Sunday, June 01, 2008

The D.N.C. Gets Florida and Michigan Done

The only argument remaining is, did the DNC do it with a fork or a nail?The way I understand it, the Democratic Rules and Bylaws Committee decided yesterday to seat the Florida and Michigan delegations to the Democratic conventions but with their voting strength cut in half. This takes one more leg from Hillary Clinton's pretense that she still has an open lane to being nominated to head the ticket in this year's presidential election. There was insufficient support for Clintons' demand that every Michigan and Florida delegate be seated with a full vote for each. In making the concession, the New York Senator not only settled for a net gain of just 26.5 delegate votes instead of 56, but gave up a crucial issue to take to the August convention in Denver.

IMO the stars of this protracted, and sometimes unruly, nine hour DNC meeting were governor Howard Dean and Congressman Robert Wexler (FL). Dean, in his introductory remarks was eloquent and moving - especially when he quoted Al Gore.

But Wexler, I came to respect the man. He had always struck me as has a hyperbolic shouter rather than a impassioned public spokesman. He was once referred to as “the human advertisement for the mute button.” He's always been the right (Progressive!) side of course, but verging on being too loud to be persuasive. Yesterday, Wexler was persuasive. A longer clip than what follows would demonstrate how richly Harold Ickes deserved this smackdown:Minutes after this exchange, Ickes left his seat at the table. After the meetings, Ickes said that Clinton campaign reserves the option of appealing to the Convention's credentialing committee. It was an empty gesture.