Donna Brazile's Quote-O'-the-Day on video

By GottaLaff

Thank you Fernando!



This is the video of this quote.

David Bonior speaks

By GottaLaff

David Bonior talks to Wolf Blitzer:

Wolf: Ickes used words like "hijacked". Why was it fair to give Obama delegates?

Bonior: I admire the fight of the Clinton campaign... But Ickes voted to penalize these states. Hillary called the Michigan primary, said, "Michigan does not count." Four candidates were not on the ballot, the whole system there was broken. People didn't go to the polls... We had the votes in the committee for a 50-50 split, a narrow vote, but we had the vote. But we decided in the spirit of unity to go with what the Clinton people wanted.

Wolf (shows clip of Clinton supporters' strong reactions): How worried are you that it will go to the convention?

Bonior: He reserves the right to do that, but we hope that won't happen. We reached a reasonable compromise. A lot of Clinton supporters voted for it. I think there will be some unity. There will probably be a victor next week. At the prodding of party leaders, the superdelegates will come out. If it is Obama, Hillary says she'll work as hard as she can for him. We can't have McCain's policies.

Wolf: I spoke to Robert Wexler. He said he could support a Clinton/Obama ticket. Good idea?

Bonior: I think it's a great idea to unify the party, which we'll do. That decision, though, is Obama's decision. I won't go there. Many people want that, and he'll factor that in, in his decision-making.

Hillary Clinton supporter/protester: "Howard Dean is a leftist freak!"

By GottaLaff


No words:

[T]wo blocks away from the northwest Washington Marriott where the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee is meeting right now to try to figure out Florida and Michigan, the Hillary protesters are occupying an utterly alternate (and healing-free) universe: a universe in which one of the big lawn rally's speakers yells that the Democratic Party no longer is in the business of "promoting equality and fairness for all"; in which a Hillary supporter with two poodles shouts, "Howard Dean is a leftist freak!"; in which a man exhibits a sign that reads "At least slaves were counted as 3/5ths a Citizen" and shows Dean whipping handcuffed people; and in which Larry Sinclair, the Minnesota man who took to YouTube to allege that Barack Obama had oral sex with him in the back of a limousine in 1999, is one of the belles of the ball. [...]

Clusters of people in Hillary shirts ask to take their photo with him, one woman covered in Clinton buttons introduces him to Greta Van Susteren, and he estimates he has handed out 500 fliers. "You could improve your credibility if you downplayed the gay sex and focused on the drugs," sagely advises one Hillary supporter [...] In fact, he's treated nearly as well as he might be at a meeting of the Vast Right-wing Conspiracy. In the thirty minutes I stand with him, only one woman expresses disgust at his fliers and his willingness to chattily discourse on whether Obama is "good in bed."

These are the people who share my party. Is this some kind of parallel universe? Somebody wake me up, please. Please?

Has it come to this? We tend to assume the Hillary camp's hot rhetoric--that Obama's less ready than McCain to be commander-in-chief, that the DNC in Florida is like Mugabe in Zimbabwe--is studied, purposeful, that they can't really believe it. That may be true at the Lanny Davis level, but by the time it trickles down to Hillary's most grassroots supporters, it becomes deadly serious. [...]

It's easy to sink into despair here. Standing and watching all these Democrats chat up Sinclair--who's retained Montgomery Blair Sibley as his lawyer and says the Republican National Committee has also been in touch with him--makes me want to fall to my knees, rend my garments, and start insanely screaming, "Wake up! Wake up! You'll hate a President John McCain!" But the rhetoric from the top has imparted its poison below, and the bitterest criticisms of Obama gain traction as they circulate through the virulently-pro-Hillary echo chamber. "Would you rather have a president who had an affair [Bill Clinton] or one who was a murderer [Obama]?"

Will somebody tell me who Obama was supposed to have murdered? And will somebody tell me what has happened to this party? This country? Their sanity? My sanity?

Silver lining... Or maybe pewter:

Following instructions from Obama HQ, almost no Obama supporters have shown up to protest, amplifying the impression of the alternate Hillary universe. But around the edges, a few small signs of the other universe peek through, the one in which Barack Obama leads and most Democrats don't suspect him of multiple felonies. Inside the Marriott's gift shop, the sales clerk tells me that Democratic bumper stickers have been selling like crazy today. "Mostly Hillary?" I ask.

