Saturday, June 28, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Clinton backer challenges Texas delegates
By AMAN BATHEJ - Fort Worth Star Telegram - June 24, 2008A local Hillary Clinton supporter has filed a written challenge to 126 Texas delegates elected to attend the National Democratic Convention in Denver.
Fort Worth lawyer Jason Smith sent a credentials challenge to the Democratic National Committee Rules and Bylaws committee last week charging that the makeup of the Texas delegation violated a DNC rule.
The Texas Democratic Party allocated its delegates in part by the results of the March 4 primary and partly by the results of precinct caucuses held around the state that evening.
That arrangement is counter to a DNC rule requiring that delegate selection "fairly reflects" the presidential preference of primary voters, Smith said.
Hillary Clinton won the primary vote in Texas but Barack Obama did better in the precinct caucuses. Texas delegates going to the national convention are split 99 for Obama and 94 for Clinton.
Texas Democratic Party spokesman Hector Nieto said the state's delegate allocation plan was approved by the DNC.
Smith said he's not filing the challenge in some last-ditch bid to boost Clinton. Rather, he wants to see an end to the so-called Texas Two-Step. He estimated that Clinton would gain six delegates if the state's delegation were altered to reflect the results of the Texas primary.
"This isn't anti-Obama," Smith said. "This is anti-caucus process."
Complaints about Texas' crowded and chaotic primary process have spurred the state party to launch a committee to recommend changes.
In April, Smith filed several challenges to the results of local Senate district conventions that elected delegates to the state convention in Austin.
DNC spokeswoman Natalie Wyeth declined to comment Monday on the number of challenges received regarding the upcoming convention.
Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram
Fort Worth lawyer Jason Smith sent a credentials challenge to the Democratic National Committee Rules and Bylaws committee last week charging that the makeup of the Texas delegation violated a DNC rule.
The Texas Democratic Party allocated its delegates in part by the results of the March 4 primary and partly by the results of precinct caucuses held around the state that evening.
That arrangement is counter to a DNC rule requiring that delegate selection "fairly reflects" the presidential preference of primary voters, Smith said.
Hillary Clinton won the primary vote in Texas but Barack Obama did better in the precinct caucuses. Texas delegates going to the national convention are split 99 for Obama and 94 for Clinton.
Texas Democratic Party spokesman Hector Nieto said the state's delegate allocation plan was approved by the DNC.
Smith said he's not filing the challenge in some last-ditch bid to boost Clinton. Rather, he wants to see an end to the so-called Texas Two-Step. He estimated that Clinton would gain six delegates if the state's delegation were altered to reflect the results of the Texas primary.
"This isn't anti-Obama," Smith said. "This is anti-caucus process."
Complaints about Texas' crowded and chaotic primary process have spurred the state party to launch a committee to recommend changes.
In April, Smith filed several challenges to the results of local Senate district conventions that elected delegates to the state convention in Austin.
DNC spokeswoman Natalie Wyeth declined to comment Monday on the number of challenges received regarding the upcoming convention.
Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram
Sunday, June 22, 2008
The Two Obamas
By DAVID BROOKS - Op-Ed Columnist New York Times - June 20, 2008
God, Republicans are saps. They think that they’re running against some academic liberal who wouldn’t wear flag pins on his lapel, whose wife isn’t proud of America and who went to some liberationist church where the pastor damned his own country. They think they’re running against some naïve university-town dreamer, the second coming of Adlai Stevenson.
But as recent weeks have made clear, Barack Obama is the most split-personality politician in the country today. On the one hand, there is Dr. Barack, the high-minded, Niebuhr-quoting speechifier who spent this past winter thrilling the Scarlett Johansson set and feeling the fierce urgency of now. But then on the other side, there’s Fast Eddie Obama, the promise-breaking, tough-minded Chicago pol who’d throw you under the truck for votes.
This guy is the whole Chicago package: an idealistic, lakefront liberal fronting a sharp-elbowed machine operator. He’s the only politician of our lifetime who is underestimated because he’s too intelligent. He speaks so calmly and polysyllabically that people fail to appreciate the Machiavellian ambition inside.
