contest now a scramble for every remaining delegate, the allocation of delegates from the two states could have a substantial impact on the nomination.
Mrs. Clinton won the primaries in both states, but the contests were not sanctioned by the party, neither candidate campaigned in the states and Mr. Obama did not even put his name on the ballot in Michigan.
Pushing to seat the Florida delegates, at least one top Clinton fund-raiser, Paul Cejas, a Miami businessman who has given the Democratic National Committee $63,500 since 2003, has demanded Democratic officials return his 2007 contribution of $28,500, which they have agreed to do.
“If you’re not going to count my vote, I’m not going to give you my money,” said Mr. Cejas, who was the United States ambassador to Belgium from 1998 to 2001.
Christopher Korge, a Florida real estate developer who is another top fund-raiser for Mrs. Clinton, held an event last year in his home that brought in about $140,000 for the national party, which was set aside in a special account for the general election battle in Florida. But he told committee officials this week that if Florida’s delegate conundrum was not settled satisfactorily he would be asking for the money back.
“If we do not resolve this issue,” Mr. Korge said, “I think it’s safe to say there will be a request for a return of $140,000.”
Quite a pickle the DNC is in - seat the Florida delegations and perhaps hand the nomination to Hillary (which would greatly anger the Obama people), or play fair, and lose a lot of money for the fall campaign.
Which way will it go?
Entry Filed under: Campaign 2008, Corruption, Democrats
18 Comments
1. Macker | March 15th, 2008 at 3:30 am
Please pass the popcorn, please!
2. kjstrouble | March 15th, 2008 at 3:50 am
This is almost fun to watch. But it is getting to where you almost need a score card to follow all of the different ideas on how to resolve the problems caused by those January primaries.
3. Christian Wright | March 15th, 2008 at 7:43 am
FL and MI wanted to jump the NH primary because they wanted a more important role in the nomination process. If they had just stayed put, they would have had that role since nothing was decided Super Tuesday. These local misfits screwed up nationally.
The Dems will not count FL and MI votes without a do-over. To do otherwise would be to disenfranchise tens of thousands of voters who wanted to vote for Obama in MI but could not because he was not on the ballot. And tens of thousands of more supporters in FL who did not vote because they thought that the vote would not count. The Dems won’t do to FL and MI in 2008 what the Republicans did to Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004.
I cannot even be sure a do-over will work. There will be Republicans who already voted in their primary crossing over to vote for Hillary just to cause trouble.
Hillary has lost the nomination. The math is against her is insurmountable. But she would rather see McCain in the White House than Obama, and so is staying the race to hurt her own party. Now I see why so many people despise her. Since NAFTA, I have always said the Clintons were Republicans and this proves it.
4. Kahn | March 15th, 2008 at 7:50 am
The Democrats in power wanted… power. The PEOPLE of Florida and Michigan decided when to vote. It is the PEOPLES decision. It is only a “problem” if you believe that the party “leaders” are more important than the PEOPLE.
Every local Democrat I’ve ever spoken to has told me all about how they need to control what PEOPLE do with their own property. Every one is in office to control zoning laws, raise taxes, a myriad of reasons that all center on them controlling what other people do with their time, money, and property.
This is not just some quirk of a mess. This is a good example of how Democrats think.
5. phnx | March 15th, 2008 at 9:02 am
Ohhh sweet irony. And what is even more amusing is that most of the leftists trolls were convinced that all was sweetness and light on their side. No matter who their eventual candidate the donks who join hands in love and harmony in November.
The convoluted scheme of the Dem leadership to control the process and take it out of the hands of the people has only led to confusion and dissension. It has laid bare the ugly divisions of race and gender which exist within the Democrat party, but are conveniently hidden from view.
And now we have one of the party faithful claiming that the Clintons are really Republicans.
Dontcha jest luv it?
Who ya gonna vote fer CW when Hillary gets the nomination?
BBBwwwaahahahahahahaha!
6. phil | March 15th, 2008 at 9:51 am
Deleted - off topic.