"Actually, mostly Obama," she giggles.

TBPNTOTV!!! The "It's over now" edition

TBPNTOTV!!!* speaks!

Campbell Brown: Hillary put out a release reserving the right to bring the votes to the Credentials Committee.

Robert Zimmerman, superdelegate: Many of her supporters voted for the resolutions, so this may be premature. ... This was the fairest solution possible.

Jeff Toobin: It's over now. The numbers aren't there. There is zero prospect of a convention fight, many Hillary supporters broke off.

*THE BEST POLITICAL NEWS TEAM ON TELEVISION!!!

Florida, Michigan seated with half-votes: Clinton okays taking it to Credentials Committee

By GottaLaff

Open thread.

To answer Commenter Chris, the Credentials Committee can restore full votes, instead of 1/2-votes.

MSNBC:

Andrea Mitchell: It remains to be seen if it's an empty threat by Hillary. It could be a bargaining chip to see how she's treated by Obama camp, to see what superdelegates will do, how well she'll do in the remaining primaries... and to reassure voters that she's not caving.

Rachel Maddow: I see this as a dramatic day, with the results of the primaries fading in importance. What happened in this room is a clear signal. Florida and Michigan got their resolutions passed with support from Obama. Michigan: The Clinton campaign said NO. The atmosphere was so hostile it nearly derailed the meeting.

Chuck Todd: Big thing: The DNC is not controlled by the Clinton campaign any more. This is Obama's party now. Yes it's true that Ickes can threaten, but Don Fowler signaled, "guys, it's over."

Mitchell: The screaming: Clinton supporters are shouting "Denver, Denver!" They want to be there at the convention. They will be, but they won't get a full vote.

Todd: New magic number is 2118. Obama will only need about 20 supers after splitting the remaining primaries, which is a fair assumption. Will he be able to have them come out before Tuesday, and have a Frank Capra moment?

Mitchell: The Clinton camp will play on his weaknesses, including his resignation from his church.

Harold Ickes: Hillary will take it to the Credentials Committee

By GottaLaff [Note: I changed the title of this post]

A vote to restore full Florida voter capacity to 100%: 12 in favor; 15 against, including Donna Brazile (quick camera scan of group).

A vote to restore full Florida voter capacity (both pledged and unpledged delegates), giving each 1/2 vote, giving Clinton 55 delegate votes: 27 voting in favor, which qualifies as a unanimous vote.

Alice Huffman: "The world's not perfect... but it's good. What the party needs is unity." (huge applause) To hecklers: "Please don't interrupt me. And please don't do what they expect us to do... Conduct yourself like proper men and women."

Next: The Michigan challenge

A vote to restore full Michigan votes, giving each 1/2 vote:
Don Fowler:

It is not the first choice of my candidate Hillary Clinton, but we should support this compromise. I say that to my good friend Harold Ickes.

Harold Ickes:

I rise in opposition. We find it inexplicable that this body, supposedly devoted to rules, will fly in the face the single most fundamental rule in the delegate selection process, Fair Reflection... analogous to the First Amendment of the Constitution. This motion will hijack...HIJACK... 4 delegates won by Clinton and judgment of the voters. Now that's what I call democracy. There's been a lot of rhetoric about democracy and on and on. I am stunned that we have the gall to substitute our judgment for 600,000 voters. Was the process flawed? You bet your ass it was flawed. It's hard to find an election in the U.S. that isn't flawed. Did a lot of people not vote? You bet your ass they didn't vote.

I don't think an election would withstand the test we laid down here. Fair Reflection is in the constitution of our party. It will take 55 delegates from Uncommitted status .. and convert them to Barack Obama. So I'm going to vote against the motion, and I hope others join me, finally. There's been a lot of talk about party unity. Let's all come together, wrap our arms around each other. I submit to you that hijacking 4 delegates is not a good way to start down the path of party unity.

One final word: Mrs. Clinton has instructed me, within her rights, to take this to the Credentials Committee.

The Hillary camp doesn't like the allocation of delegates. But they swear there will be unity. Honest.