But he’s been giving us an education, for anybody who cares to pay attention. Just try to imagine Mister Rogers playing the agent Ari in “Entourage” and it all falls into place.
Back when he was in the Illinois State Senate, Dr. Barack could have taken positions on politically uncomfortable issues. But Fast Eddie Obama voted “present” nearly 130 times. From time to time, he threw his voting power under the truck.
Dr. Barack said he could no more disown the Rev. Jeremiah Wright than disown his own grandmother. Then the political costs of Rev. Wright escalated and Fast Eddie Obama threw Wright under the truck.
Dr. Barack could have been a workhorse senator. But primary candidates don’t do tough votes, so Fast Eddie Obama threw the workhorse duties under the truck.
Dr. Barack could have changed the way presidential campaigning works. John McCain offered to have a series of extended town-hall meetings around the country. But favored candidates don’t go in for unscripted free-range conversations. Fast Eddie Obama threw the new-politics mantra under the truck.
And then on Thursday, Fast Eddie Obama had his finest hour. Barack Obama has worked on political reform more than any other issue. He aspires to be to political reform what Bono is to fighting disease in Africa. He’s spent much of his career talking about how much he believes in public financing. In January 2007, he told Larry King that the public-financing system works. In February 2007, he challenged Republicans to limit their spending and vowed to do so along with them if he were the nominee. In February 2008, he said he would aggressively pursue spending limits. He answered a Midwest Democracy Network questionnaire by reminding everyone that he has been a longtime advocate of the public-financing system.
But Thursday, at the first breath of political inconvenience, Fast Eddie Obama threw public financing under the truck. In so doing, he probably dealt a death-blow to the cause of campaign-finance reform. And the only thing that changed between Thursday and when he lauded the system is that Obama’s got more money now.
And Fast Eddie Obama didn’t just sell out the primary cause of his life. He did it with style. He did it with a video so risibly insincere that somewhere down in the shadow world, Lee Atwater is gaping and applauding. Obama blamed the (so far marginal) Republican 527s. He claimed that private donations are really public financing. He made a cut-throat political calculation seem like Mother Teresa’s final steps to sainthood.
The media and the activists won’t care (they were only interested in campaign-finance reform only when the Republicans had more money). Meanwhile, Obama’s money is forever. He’s got an army of small donors and a phalanx of big money bundlers, including, according to The Washington Post, Kenneth Griffin of the Citadel Investment Group; Kirk Wager, a Florida trial lawyer; James Crown, a director of General Dynamics; and Neil Bluhm, a hotel, office and casino developer.
I have to admit, I’m ambivalent watching all this. On the one hand, Obama did sell out the primary cause of his professional life, all for a tiny political advantage. If he’ll sell that out, what won’t he sell out? On the other hand, global affairs ain’t beanbag. If we’re going to have a president who is going to go toe to toe with the likes of Vladimir Putin, maybe it is better that he should have a ruthlessly opportunist Fast Eddie Obama lurking inside.
All I know for sure is that this guy is no liberal goo-goo. Republicans keep calling him naïve. But naïve is the last word I’d use to describe Barack Obama. He’s the most effectively political creature we’ve seen in decades. Even Bill Clinton wasn’t smart enough to succeed in politics by pretending to renounce politics.
Read more in the New York Times
God, Republicans are saps. They think that they’re running against some academic liberal who wouldn’t wear flag pins on his lapel, whose wife isn’t proud of America and who went to some liberationist church where the pastor damned his own country. They think they’re running against some naïve university-town dreamer, the second coming of Adlai Stevenson.
But as recent weeks have made clear, Barack Obama is the most split-personality politician in the country today. On the one hand, there is Dr. Barack, the high-minded, Niebuhr-quoting speechifier who spent this past winter thrilling the Scarlett Johansson set and feeling the fierce urgency of now. But then on the other side, there’s Fast Eddie Obama, the promise-breaking, tough-minded Chicago pol who’d throw you under the truck for votes.
