Cutting Off Their Noses...

Final results of today's Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting:

Full delegations from both Florida and Michigan primaries will be seated at the convention with one half vote each.  The uncommitted votes from the Michigan primary are allocated to Barack Obama.  Net result: Hillary Clinton gained 24 delegates today. (Clinton gained 87 to Obama's 63).

The new magic number for securing the Democratic Party nomination is 2,118 delegates.  Per NBC's Chuck Todd, if Obama splits the remaining three primaries, he will need about 20 superdelegate endorsements to secure the nomination.   In other words, it shouldn't be a problem.

Just a couple impressions:

  -  Chuck Todd referred to today's proceedings as the "end of the Clinton era" in Democratic Party politics.  It's hard to imagine this whole affair could have gone any better for the Obama campaign.  Both the Florida and Michigan state party proposals were, ultimately, passed.  That those proposals were in keeping with the Obama campaign's hopeful outcome is indicative of the new power of Barack Obama within the Democratic Party and, by contrast, the waining power of the Clintons.  That said, the proceedings were bitter and anger filled, and Harold Ickes (Clinton's designate on the Committee) threatened Senator Clinton is reserving the option to take these issues to the Credentials Committee meeting at the end of August.  While there was a good deal of talk during the meeting about party unity, the Clinton's very clear position is that party unity will be secondary to their plans to secure the nomination.

  -  Finally, there are videos and news artlcles floating around of interviews with Clinton supporters who demonstrated outside the Committee meeting today.  I choose not to link to any but, suffice to say, they're of Clinton supporters who claim, among other things,  they will vote for John McCain should Barack Obama become the Democratic Party nominee.  Honestly, that's a level of self-delusion I can't even comprehend.  These folks claim to be Senator Clinton's supporters, presumably believe her policy positions are critically important to moving the country forward, and would choose to vote not for a candidate with similar policies but one who will enact policy that is antithetical to Mrs. Clinton's.    Health care reform?  Apparently not that important to them.  An end to the war?  I guess it's not that big a deal if it interferes with Mrs. Clinton's nomination.  Climate change legislation?  I guess it will have to wait, huh?  The next Supreme Court justice?  They're ready to accept Senator McCain, who will stack the Supreme Court with life term justices to roll back Constitutional and women's rights, all because their preferred candidate wasn't the Party nominee.

This is not a political movement. It's a cult of personality.
Topics: Clinton , Delegates