Now the vote to restore all pledged delegates able to vote 1/2 vote: Clinton 69 (divided by 2 for vote total) delegates, Obama 59 delegates (divided by 2), all unpledged delegates entitled to 1/2 vote: 19 in favor. 8 opposed. The motion carries.

Democratic Delegate Debate: A deal is close

By GottaLaff

Chuck Todd just now on MSNBC:

They're getting close to a deal: 69-59, cut in half (half-votes), plus, Obama would get both of the add-on superdelegates so they can say it's not a net of 5, but a net of 3 or 4. The Rules Committee would cut the deal.

Todd: The Obama camp won't concede a Florida win, but a straw vote win at best. Harold Ickes said in a briefing, "delegates nominate, period." And Obama's about to get away with a very good delegate deal. ... Florida: She could net as many as 19 delegates. They'll seat them all, but they get half votes. 9 of the 13 Edwards delegates have pledged to Obama, so that's 4.5. So the 19 is a net of 15.5. So they may end up only netting 13-15 out of Florida. Michigan: Accepting 69-59 proposal, but at half-votes. The key for Obama camp to accept this is that he'd get both of the add-on superdelegates, who were vacant delegates up until now. The net in Michigan could be as little as a net of 3 if the superdelegates are at full strength. Obama would still be 200 ahead of her, maybe as little as 175. Likely net 15 Florida, 4 out of Michigan. The goal of the Obama campaign was to keep it to under 20 delegates.

But will superdelegates by half, or full, votes? That's what nobody knows yet.

Chris Matthews: Hillary gets to win these states, but Obama gets to win the whole deal.

And here comes the Committee, back from "lunch".

Chuck Todd: Florida-- 21-18 if half votes, 21-31 if they're full votes. The last 3 states, if evenly split 43-43 which is likely, then Obama is about 15-20 superdelegates away from crossing the finish line.

The Democratic jury is out... to lunch

By GottaLaff

The Democrats took a lunch break. And by lunch break, I mean a very long sequestered meeting about seating delegates.

More to liveblogging to come...

Howard Dean and Al Gore are holding a fundraiser called a Unity Dinner tonight. Now all they have to do is unify.... and finish the Delegate Debate before dawn.

"The Clintons no longer control this party.": MSNBC's Nora O'Donnell just confirmed what Commenter Mainsailset confirmed what Chuck Todd said.

Al Gore, Howard Dean, and the Democratic Party

By GottaLaff

Howard Dean opened at the Rules Committee meeting with a story about Al Gore:

"I was very very angry at my party for some of the things that had been done," Dean said, going on to recall getting a phone call in the middle of the night from Al Gore, to whom Dean ranted and raved about his loss.

"What do I owe the Democratic Party?" Dean recalled telling Gore. "Why should I be a Democrat after what the party did to me?"

According to Dean, Gore responded: "Howard, you know, this is not about you. It's about your country."

"Nobody could have said that to me except for Al Gore," Dean continued, since Gore had had the presidency snatched from him by "five intellectually bankrupt Supreme Court justices who did the wrong thing."

Was he signaling that Gore was about to weigh in on the Democratic primary, and that the Democrats should be listening?

The endless day of Delegate Debating

By GottaLaff

Chuck Todd: The latest buzz, informed speculation: Punt the Michigan issues to the Credentials Committee. But the Clinton folks don't have the votes to do that. The solution may be the default, the 69-59 split. The Rules don't want to accept the primary, but may say the Michigan Dem Party wants to allocate the delegates this way, so we'll defer to them.

Obama may get enough superdelegates that it won't matter. This is not a victory for Clinton at all, donors won't wait the 2 months. Obama camp is aggressively trying to get the superdelegate counts out by Monday. The onslaught of supers hasn't happened. I talk to supers, a couple on the committee, and one admitted that if we rule that we're not seating full delegations, and instead doing half and half, then he'll conclude that there's no math way for Hillary to win, so will come out for Obama. That's why Plouffe is here, working the room. This could be a good day for Obama.

Chris Matthews: So, a double victory: Hillary gets popular vote in Fla, and goes to Michigan goes to Credentials Committee, while Obama gets the numbers. Best case scenario.

Rachel Maddow: If they punt in Michigan, it means there's no magic number, no final delegate number, so it's still open. I'll be watching for Donna Brazile. She's a respected voice, gets spontaneous applause in the room. But she's been saying, "it's got to end."