This guy is the whole Chicago package: an idealistic, lakefront liberal fronting a sharp-elbowed machine operator. He’s the only politician of our lifetime who is underestimated because he’s too intelligent. He speaks so calmly and polysyllabically that people fail to appreciate the Machiavellian ambition inside.
But he’s been giving us an education, for anybody who cares to pay attention. Just try to imagine Mister Rogers playing the agent Ari in “Entourage” and it all falls into place.
Back when he was in the Illinois State Senate, Dr. Barack could have taken positions on politically uncomfortable issues. But Fast Eddie Obama voted “present” nearly 130 times. From time to time, he threw his voting power under the truck.
Dr. Barack said he could no more disown the Rev. Jeremiah Wright than disown his own grandmother. Then the political costs of Rev. Wright escalated and Fast Eddie Obama threw Wright under the truck.
Dr. Barack could have been a workhorse senator. But primary candidates don’t do tough votes, so Fast Eddie Obama threw the workhorse duties under the truck.
Dr. Barack could have changed the way presidential campaigning works. John McCain offered to have a series of extended town-hall meetings around the country. But favored candidates don’t go in for unscripted free-range conversations. Fast Eddie Obama threw the new-politics mantra under the truck.
And then on Thursday, Fast Eddie Obama had his finest hour. Barack Obama has worked on political reform more than any other issue. He aspires to be to political reform what Bono is to fighting disease in Africa. He’s spent much of his career talking about how much he believes in public financing. In January 2007, he told Larry King that the public-financing system works. In February 2007, he challenged Republicans to limit their spending and vowed to do so along with them if he were the nominee. In February 2008, he said he would aggressively pursue spending limits. He answered a Midwest Democracy Network questionnaire by reminding everyone that he has been a longtime advocate of the public-financing system.
But Thursday, at the first breath of political inconvenience, Fast Eddie Obama threw public financing under the truck. In so doing, he probably dealt a death-blow to the cause of campaign-finance reform. And the only thing that changed between Thursday and when he lauded the system is that Obama’s got more money now.
And Fast Eddie Obama didn’t just sell out the primary cause of his life. He did it with style. He did it with a video so risibly insincere that somewhere down in the shadow world, Lee Atwater is gaping and applauding. Obama blamed the (so far marginal) Republican 527s. He claimed that private donations are really public financing. He made a cut-throat political calculation seem like Mother Teresa’s final steps to sainthood.
The media and the activists won’t care (they were only interested in campaign-finance reform only when the Republicans had more money). Meanwhile, Obama’s money is forever. He’s got an army of small donors and a phalanx of big money bundlers, including, according to The Washington Post, Kenneth Griffin of the Citadel Investment Group; Kirk Wager, a Florida trial lawyer; James Crown, a director of General Dynamics; and Neil Bluhm, a hotel, office and casino developer.
I have to admit, I’m ambivalent watching all this. On the one hand, Obama did sell out the primary cause of his professional life, all for a tiny political advantage. If he’ll sell that out, what won’t he sell out? On the other hand, global affairs ain’t beanbag. If we’re going to have a president who is going to go toe to toe with the likes of Vladimir Putin, maybe it is better that he should have a ruthlessly opportunist Fast Eddie Obama lurking inside.
All I know for sure is that this guy is no liberal goo-goo. Republicans keep calling him naïve. But naïve is the last word I’d use to describe Barack Obama. He’s the most effectively political creature we’ve seen in decades. Even Bill Clinton wasn’t smart enough to succeed in politics by pretending to renounce politics.
Read more in the New York Times
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Clinton wins in Puerto Rico, CNN projects
CNN - Sunday, June 1, 2008SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton will win Puerto Rico's Democratic primary by a wide margin, CNN projects, giving her the larger share of the territory's 55 delegates.
With about 70 percent of precincts reporting, Clinton was leading Sen. Barack Obama by more than a 2-1 margin.
Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe said Puerto Rico was "another great win" for the New York senator.
Clinton swept Obama in every major demographic group, including groups Obama generally wins, such as younger voters and higher income voters, according to CNN's exit polls.
Clinton's campaign has been arguing that a landslide victory would push her ahead in the popular vote and help her convince superdelegates to pick her instead of Obama.
To cross that threshold, she would need to win 65 percent of the vote with a turnout of at least 2 million people.
But Luis Hector, an elections official, said only 1.5 million ballots were printed.
CNN estimates turnout will be between 325,000 and 425,000.
"Most people in Puerto Rico, I would venture to guess, they are not even aware that there's a primary going on," said Luis Pabón-Roca, a local political analyst.
He said the political atmosphere on the island this week is subdued compared to the fever that sweeps the island before local elections.
Some poll workers in small towns started abandoning the polling stations because turnout was so low, he said.
Part of the reason for the lack of interest, he said, is because voters feel the primary isn't meaningful since Puerto Ricans cannot vote in the general election.
The Democratic and Republican parties run the primaries and caucuses, and they allow U.S. territories, such as the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, to take part in the process.
With about 70 percent of precincts reporting, Clinton was leading Sen. Barack Obama by more than a 2-1 margin.
Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe said Puerto Rico was "another great win" for the New York senator.
Clinton swept Obama in every major demographic group, including groups Obama generally wins, such as younger voters and higher income voters, according to CNN's exit polls.
Clinton's campaign has been arguing that a landslide victory would push her ahead in the popular vote and help her convince superdelegates to pick her instead of Obama.
To cross that threshold, she would need to win 65 percent of the vote with a turnout of at least 2 million people.
But Luis Hector, an elections official, said only 1.5 million ballots were printed.
CNN estimates turnout will be between 325,000 and 425,000.
"Most people in Puerto Rico, I would venture to guess, they are not even aware that there's a primary going on," said Luis Pabón-Roca, a local political analyst.
He said the political atmosphere on the island this week is subdued compared to the fever that sweeps the island before local elections.
Some poll workers in small towns started abandoning the polling stations because turnout was so low, he said.
Part of the reason for the lack of interest, he said, is because voters feel the primary isn't meaningful since Puerto Ricans cannot vote in the general election.
The Democratic and Republican parties run the primaries and caucuses, and they allow U.S. territories, such as the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, to take part in the process.
DNC Decision on Seating MI and FL Delegates
Harold Ickes and Tina Flournoy of the Hillary Clinton Campaign made the following statement regarding the May 31, 2008 decision by the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee:
Today’s results are a victory for the people of Florida who will have a voice in selecting our Party’s nominee and will see its delegates seated at our party’s convention. The decision by the Rules and Bylaws Committee honors the votes that were cast by the people of Florida and allocates the delegates accordingly.
We strongly object to the Committee’s decision to undercut its own rules in seating Michigan’s delegates without reflecting the votes of the people of Michigan.
The Committee awarded to Senator Obama not only the delegates won by Uncommitted, but four of the delegates won by Senator Clinton. This decision violates the bedrock principles of our democracy and our Party.
We reserve the right to challenge this decision before the Credentials Committee and appeal for a fair allocation of Michigan’s delegates that actually reflect the votes as they were cast.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Texas Democratic Party Temporary Credentials Committee makes recommendations
By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - May 31, 2008
Members of the Texas Democratic Party's 2008 Convention Temporary Credentials Committee met in Austin Wednesday, in Grand Prairie Thursday, and Houston on Friday. They heard challenges stemming from procedural irregularities at precinct and senatorial conventions.
The committee is evenly split between Obama and Clinton supporters. In Grand Prairie they heard testimony continuously from 10 a.m. until after 11 p.m. The hearings are open to the public and at least 120 people were in the UAW Hall observing and testifying throughout the day and evening.