7. Michael | March 15th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Count on a donkey to try and change the subject. The mess is much worse than this article indicates. There is real hate between the two factions and their warring has already done irreparable damage to the party and its phony “unity.” It will get much, much worse before it gets better. Obama is trying to play the victim here while Hillary is so self-involved in her “right” to the nomination that she will leave nothing but a scorched field behind. As far as Michigan and Florida are concerned, no solution will work. And what makes it funny is that the DNC caused it all. They brung it on themselves. But it does show how smart the American public is. The chairman of the DNC, Howlin’ Howie, once ran for president and was rejected. Imagine him trying to run a country after his “skill” as DNC leader. This whole thing is hilarious and is far from over. Brokered convention anyone? Floor fights? “We was robbed”? But but but …
8. neocon | March 15th, 2008 at 10:41 am
Howard Dean has done a fine job, and to think that he was the Dem darling just 4 years ago. It clearly demonstrates the leadership ability of those propped up by the left. If the people of FL and MI would just realize that they are subjects of the DNC and should follow their directives, there wouldn’t be any problem. Independent, free people just screw things up.
I’m also humored by the deflection techniques by our resident DNC sycophants, and equally amused by their ability to identify problems with no regard to actual solutions.
This is only going to get better.
“The chickens will come home to roost” - Jeremiah Wright.
9. Rana Quijotesca | March 15th, 2008 at 11:01 am
oh Kahn… don’t make that melodramatic argument…
It’s not a national election; it’s a party election, subject to party rules. They broke the rules, and now they have to deal with the consequences.
10. neocon | March 15th, 2008 at 11:12 am
yea kahn,
the DNC doesn’t need any melodrama.
ROTFLMAO.
11. phil | March 15th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Deleted - off topic.
12. phil | March 15th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Deleted - off topic.
13. Kahn | March 15th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
No Rana - YOU have to deal with the consequences of trying to punish the PEOPLE.
14. Kahn | March 15th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
phil, your mother called. You forgot your Ritalin again.
15. Michael | March 15th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
What do you bet Howard Dean is toast. Who else can the donkeys blame?
16. Christian Wright | March 15th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Is there any doubt the Clinton’s are Republican?
Bill sent hundreds of thousands if not millions of union jobs to Mexico with his NAFTA.
Like Bush, he illegally invaded Easter Europe without approval of the Security Council.
Like Bush, he sent prisoners to Syria to be tortured for information.
Like Bush, he embraced big business, allowed media mergers, and lord knows what else. Hillary will do the same.
Dean should kick them out of the party.
17. Eric T | March 16th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Christian W-
When Michigan has the primary re-do, I’m gonna vote Obama, I’d rather have a racist black guy than Hillary. besides the Clinton Gun Ban, high taxes, abortion, gay marriage, NAFTA and the global eliteist you mentioned. You ever give the wife a blank check or credit card and tell her. Only spend this much? Then she comes home with bags of stuff, your overdrafts and bank fees flying thru the roof. I don’t think dictators from other countries will take Hillary serious, all they’ll have to do is wait a week she will change her position.
In the fall vote McCain,
18. Almiranta | March 16th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
CW, only 50% of business in the United States is small business, and it accounts for only 50% of production. So how would a president who did NOT “embrace big business” contribute to the economic strength of the country?
Silly and hysterical reactions to the incantations of “Big Business” and “Corporations” are the bread and butter of the fanatical Left, but make no sense whatsoever. The silly rantings of the radicals here make no sense whatsoever. And they have nothing to do with the fairness of holding second primaries in two states, or of the DNC trying to block the delgates from those two states from being seated at the convention if second ballots are not held.
But hey, it’s a chance to rant and rave about cherished grievances, so what the heck? Isn’t that what being a radical Lefty is all about?
The sad fact is, there is no way to handle the mess the DNC has made of this. Florida and Michigan called their bluff and now what? To hold new elections is to get very different results from what the originals were, or would have been—-the politicial situation is much different now. To use the old results means a lot of whining from those who didn’t bother to run.
And in the meantime, Clintonistas are jumping ship like crazy, now that there is a Cool New Guy to follow around. First it was Paris, then it was Lindsay. First it was Hillary, now it is Barack. That’s the trouble with trendy—-it fades so quickly, when another comes along.
The funny thing is, Clinton and Obama have pretty much identical platforms, goals, and agendas—but Hillary is much more likely to be able to get any of them enacted. Yet the Lemming Left is so enchanted by the tent revival frenzy of Obamapalooza, they’re suddenly deciding that the Right was correct about the Clintons, after all, and elbowing each other out of the way to throw Hillary under the bus.
It’s all emotion with them.