Nora O'Donnell: After Tuesday, isn't Armageddon for the Democratic Party?

Joe Andrew (switched from Clinton to Obama): I think there will be a vote tonight, certainly on Florida, hopefully on Michigan. Closure is important. Punting to the Credentials Committee is the danger.

Chris: I think the superdelegates who are politicians, who really care about who wins, will move next week. They'll GO. Even the softer Hillary people.

Joe: I think you're right. Each excuse to NOT make a decision will be taken a way. All the primaries will be done, a Rules decision tonight, so no reason for supers to NOT announce who they're for. Obama's in a position to be perceived to compromise. He gave up the 19 delegates, so that's the way a gracious person, a winner reacts. [Chris: If Hillary's attacks go on for another 2 months, can he win the general?] Things can be "not good" for the Dems, but not necessarily help the Republicans; whether it helps the Republicans has yet to be seen.

Democratic Delegate Debate, more

By GottaLaff

Watching MSNBC:

Maddow: Clinton is in it to stay in it no matter what. It can't resolve itself.

Detroit Free Press' Todd Spangler, on CSPAN: The idea of both states losing half their voting power is a done deal. I was just told that they plan to fight on to receive the other half of those delegates. Watch the Obama supporters on the Rules Committee to want a 50-50 Michigan split, or maybe accept the 69-59, just to get this overwith.

Back to MSNBC:

Bonior: We're asking for an even split, 50-50 in Michigan. We were generous in Florida. ... We've gotta move on, unify, we only have 5 months until the election. We'll focus on McCain. Obama will be the nominee. The Committee will decide this, hopefully today, because they understand the time factor. ... The popular vote shouldn't count. Even the Michigan Dem. party feels that way.

Pat Buchanan: Harold Ickes spoke for Hillary. They'll say all delegates should be seated and treated equally, demanding what they did in Michigan. She'll win Puerto Rico and go on to say I am the candidate of the people, Obama is the candidate of the delegates. The superdelegates won't take this away from Obama. Hillary will say this, but then wait for Obama's offer. She'll make him reject her.

Chris: Why? To what effect? Press him to make her v.p.?

Nora: She already counted Fla and Michigan's popular vote. Today they would legitimize them and she'd further that argument. She's said she's more electable, does better with the base (white working class, not African Americans) and older voters, and women. So she doesn't need the popular vote argument to convince them that she'd be the best v.p. candidate. Obama has said that Abe Lincoln brought in rivals, that he's a pragmatist, wants the best government. He doesn't want to rule her out. Many Dems would support a dream ticket.

Howard Wolfson: The day itself is a victory. [See this post, Andrea Mitchell called it] We're making the case to superdelegates [see Nora's comments just above these, he's reiterating those... She's electable, etc.] I'm not sure the Committee will come up with a 50-50 split. I'm pretty comfortable with that.

Todd: But you'll abide by what they decide.

Wolfson: We'll have to see what they decide. In Florida, it's a huge victory for Clinton, and a 19 vote pick-up is more than the status quo, so it's a victory. In Michigan, uncommitted is uncommitted, not necessarily for Obama, so no popular vote credit for him. He took his name off the ballot. ... We're moving towards a resolution in Florida, but Michigan is harder. It's a good day for the party. ...

Mitchell: If there's no math way she could win, what does she do?

Wolfson: She's fighting for the nomination, but we're also fighting for unity. We can achieve both. Obama's committed to those things. [He then threw in a Pastor dig]

Delegate Debate liveblog, the sequel

By GottaLaff

MSNBC:

Chris Matthews: Obama's aim today is to put the fire out.

Todd: Michigan is still an open question. Obama doesn't want to recognize that primary. The popular vote is a silly question, but the Obama campaign is not willing to concede that just because they agreed to the 19 vote advantage in Fla, the popular vote shouldn't be counted. It's not a metric. But they'd accept it by default in Florida. Michigan is another story, it can't be legitimate.

Chris: Clintons want to count the total number of votes.

Washington Post guy: Exit polls are wrong.