The Committee did not hear all of the challenges in each region which were filed by the offical filing deadline. They elected to hear challenges involving specific delegates and alternates. Hesitant to disenfranchise entire delegations based on violations of party rules, they tabled decisions which could impact seating of entire delegations until the committee reconveynes in Austin prior to the convention. Aware that the DNC Rules Committee is meeting Sat. May 31st in Washington, D.C. to decide whether to seat delegates from Florida and Michigan or to refuse them seats because the timing of those state's primaries violated party rules, the committee deferred making similar decisions regarding Texas senatorial district delegations until more evidence can be presented.
Tarrant 10, Tarrant 9, Dallas 23, Collin County and Denton 12 are some of the districts in North Texas which procedural violations of party rules and state election code are reported to be severe enough to have resulted in skewed distribution of delegates between presidential preferences and denial of voting rights to registered voters who attempted to participate in precinct and/or senatorial conventions and have their presidential preference accurately reflected in the distribution of delegates.
Collin County challengers presented evidence of violation of party rules and the Texas Election Code by the convention being held on a date other than that prescribed by law. The county chair and convention chair will be given time to present additional evidence in Austin before the committee rules on this challenge.
A large contingency of Denton County residents presented evidence or supported challenger Ann Franklin in complaints about the conduct of the Denton county conventions by the Democratic Chair. Ms. Franklin also presented the committee with 40 additional pages of affadivits from Denton county demorcrats complaining about the Democratic Chair. Ms. Franklin alledged that the chair refused access to minutes and sign-in sheets. The chair refuted her claim but a large group in the audience verbally affirmed the validity of Ms. Franklin's assertions. Gary Horton, co-chair of the State Temporary Rules Committee urged the county chair to provide the requested documents to Ms. Franklin and others who might request them prior to the committee reconveyning in Austin next week.
Testimony was heard from Senatorial 9 and 10, Tarrant County regarding non-compliance with ADA and discrimination toward elderly, frail and handicapped registered voters in the precinct and senatorial conventions. Jason Smith, Faith Chatham and Harriet Varnum Irby cited instances of specific non-ADA compliance. The committee acknowledged the realities but saw no remedy the committee could offer. Gary Horton, co-chair of the committee, recommended the petitioners to present evidence to the Temporary Rules Committee.
In Tarrant 9 the committee recommended changing four alternates. Eddie and Mercedes Conway, Obama supporters who signed the permanent roll of the Senatorial Convention as Obama were removed from the roll of Clinton at-large Alternates and Lorisa Wheeler and Robert W. Johnson, (Clinton). The committee affirmed that the vacancy in pct. 2190 for alternate should have been filled as an at large position to balance the delegation, to meet affirmative action goals and to enable the delegation to reflect the percentages of delegates/alternates as the percentage of presidential preference registered by the delegates who signed the permanent roll. Therefore, Ms. Cathie Hawkins was removed as an alternate from pct. 2190 and Mr. Raymond Martinez (Clinton) was added as alternate at large.
In Precinct 2488 Tarrant County Sen. District 9, the committee replaced Cynthia Blake (Obama) with Clinton supporter Vivian Dial as alterate. Democratic Party Rules stipulate that ties for delegate or alternate are to be broken by an act of chance (drawing straws or flipping a coin). The Clinton caucus in that precinct wanted to flip a coin but the Obama group insisted that the "rules called for a re-vote". When the Clinton group held firm, the Obama group revoted and selected two alternates. The committee voted to replace the Obama alternate of the same gender as the candidate for alternate from the Clinton caucus because Ms. Dial was prevented from having an opportunity to compete fairly in either a coin toss or by drawing straws, the methods designated in Party Rules for breaking a tie.
