We will be live blogging and hopefully getting some video interviews from the press room.

The rally doesn’t start until 6pm, but, I plan on posting some of the “behind the scenes” stuff, throughout the day.  This is the first time I am doing anything like this, so I’m not 100% sure what to expect.

Oh, and even though I’m somewhat new to the Twittering thing, I’ll be doing that too.   You can tweet me at…

http://twitter.com/catherinemorgan

Maybe, if we’re lucky, we’ll get a chance to meet Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton.  Either way, it’s gonna be quite the mother/daughter adventure.  Well…That’s it for now, come back tomorrow and see how we’re making out. 

From The Wall Street Journal…

In the months since Sen. McCain introduced his health plan, statements made by his campaign have implied that the new tax credits he is proposing to help Americans buy health insurance would be paid for with other tax increases.

But Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Sen. McCain’s senior policy adviser, said Sunday that the campaign has always planned to fund the tax credits, in part, with savings from Medicare and Medicaid. Those government health-care programs serve seniors, poor families and the disabled.

McSame to Cut Medicare to Pay for His Terrible Health Care Plan

Guess how J. Sid McSame intends to fund his terrible health plan that taxes employer based health care coverage and gives insufficient tax credit to employees to struggle finding health care insurance on their own?

He plans to make big cuts in Medicare!

Yesiree, multimillionaire J. Sid McSame, who has had government paid health care coverage his whole life and collects Social Security which he called a disaster, and US Navy disability checks, wants to cut your Medicare benefits! How’s that for robbing Peter to pay Paul!

From The New Republic…

Barack Obama says John McCain would raise people’s taxes by changing the way the IRS looks at health insurance. McCain says he wouldn’t.

Who’s right?

Quite possibly McCain. But only because he’s decided to slash Medicare and Medicaid instead.

Laura Meckler, who is one of the sharpest and most reliable policy reporters around, has the full story in today’s Wall Street Journal.

McCain to slash federal programs in favor of wealthy’s tax cuts…

The McCain camp has been dogged in recent weeks by a number of questions, not the least of which has been, “How will you pay for your proposed tax cuts?” Today we have our answer: cut Medicaid and Medicare.

From Hullabaloo…

Paul Krugman further explains McCain’s dangerous health care plan today, and he wrote it even before this attempt to gut health care entitlements:

The good news, such as it is, is that more people would buy individual insurance. Indeed, the total number of uninsured Americans might decline marginally under the McCain plan — although many more Americans would be without insurance than under the Obama plan.

But the people gaining insurance would be those who need it least: relatively healthy Americans with high incomes. Why? Because insurance companies want to cover only healthy people, and even among the healthy only those able to pay a lot in addition to their tax credit would be able to afford coverage (remember, it’s a $5,000 credit, but the average family policy actually costs more than $12,000).

Meanwhile, the people losing insurance would be those who need it most: lower-income workers who wouldn’t be able to afford individual insurance even with the tax credit, and Americans with health problems whom insurance companies won’t cover.

And in the process of comforting the comfortable while afflicting the afflicted, the McCain plan would also lead to a huge, expensive increase in bureaucracy: insurers selling individual health plans spend 29 percent of the premiums they receive on administration, largely because they employ so many people to screen applicants. This compares with costs of 12 percent for group plans and just 3 percent for Medicare.

By the end, Krugman announces himself “terrified” by the McCain campaign’s ideas. You should be too.

So, how do you feel about the McCain healthcare plan? Scared? If not…You probably should be. Let me know what you think in comments.

Mention the word ‘primary’ to a Floridian and chances are a scowl will slide across his or her face because the 4th largest state in the USA lost delegates when both the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee penalized states for pushing primaries ahead of dates set in the cornerstone of party rules. The National Presidential Caucus convened a roundtable discussion with party leaders in New York on June 24. Timing is critical—the RNC mandates that primary rules and dates be agreed upon at the national convention. This year the RNC’s convention will be held in September in Minneapolis. The makeup of the roundtable participants is interesting to say the least.