Nora O'Donnell: The first wave of exit polls is usually way off. But toward the end are more accurate. This is an effort by the party to appear unified. Keep everyone happy. That is difficult. That's why there have been very heated arguments. Dean wants to walk out saying, 'We are unified.' Obama doesn't want to legitimize the popular vote in Michigan, because Hillary would have a reason to continue. That's key. If Clinton had called for the seating of ALL the delegates, will that be enough for her? Will she take it to the convention and keep fighting? The door would be open just a bit. Obama camp conceded in Florida, giving her half the delegates. But Clinton says, "I want it all." That's what they're putting forth. Levin wants a full seating of the delegates, however you apportion it. And if they don't do that, Levin said he'd take it to the Credentials Committee and the convention.

Rachel Maddow: If the overall strategy is "this can't be resolved", and you raise the rhetoric, you justify going to the convention.

Nora: Why the 500 + protesters? Why were they bussed up there? To say they were glad they reached a compromise? There's a family feud going on.

Chris: I heard there would be 10,000. They're very calm, not angry... yet. It'll come down to, are we going to have a combustion in the party through the summer, or will Clinton be satisfied with a popular vote victory and go with that to the superdelegates and try to win this week?

Post Guy: It doesn't lie with Clintons, but with Levin. Will HE be happy? He said he'd go to the Credentials Committee if he's not happy.

Mitchell: Clinton wants to run up the popular vote, but she'll never close the delegate gap. Then go to the superdelegates. If they jump to Obama, this will wind down. There's no appetite for a scorched earth policy, not from Hillary or Bill. There's a larger interest in the Dem. party. There's still a lot of negotiating to be had.

Chris: If she can claim that she got the most votes, she can start a drumbeat to be on the ticket, per a sense of things I got from Terry McCauliffe.

Nora: She could say that withOUT getting the popular vote. It's more of an historical aspect, being the first woman candidate.

Chris: Because he doesn't want to pick her, that's why.

Mitchell: Whatever happens today, they'll declare victory, because of the very thing that took place today. Because of the division of delegates, by inference, she can declare victory, and will argue for the popular vote.

Todd: They'll adjourn for lunch, but it's an unofficial meeting, cordoned off, like jury deliberations. We may find out that they'll either consider the 2 states together, or separately. Obama camp will rethink the concession if they think the Michigan deal is going south...

Mitchell: Granholme's endorsement, is it being traded? If Obama gives Clinton a deal for Michigan, then will Granholme endorse him? Hillary may go back to Florida and declare victory. Todd's analogy of jury deliberations? Well Judge Pelosi has made a statement, too.

Todd: Ickes and the other Clinton partisan will have the least influence because they're so partisan. However the DNC chair, Don Fowler, a Clinton supporter, is ready to cut a deal. He could have a lot of sway. And Donna Brazile is uncommitted, she will be a respected voice too.

Mitchell: There's an event with Al Gore tonight.

Todd: They don't want to step on the Puerto Rico primary, so the committee will want to resolve this tonight.

Mitchell: Plus, they want to be on the Sunday talk shows with an agreement, unity.

Todd: Obama would lose 19 delegates today, roll out superdelegates on Monday, so Tuesday night, when we call Montana, we call the nomination. That's their best case scenario, and it's plausible. But it's not a probable one yet. We'll see after today, and after Puerto Rico tomorrow.

Liveblog: Delegate Debate, continued

By GottaLaff

Once again, please forgive the typos and shorthand:

MSNBC:

Wexler: The superdelegate question for me was one of fairness. We have to abide by the rules of this bylaws committee. We will accept this decision and move forward. ... The Clinton campaign looks to be acting in a very responsible way toward unity.

Todd: What about Jewish voters?

Wexler: Clinton has their support, but so does Obama v. McCain in the general. We'll beat him badly on Social Security, and Obama has an A+ record on Israel, he's a staunch advocate for their security.

Rachel Maddow: Fla and Michigan had rogue contests. Michigan was an uncontested election and against the committee rules, but also the names of the 2 candidates weren't available to be voted upon. It's a reach to count it...

Senator Carl Levin, of Michigan, up.