Dorrie Crenshaw, former Dallas City Council Member and Democratic precinct chair in Dallas testified that the Obama delegates from her precinct to the State Convention were not lawfully elected because they were not legally elected as delegates to the Senatorial Convention at her precinct convention. At her precinct election night there were many people who Ms. Crenshaw said did not live in her precinct who showed up and attempted to register and vote in the precinct. They did not have the official forms so she had people sign in on spiral ring notebooks. Violence broke out in the caucus, people were injured, several elderly persons were trampled and three ambulances were called to the scene. When Ms. Crenshaw left the voting place, some of the people who Ms. Crenshaw characterized as "the troublemakers, ringleaders" followed her. Instead of going home, she led them to the police station. The police detained her for over two hours until Darlene Ewing, Dallas County Democratic Chair, detained her. Ms. Crenshaw reported to the committee that two of the police officers are under investigation for unlawfully detaining her. She has never been given the sign-in sheets (notebooks) or allowed to make a photocopy.
To date, despite many hours of testimony and much deliberation, the committee has only made a few changes to the roll of the convention. All challenges which could make greater impact on the convention have been deferred until next week.
Members of the Texas Democratic Party's 2008 Convention Temporary Credentials Committee met in Austin Wednesday, in Grand Prairie Thursday, and Houston on Friday. They heard challenges stemming from procedural irregularities at precinct and senatorial conventions.
The committee is evenly split between Obama and Clinton supporters. In Grand Prairie they heard testimony continuously from 10 a.m. until after 11 p.m. The hearings are open to the public and at least 120 people were in the UAW Hall observing and testifying throughout the day and evening.
The Committee did not hear all of the challenges in each region which were filed by the offical filing deadline. They elected to hear challenges involving specific delegates and alternates. Hesitant to disenfranchise entire delegations based on violations of party rules, they tabled decisions which could impact seating of entire delegations until the committee reconveynes in Austin prior to the convention. Aware that the DNC Rules Committee is meeting Sat. May 31st in Washington, D.C. to decide whether to seat delegates from Florida and Michigan or to refuse them seats because the timing of those state's primaries violated party rules, the committee deferred making similar decisions regarding Texas senatorial district delegations until more evidence can be presented.
Tarrant 10, Tarrant 9, Dallas 23, Collin County and Denton 12 are some of the districts in North Texas which procedural violations of party rules and state election code are reported to be severe enough to have resulted in skewed distribution of delegates between presidential preferences and denial of voting rights to registered voters who attempted to participate in precinct and/or senatorial conventions and have their presidential preference accurately reflected in the distribution of delegates.
Collin County challengers presented evidence of violation of party rules and the Texas Election Code by the convention being held on a date other than that prescribed by law. The county chair and convention chair will be given time to present additional evidence in Austin before the committee rules on this challenge.
A large contingency of Denton County residents presented evidence or supported challenger Ann Franklin in complaints about the conduct of the Denton county conventions by the Democratic Chair. Ms. Franklin also presented the committee with 40 additional pages of affadivits from Denton county demorcrats complaining about the Democratic Chair. Ms. Franklin alledged that the chair refused access to minutes and sign-in sheets. The chair refuted her claim but a large group in the audience verbally affirmed the validity of Ms. Franklin's assertions. Gary Horton, co-chair of the State Temporary Rules Committee urged the county chair to provide the requested documents to Ms. Franklin and others who might request them prior to the committee reconveyning in Austin next week.
Testimony was heard from Senatorial 9 and 10, Tarrant County regarding non-compliance with ADA and discrimination toward elderly, frail and handicapped registered voters in the precinct and senatorial conventions. Jason Smith, Faith Chatham and Harriet Varnum Irby cited instances of specific non-ADA compliance. The committee acknowledged the realities but saw no remedy the committee could offer. Gary Horton, co-chair of the committee, recommended the petitioners to present evidence to the Temporary Rules Committee.
In Tarrant 9 the committee recommended changing four alternates. Eddie and Mercedes Conway, Obama supporters who signed the permanent roll of the Senatorial Convention as Obama were removed from the roll of Clinton at-large Alternates and Lorisa Wheeler and Robert W. Johnson, (Clinton). The committee affirmed that the vacancy in pct. 2190 for alternate should have been filled as an at large position to balance the delegation, to meet affirmative action goals and to enable the delegation to reflect the percentages of delegates/alternates as the percentage of presidential preference registered by the delegates who signed the permanent roll. Therefore, Ms. Cathie Hawkins was removed as an alternate from pct. 2190 and Mr. Raymond Martinez (Clinton) was added as alternate at large.
