You are more up to speed on what is going on in the U.S. election than most Americans are!

Here is what is going on with the Florida and Michigan delegates. It goes back to last year, when a number of states were moving up the dates of their primaries in the hope of being more important in the process. It was like a Christmas tree where every present said "Open Me First!" Where FL and MI got in trouble was scheduling their primaries prior to February 5, which was against Democratic party rules. Only a handful of states are allowed to hold primaries or caucuses before then. Iowa and New Hampshire are historically the first two contests and there are one or two other states. FL and MI were explicitly warned that their contests would be invalidated if they defied the rule. All the candidates agreed to this and agreed not to campaign in those states. The two states went ahead anyway, apparently thinking the party would back off given their size. The DNC did not back off. Reportedly they didn't want to let a precedent be set, otherwise in 2012 states would be scheduling their primaries before Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween ....

The Democratic candidates kept their pledge of not campaigning in either state. Obama's name was not even on the ballot in Michigan. The contests were held and Hillary "won" both of them. Now, of course, Hillary wants their delegations seated (counted) at the convention. Unsurprisingly, she is spinning it as though the rules were changed in midstream and the two delegations have been "disenfranchised." In fact the rules were there all along and it is she who wants to change them.

Both campaigns (Clinton and Obama) seem open to finding a way to include FL and MI at the convention, as does the Democratic National Committee. I think the reason the DNC is in favor of this is they don't want the candidate to be chosen by the superdelegates, which would smack of an inside deal and weaken the party in November. It is almost certain that neither Obama or Clinton will hit the 50.1% of (original total) delegates required to clinch the nomination without FL and MI, who have over 300 delegates between them.

Various proposals are floating around, including "do-overs" -- new votes in both states. Stay tuned.

>Tracy,
>
>[drifting further from the title...]
>one thing I at first put aside as one of the more stupid things happening in the whole process were the primaries with blocked delegates. On the Rep side everything seems to be clear as McCain is so far ahead/already has enough votes and they banned only about 5% of the total delegate count (1260 vs. "original-total-half" 1259). On the Dem side there were at least 2 primaries from rel. large states where the delegates are not awarded, not given a vote or not counted - Florida and Michigan.
>
>I found different numbers for the total delegate/super delegate count, and believe the "magic 2025" to be the number needed if "banned" delegates are not given a vote (mostly based on a msnbc page). The former number seems to have been about 9% more (different numbers found, most slightly above 4400). Is that "ruling" generally accepted by now (nearly half the number of the super delegates gone! Florida again!!) or do you expect some sudden recounting/trying to seat the Clinton advantage from these states ? Even given the fact that Obama only was on the florida ticket, whereas Hil was on both ?
>
>Or is this a "dead issue" by now ? In McCain's shoes I'd think loudly 2-3 weeks before the dem convention if or how delegates from those banned states can be given a vote in the rep convention or at least otherwise be "represented"<bg>. A clear win-win for him if played on low key, as some voters from those states will feel "recognized" by the reps
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>[puzzled] regards
>
>thomas
>
>>Now it's time to step back and look honestly at the media and the campaign Mike. All of the major news services have admitted and pointed out that the media as a whole has given Obama a free ride. In comparison, Hilary was given a much harder time by the media. That has even been on most news broadcasts recently admitting it. Everyone is wondering if the media will finally get tough on Obama now that the race is so close. I listened to CBS, ABC and CNN all asking the same question last week. (Keep in mind I am anything BUT a Hillary fan)
>>