Levin: Michigan has achieved unity, we're asking you to preserve it. (applause) Seat all the delegates with full voting rights... there's an overwhelming agreement for this. I believe both candidates support this. That's been missing, unity between our candidates... The Michigan Democratic party supports that position. Disagreement: The Party has reached a compromise on allocation. It's imperfect... no scientific way to reach that conclusion, but a fair way, a reasonable way, per Mark Brewer. Obama wants to divide the votes 64-64 because the primary was flawed. Clinton's rep will say 73-55, representing the vote because her name was on the ballot and assuming that the uncommitted should go to Obama, even though some would have gone to Edwards. We know it was a flawed primary. We couldn't get a re-vote. If you don't seat them in full, you'll interject an element of disunity where we have unity. If you can come up with a better allocation than 69-59, so be it. If there's a 4th way to do this, that'll be in your hands. We've given you the best we can do, united the Michigan Democratic Party with this formula (69-59).

No state has the right to go first before Michigan. So we fought to open up the process. We'll take our case to the convention, we said in 2004. Terry McAuliffe said don't do that. We'll appoint a commission. They had hearings for a year. I was a member of that commission. We came up with a recommendation for a minor change, to open up the system so other states besides Iowa and New Hampshire, could go early. That there be an additional first tier, one or 2, first tier caucuses between Iowa and New Hampshire. N.H. hated it, and voted No. We don't believe we're a party of privilege, no state should have that. So insert 1 or 2 caucuses. Michigan accepted that. We praised it. ... We accepted that we weren't one of the 4 pre-window states provided N.H. accepted. They didn't. We couldn't get an answer from the commission to whether or not a state could go early. The commission's findings were that serious concerns that Iowa and N.H. weren't reflective of the electorate. So, N.H. would go third. N.H. said no, he'd jump forward to #2, before Nevada. So, back at square one. After this committee said, "go third"?? We ask YOU, where's the integrity of that? Enforce the new rule. If you won't, then give Michigan a waiver, too. You gave them a waiver, but denied us a waiver. So, we had to take that privilege on again.

It's complicated. We said we'd accept the rule if everyone else did, but the committee let that one state off the hook. We wouldn't take that any more... The sequence was the key... the fight wasn't the 4 states in the window, it was the sequence within the pre-window. Don't punish us for that. We only differ on the proportionment.

Liveblog: The Delegate Debate

By GottaLaff

Again, please forgive typos and shorthand.

MSNBC's Nora O'Donnell: Wexler, yelling at some of his presentation, "let us unify, let us move on" essentially saying Obama has made a major concession, by giving them half of the vote. But how will the Clinton campaign respond? Ickes tried to question him about whether they'd oppose a full delegation. Wexler said he'd stick to the rules of the committee.

Andrea Mitchell: Ickes argued that the rules don't argue against 100% seating. That Fla and Michigan have been punished enough.

Chuck Todd: It's a victory for the Clinton campaign, maybe not what she wanted, but a big victory.

ON TO MICHIGAN:

Mitchell: A much harder argument, no unity at all.

Commentator: Barack Obama's name wasn't on the Michigan ballot. "Uncommitted", does that equal Obama's votes? That will be a major point of contention.

Chuck Todd: Does the Michigan primary count? Clinton, Obama, DNC hardliners are the 3 groups arguing. We don't have a consensus yet on that.

Michigan Democratic Chair, Mark Brewer: Seat the entire delegation. They've been punished enough. Any further punishment will hurt our chances in the general election. Michigan has been bypassed to this point. ... by both candidates. There is no advertising, no staff, no events, no voter registration, no GOTV. Plus, McCain reminds the voters of Michigan of this. A reduction of delegates will only add fuel to this. Obama/Edwards supporters organized in a massive scale... so, an extraordinary 40% pledged for Uncommitted. So.. they weren't uncommitted. At the subsequent convention, these results were confirmed.
We encouraged people to vote uncommitted, because we were worried there would be uncounted write-ins. We looked at the write-ins, and there were 30,000 uncounted votes statewide, based on exit polling. Most of those were probably for Obama. They were not included in any calculation. So, we adjust the delegate allocation to reflect the true state of voter preference based on ALL the data (exit polls, our study of uncounted write-ins, etc.), which is fairer. That is the basis for the 69-59 allocation.

Q: Exit polls aren't reliable. Why use them?

Brewer: Because you had an incomplete ballot, which didn't give us a true picture of the preference of voters.