In Precinct 2488 Tarrant County Sen. District 9, the committee replaced Cynthia Blake (Obama) with Clinton supporter Vivian Dial as alterate. Democratic Party Rules stipulate that ties for delegate or alternate are to be broken by an act of chance (drawing straws or flipping a coin). The Clinton caucus in that precinct wanted to flip a coin but the Obama group insisted that the "rules called for a re-vote". When the Clinton group held firm, the Obama group revoted and selected two alternates. The committee voted to replace the Obama alternate of the same gender as the candidate for alternate from the Clinton caucus because Ms. Dial was prevented from having an opportunity to compete fairly in either a coin toss or by drawing straws, the methods designated in Party Rules for breaking a tie.
Dorrie Crenshaw, former Dallas City Council Member and Democratic precinct chair in Dallas testified that the Obama delegates from her precinct to the State Convention were not lawfully elected because they were not legally elected as delegates to the Senatorial Convention at her precinct convention. At her precinct election night there were many people who Ms. Crenshaw said did not live in her precinct who showed up and attempted to register and vote in the precinct. They did not have the official forms so she had people sign in on spiral ring notebooks. Violence broke out in the caucus, people were injured, several elderly persons were trampled and three ambulances were called to the scene. When Ms. Crenshaw left the voting place, some of the people who Ms. Crenshaw characterized as "the troublemakers, ringleaders" followed her. Instead of going home, she led them to the police station. The police detained her for over two hours until Darlene Ewing, Dallas County Democratic Chair, detained her. Ms. Crenshaw reported to the committee that two of the police officers are under investigation for unlawfully detaining her. She has never been given the sign-in sheets (notebooks) or allowed to make a photocopy.
To date, despite many hours of testimony and much deliberation, the committee has only made a few changes to the roll of the convention. All challenges which could make greater impact on the convention have been deferred until next week.
Democrats Meet Over Fla., Mich. in Late-Night Session
By Katharine Q. Seelye - New York Times - May 31, 2008
Outside the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting in Washington on Saturday. (Photo: Jason Reed/Reuters)
WASHINGTON — Democratic Party officials met privately for five and a half hours late Friday night to discuss the Michigan and Florida delegations to the party’s convention but did not resolve their differences.
The officials, who are members of the party’s rules committee, are to begin an all-day public session Saturday to try to settle one of the most contentious issues that has developed during the presidential primaries between Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton — whether to seat the delegations from Michigan and Florida and if so, in what proportion.
During the private meeting, Harold Ickes, who is Mrs. Clinton’s chief delegate counter, repeatedly pressed the Clinton view that the full delegations from both states be seated, with full votes, committee members said. They also said that Allan Katz, a lawyer from Florida, emerged as the chief advocate for Mr. Obama, who has said he wants the delegates seated, but has not specified how or in what proportion.
“It was a full discussion, we’ll see what happens,” Mr. Ickes said afterward. “And I think there was some agreement on some issues and still some disagreement on others.”
Mr. Katz told reporters: “There’s a strong push from the Clinton campaign to try and make believe that those primaries were real primaries, that everyone competed in them like they did in everything else. And there’s a strong push back from the Obama campaigns that, well, the rules were that this is not how we were going to select the delegates.”
They took a few straw votes, but those votes were “so close as to be meaningless,” one committee member said.
One of the biggest points of dispute, committee members said, was over how to apportion the delegates from Michigan, where Mr. Obama’s name was not on the ballot.
The committee is also wrestling with how to bring voters from these two battleground states into the party fold while still upholding party rules and signaling to other states that they will be punished if they don’t abide by the calendar.
The private dinner, at a hotel here, stretched from 8 p.m. Friday to 1:30 a.m. Saturday. Of the 30 members of the committee, 28 attended the dinner, as did Howard Dean, the party chairman.
