Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign just released this letter to Sen. Barack Obama about the the voting situation in Florida and Michigan.
Here 'tis, in full:
Dear Senator Obama,This has been an historic and exciting campaign. Millions of new voters have been brought into the process and their enthusiasm for the Democratic Party and the principles for which you and I have fought and continue to fight is unprecedented.
One of the foremost principles of our party is that citizens be allowed to vote and that those votes be counted. That principle is not currently being applied to the nearly 2.5 million people who voted in primaries in Florida and Michigan. Whoever emerges as the Democratic nominee will be hamstrung in the general election if a fair and quick resolution is not reached that ensures that the voices of these voters are heard. Our commitment now to this goal could be the difference between winning and losing in November.
I have consistently said that the votes cast in Florida and Michigan in January should be counted. We cannot ignore the fact that the people in those states took the time to be a part of this process and to make their preferences known. When efforts were untaken by leaders in those states to hold revotes to ensure that they had a voice in selecting our nominee, I supported those efforts. In Michigan, I supported a legislative effort to hold a revote that the Democratic National Committee said was in complete compliance with the party's rules. You did not support those efforts and your supporters in Michigan publically opposed them. In Florida a number of revote options were proposed. I am not aware of any that you supported. In 2000, the Republicans won an election by successfully opposing a fair counting of votes in Florida. As Democrats, we must reject any proposals that would do the same.
Your commitment to the voters of these states must be clearly stated and your support for a fair and quick resolution must be clearly demonstrated.
I am asking you to join me in working with representatives from Florida and Michigan and the Democratic National Committee to arrive at a solution that honors the votes of the millions of people who went to the polls in Florida and Michigan. It is not enough to simply seat their representatives at the convention in Denver. The people of these great states, like the people who have voted and are to vote in other states, must have a voice in selecting our party's nominee.
Sincerely,
Hillary Rodham Clinton
— Christina Bellantoni, national political reporter, The Washington Times
Comments (5)
TO be fair, we need an honest answer from Clinton - would she write the same letter had Mr Obama won those two states? Or, would she accept the rules to be changed if Obama wanted them to be in his favor?
Posted by nikki | May 8, 2008 3:44 PM
Pure desperation. Hillary, please go away and quietly. You are an embarrassment to the party.
Posted by Daryl | May 8, 2008 4:10 PM
Absolutely! Fair question. Would she be so keen on seating these delegates if it wasn't in her favor? And her nerve in suggesting that not seating the delegates is akin to what the Republicans did in 2000?! How can she ignore 3 main facts that:
#1, Neither candidate campaigned in these 2 states - if they had, surely the results would have been different (in one way or another) than the original results.
#2, Obama REMOVED his name from the ballot in Michigan. How could she POSSIBLY think the original results are fair?
and #3, the Democratic leaders in Florida and Michigan KNEW AHEAD OF TIME that if they moved their primaries up that the delegates would not be seated and they DID IT ANYWAY!! How can fairness or justice suggest that anything other than that exact scenario (the delegates not being seated) happen? What kind of message does that send?
Clinton has greatly disappointed me in this primary contest. She has shown that she has no qualms whatsoever in resorting to the same tactics (fearmongering, changing the rules to suit her, etc.) that the Bush Administration has perfected in order to be the Democratic nominee.
Posted by Dan | May 9, 2008 12:44 PM
The Obama campaign should write a public reply to this letter. The Clinton camp is being devious in this matter. In fact the DNC should come out clear to the public and spell out what the real deal is concerning Florida and Michigan. In my opinion delegates from both states should be shared equally. It seems the Democratic Party leadership is not acting strongly to bring this campaign to a close. This ineptitude may cause the party new recruits. ACT NOW HOWARD DEAN, NANCY AND THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADERSHIP ELSE.....
Posted by Martin | May 10, 2008 11:06 PM
YOU PEOPLE NEEDS TO GET A LIFE AND LET EVERYONE VOICE BE HEARD AFTER ALL WHAT DO YOU OR I GOT TO LOOSE WITH THE PRICES OF EVERYTHIBG THSES DAYS WHO THE SAY WHY VOTE FOR ONE AND DONT VOTE FOR ANOTHER AFTER ALL EVERYONE IS JUST TELLING AMERICANS WHAT THEY WANT TO HEAR AINT NOTHING GOING TO CHANGE BUT PRICES WE NEED TO FIGHTING THESE GAS PRICES FOR REAL AND THATS SOME TRUE STUFF SO AS AN AMERICAN WHAT IS LEFT NOTHING IF YOU READ YOUR BIBLE ITS SAYS THAT THINGS LIKE THIS SHOULD COME TO PASS AND GO HILIARY I AM ALL IN FORM THE CLINTONS PLEASE...
Posted by TINA PULLEY | May 11, 2008 12:24 AM