Q: It's clear that Uncommitted is a presidential preference. They are awarded delegates. They're bound by no one, like superdelegates. They probably WERE for Obama, but: A willy-nilly arbitrary assignment of delegates when you've had a vote between 2 legitimate preferences, this will be chaotic. If we take some data from a primary, some from exit polls, we're really in trouble. (applause) We shouldn't set a precedent.

Brewer: This is not the normal situation. Every bit of evidence shows they were for Obama or Edwards. So we think it makes sense to allocate them officially to Obama.

Q: I feel like Alice in Wonderland. We have hard votes, but then we'd discount them with exit polls. If we could do that, Kerry would be president right now. I get the same sense with Florida, wondering what would happen if more people had voted.

Q: Virtually all the candidates were pulling their names off of the ballot, so you did what you could do to conduct the election. Would the results be different if all the names were on the ballot? It was an Alice in Wonderland election, as was said. You could have built other numbers, so is this legitmate?

Brewer: If the ballot had been complete, the result would be close to the exit poll, 46-35 perhaps.

Q: What is this challenge saying with respect to the rules? I agree we could issue a waiver to seat the entire delegation, but... second: What specific rule of the charter authorizes us to allocate or assign numbers of delegates to particular candidates? The Fair Reflection Rule? Delegates SHALL be allocated that reflects preference or uncommitted status. It says SHALL. Are you saying this rule applies here?

Brewer: That doesn't apply here, because there was no caucus or primary that reflects voter preference. I'm not relying on that rule. We had an incomplete primary, so we have to do SOMEthing. I brought the best and only available data to allocate...

Ickes: The 4 candidates voluntarily withdrew their names, but no party rule required that. Some said they did it to curry favor with the likes of Iowa (applause).

Brewer: My concern isn't the candidates, but the voters having their will expressed (bigger applause).

Hillary reportedly using McCain and Huckabee supporters at DNC protest

By GottaLaff

Is Hillary trying to get Huckabee's delegates? Would that put her over the top? Could that even happen? At this point, I'm not putting anything past anyone.

Via AMERICAblog's John Aravosis, who received this "e-mail from one of the 'grassroots organizers' of Hillary's fake protest this weekend at the DNC rules committee meeting":

We have Fantastic News!

As you know, our efforts to present a unified front this weekend on Sat, May 31 at the DNC meeting has proven to be quite successful…in fact, we have now an approximate 10,000 marchers. The marchers will be coming from across the country and they aren't just Clinton supporters. For a unified showing will be Obama, McCain, Clinton and even a few Huckabee supporters who will rally together in Washington DC.

How did a grass roots group of politically inexperienced organizers get an overwhelming response of thousands of supporters…supporters that cross partisan lines for the unified message: All Voices Heard, All Votes Matter?

Obama has asked his supporters to refrain from mixing in.

Maybe it's time for McLellan to write a book about Hillary, too.

DNC beats Hannah Montana

By GottaLaff

Oh...em...gee! I so totally wanna go to the DNC thingy!

[T]his Saturday’s Washington meeting to debate the seating of the Florida and Michigan delegations is officially the toughest ticket in town.

The members of the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee – the panel weighing how both states should be represented at the convention in Denver – will meet very publicly, at a hotel site ringed with protesters and satellite trucks. Inside, they’ll be joined by a swarm of political journalists – and a few rank-and-file Democrats. Only about 300 people – including RBC members, press and public — will be allowed inside.

I gotta get ungrounded. Like, now. Like, immediately. Ooo! Maybe I'll wear my sister's new tank top and shorty shorts! This is like, so kewl. I hope they let me take cell pix. I am majorly into rules and bylaws and junk.

But hundreds of Democrats eager for a front-row seat to history found themselves out of luck today, as the party’s online registration system for the spots available to the public was overwhelmed at 10 a.m. ET, when it opened. All available seats were claimed in about a minute.

No way! This so sucks! They were out of tickets in, like, a nanosecond!

(By comparison: the Hannah Montana concert earlier this year at the Verizon Center – granted, a much larger venue – took roughly 12 minutes to sell out.)

Hannah Montana is way cooler anyway. I so wanna be just like her instead of some old Democratic guy with hair plugs and a flag pin. Gotta go. Someone's texting me.