Some told reporters they expected to reconcile their differences during the public session on Saturday, but they offered little evidence of how they would do so.
“There are some really, really tough issues across the board,” said Martha Fuller Clark, a committee member who is a state senator from New Hampshire and backs Mr. Obama.
She said they discussed their options and the implications of them, adding, “there was no clear pathway at the end of this evening.”
The discussions left them bleary-eyed and somewhat bedraggled. After more than three hours, they took a break and a few of them could be seen hugging each other in a hallway.
Told later that the meeting lasted for five and a half hours, Thomas Hynes, a lawyer from Illinois who supports Mr. Obama, said, “It felt like five and a half weeks.”
He said that discussion ranged from barring the two states from seating any delegates to seating their delegations in full.
“A consensus has not been forged,” he said, but said he expected it would be on Saturday. The lengthy private session “gave us a chance to find out where everyone was,” he said.
James Roosevelt Jr., one of the co-chairmen, called the meeting “productive,” adding, “it was not unpleasant or heated.” He said it gave the committee members a chance to step back and examine the implications of the various options.
“I can’t predict that it will be unanimous,” he said of any decisions reached on Saturday, “but I can predict that it will be unifying for the party.”
At the Saturday session, representatives from Florida and Michigan will present their cases, as will the two campaigns, which had originally both agreed to the decision to strip the two states of their delegates. The committee then expects to break for lunch and begin its own discussions in the afternoon
Friday, May 23, 2008
DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee to Meet Saturday, May 31st
Press Release
For Immediate Release
May 21, 2008
***Media Advisory***
DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee to Meet Saturday, May 31st
WASHINGTON - The Democratic National Committee's Rules & Bylaws Committee will meet on Saturday May 31, 2008 in Washington, DC. The Rules and Bylaws Committee will consider the two challenges that have been filed pursuant to Rule 20.B of the 2008 Delegate Selection Rules and Regulation 3 of the Regulations of the Rules and Bylaws Committee concerning the seating of delegations from Florida and Michigan.
Pursuant to Section 3.4(N) of the Committee's Regulations, each challenger will be entitled to present an Oral Argument before the RBC prior to Committee consideration for a period of 15 minutes each. A representative from each state party and from each presidential campaign will also have an opportunity to address the committee
regarding each of the challenges. Oral arguments from the parties will be heard during the committee's morning session. Following a lunch break, committee members will consider and debate the challenges.
What: DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee Meeting
When: May 31, 2008 - 9:30 AM
* Morning Session: Oral Arguments
* Afternoon Session: Consideration and Debate
Where: Marriott Wardman Park Hotel - Salon I
2660 Woodley Road NW, Washington, DC
A Note on Public Participation
This meeting is open to the public, however due to space constraints, guests are being asked to pre-register their attendance. Registration will open online at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, May 27. Members of the public wishing to register should fill out the form at the following link: http://www.democrat s.org/rbcmeeting . Those lacking Internet accesswho would like to pre-register can do so by calling 202-479-5137.
Guest credentials are limited to one per person. For those who register, a confirmation message will be sent to the e-mail address indicated on the registration form. Registrants must bring that confirmation e-mail, along with a photo ID, in order to pick up their guest credential.
Credentials must be picked up at registration tables located outside the meeting room between 8:00-9:30 AM on May 31st in order to guarantee a seat. If reserved credentials are not picked up by 9:30 AM, they will be released and given out to other members of the public.
Same Day Registration
If a member of the general public is unable to pre-register, limited same-day registration will be available. Same-day guest credentials will be distributed on a first-come first-serve basis and are limited to one per person. Individuals with a same day guest credential will be allowed into the meeting as space permits.
Additional Information
In order to maintain the decorum of the meeting, banners, posters, signs, handouts, and noisemakers of any kind are strictly prohibited. Also, please be advised that the agenda for the meeting does notinclude time for questions from the general public.
News Release Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee,
http://www.democrat s.org This communication is not authorized by any
candidate or candidate's committee.
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