Clinton challenges Obama to back primaries
DETROIT (AP) - March 19, 2008 "Senator Obama speaks passionately on the campaign trail about
empowering the American people," said the former first lady, who
trails her rival in delegates won to date. "Today I am asking him
to match those words with actions."
Obama has yet to declare his support or opposition, although his
campaign has raised a number of procedural and legal questions
about the most recent proposal for an early June primary in
Michigan.
"The proposal offers a rerun for the state but not for all the
voters," Bob Bauer, Obama's election lawyer, wrote in a memo
during the day. He warned of the possibility of numerous legal
challenges and embarrassment to the party.
Florida and Michigan both held primaries in January on a
schedule that violated Democratic Party rules, and have been
stripped of their convention delegates as a result.
Clinton made a hurriedly arranged trip to Michigan to dramatize
her support for new primaries, at a time when some state party
officials have been drafting legislation to hold a primary in June.
Clinton said nothing less than the outcome of the general
election may be at stake in the dispute over the two states. "The
road to a Democratic White House goes through Michigan and
Florida," she said.
But there were strong political calculations at work, as well.
Clinton trails Obama in convention delegates after primaries and
caucuses in more than 40 states, and her chances of catching up are
remote at best.
Lopsided victories in second primaries in Florida and Michigan
would help narrow the delegate deficit.
Even if she fell short, victories over Obama would strengthen
her argument that party leaders who attend the convention as
superdelegates should consider a candidate's ability to win in key
states in the fall election before they pick a candidate.
Originally, Michigan was to have 128 delegates at stake in its
primary; Florida's total was 185. Superdelegates swelled the
totals.
Clinton won the renegade primaries in both states, although all
the candidates had pledged not to campaign in either and Obama
removed his name from the Michigan ballot.
Clinton referred to that in her brief appearances before members
of an audience gathered in an AFSCME union building.
"When others made the decision to remove their names from the
ballot I didn't because I believe your voices should count," she
said. "And that's why I've been saying we need to either count the
votes that have already been cast in Michigan or Florida or have
new full and fair elections."
Bauer's memo did not go as far as flatly opposing the proposal
under consideration, but it cited numerous potential difficulties.
He said any revote would have to be approved by the Justice
Department under the Voting Rights Act and noted that it would be
paid for by private funds. He also warned of possible lawsuits by
Democrats or independents who voted in last winter's Republican
primary, and would be barred from the second primary as a result.
"In other words, the proposal offers a rerun for the state but
not for all the voters," he wrote.
Both Michigan and Florida presumably are friendly territory for
the New York senator. Michigan is home to large numbers of white
blue-collar workers, many of whom have favored her in other primary
states.
Obama's difficulty in reassuring Jewish voters about his support
for Israel makes Florida problematic for him in a primary, as does
the presence of large numbers of Hispanic voters.
Clinton's case was strengthened during the day when the two
leaders of the Democratic rules committee issued a statement saying
the emerging plan in Michigan was in keeping with party rules. The
entire committee has yet to review the proposal.
Plans for a revote in Florida collapsed over the weekend,
leaving the fate of that state's delegation in doubt.
In Florida, state Sens. Steve Geller and Jeremy Ring proposed
one solution: award half the state's delegates based on the Jan. 29
vote and the other half evenly between the candidates or based on
Obama and Clinton's percentage of the national popular vote or
delegates earned. The latter calculation would exclude Michigan and
Florida.
"We're not going to put one candidate or the other over the
top. We can't do that even if we had an election where everything
was counted and went perfectly," Ring said. "This eases the
angst."
They acknowledged that their math may not be perfect, but
estimated Clinton would have a net gain of about 18 delegates.
---
Associated Press Writer Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee
contributed to this report.