Obama's campaign talks of splitting Michigan delegates
WASHINGTON (AP) - March 20, 2008 Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, an Obama supporter and former
presidential candidate, promoted the idea in a statement, saying,
"The best outcome is to come to an arrangement where the delegates
are apportioned fairly between Senators Obama and Clinton, so the
Michigan delegation can participate fully in the Denver
convention."
Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Dodd spoke to campaign leaders.
Burton said they agreed it would be an equitable way of handling
Michigan, where Obama's name wasn't even on the ballot in a
renegade Jan. 15 primary.
The Clinton campaign immediately rejected the idea of splitting
the delegates. "Michigan is populated by people, not numbers, and
those people need to have their voices heard in this process,"
said Clinton spokesman Phil Singer.
Clinton won Michigan's primary, but it didn't count toward the
presidential nomination because the state violated Democratic
National Committee rules by holding the contest before Feb. 5. The
DNC punished Michigan, stripping it of all its delegates to the
convention in Denver where the nominee will be chosen.
Now, with the campaign between Obama and Clinton so close, the
fate of 156 delegates from Michigan and another 210 from Florida
could help determine who wins the nomination. Florida was also
stripped of its delegates for holding a primary in January, which
Clinton also won.
Obama and several other Democratic candidates removed their name
from the Michigan ballot as part of their pledge not to participate
in the primary because of the rules violation. They were unable to
remove their names in Florida.
Clinton has said her preference is to seat the delegates from
both states based on the January results. Clinton has said a second
option would be to hold another vote in the two states, but efforts
to do so have proved troublesome.
Florida has given up on a plan for a mail-in vote that faced
unanimous opposition from the state's Democratic congressional
delegation. In Michigan, a bill to schedule a June 3 do-over
primary funded by private donors was looking increasingly unlikely,
despite Clinton personally visiting the state Wednesday to lobby
for it.
Thursday was the last day for Michigan lawmakers to take up the
bill before House members leave on a two-week vacation, and it
appeared doubtful that it would come up.
Singer said Obama should embrace the legislation. "That's the
fairest resolution," he said. "By refusing to come out for it,
Senator Obama is telling the people of Michigan that their votes
shouldn't count and the implications of doing that on his general
election prospects if he is the nominee are obvious."
Obama chief strategist David Axelrod raised the Dodd proposal in
a conference call with reporters as a possible way for Michigan
delegates to be seated, but said the campaign has concerns about
the current plan. That includes the fact that it would bar anyone
who voted in the Republican primary in January from participating -
and that would include those who only voted in the GOP race because
the Democratic contest didn't count.
"We are for a resolution that would give Florida and Michigan
representation at the convention that was fair and reasonable,"
Axelrod said. "There are a lot of legitimate concerns that have
been raised about the implementation of the (do-over) primary."
Dodd kept his name on the Michigan ballot along with Clinton. At
the time, his campaign spokesman said pulling names would be a
slight to Michigan voters that could hurt the eventual nominee.
Dodd said in his statement Monday that even though he left his
name on the ballot, it's clear that the results of the Jan. 15
primary should not be used to apportion delegates.
The Democratic National Committee declined to comment on Dodd's
proposal.
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Associated Press Writer Kathy Barks Hoffman in Lansing, Mich.,
contributed to this report.