The DNC isn’t quite as constrained. That committee can address its rules whenever it wants to. The RNC appears to be leaning towards a format named The Ohio Plan. Predictably, Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada will continue to enjoy frontrunner status. Larger states like Florida, Michigan, California and New York would be part of a second tier holding primaries in early February. But both parties need, according to the discussion, to have “congruence” in their primary rules and plans. Michael A. Mauro, Iowa Secretary of State participated in the roundtable. Here’s a not very surprising comment from him, “…I praise this bi-partisan group’s recognition of the importance of maintaining the traditional roles of both Iowa and New Hampshire as first in the nation.” Please note Florida set its primary date exactly the way those states did, by legislative procedure. A state should be able to determine and set its own date as long as the legislative process is followed. I can see each party setting target dates for states to choose from. But I do not agree with anointing 4 states permanent frontrunner status. Everybody complained about the 2008 primary season. My question is why? It worked fine—the DNC race was of course particularly exciting and the RNC race surprised the hell out of every GOP voter I talked to, in Florida anyway. The breakdown occurred when both parties confiscated delegates.

The mindset both political parties have towards this matter is reflective of the Federal government at present—controlling matters best left to the states. Whether you’re for the GOP or the DNC, your voice means just as much as a voter’s in Iowa, New Hampshire or the other lucky duckies with permanent frontrunner status. Check out your nearest presidential history record for the impact of frontrunner states on who the nominee is. Here’s an indisputable fact: when the candidates go looking for bucks, they hit Florida and other states just as enthusiastically as they do the party favorites.

For a clear look at who’s making recommendations about your political party, check out the other videos at The National Presidential Caucus. Not a single female is present from either party and there’s about as much diversity as you’ll find in a bowl of cloned goldfish. I’d suggest a letter to your political party leaders sooner rather than later.

Tags: Presidential Primary, US Politics, Political Party Rules, delegates, political conventions, National Presidential Caucus

Yesterday was my first post in a series on the gas crisis and offshore drilling. For that reason, I decided today’s political blog roundup will focus on the different opinions and reactions from around the blogosphere on this issue. We have some for drilling, and some against it. Let me know what you think in comments.

I’ll start with my personal opinion/theory regarding the relationship between high gas prices and the recent announcement by Bush/McCain to lift a ban on offshore drilling…

With regards to the gas & oil crisis — Does anyone else get the feeling we have been manipulated and duped AGAIN by the Bush administration? It’s all starting to feel really familiar.

1. Scare the American people (in this case with increasing gas prices).
2. Appear to be doing everything you can to get to the bottom of the crisis (go to OPEC, hold hearings, etc.)
3. Just when there appears to be nothing anyone can do…The Bush administration comes to the rescue and announces a plan to lift the ban on offshore oil drilling, because it’s the only way to help the American people and lower the price of gas.

Sound familiar?

What came first? The crisis or the solution?

I think with closer inspection (most likely after there is nothing anyone can do to change the outcome) – Revelations will come to light, that the Bush administration manipulated the “speculators” to cause an unnecessary but dramatic rise in gas/oil prices…For the ultimate purpose of lifting the ban on offshore drilling, and giving the brass ring to the oil companies.

Additionally, this is going to be the GOP “ace” in the hole, and “the perfect storm” for facilitating a third Bush presidency. I imagine it will go something like this…

The Democrats want to continue making you pay high gas prices during a weak economy…But the Republicans want to help you keep more of your hard earned money….bla, bla, bla.

The trouble is…there is no evidence that offshore drilling will help in the short or even long term. But that is not the “spin” you will be hearing from Bush/McCain. What at first appeared to me as a campaign killer for McCain, could actually be part of a carefully orchestrated campaign winner. Give McCain the experience, the Iraq war, and now the illusion of helping the economy (the number one issue of the American people). I shutter to think.

So, that’s what I think. However, not everyone agrees with me.

Shocking!

Well, not really.

But, I do want to take a look at all sides of this issue. Admittedly, mine is a very visceral reaction to the news of possible offshore drilling.

Let’s take a look at what other bloggers are saying about this. We’ll start with my good friend, Kay B. Day, from Covering Florida and Right Commentary, who has a totally different opinion from mine.

Earlier in the week I reached out to a couple of people to see what their take was on offshore drilling, and she was kind enough to send me her thoughts in an email. Although I don’t completely agree with her on this one…I must admit, she has a much more thought-out response to it. Here it is…

Lookit, Congress (both parties) has known this crisis would come. At least since 1992 when congressional hearings began to be held about climate changes. And then when real global warming science ended up thoroughly botched in the hands of media, a frenzy ensued, complete with the UN screaming for the US to reduce emissions while other countries don’t (as in China who basically said ‘you’ve had your turn and now it’s ours.’)

Meanwhile, good news. All the aid we sent China and India over the years resulted in success (for once!) The result is an emerging middle class who, no surprise, reacts much like the West to consumerism. Then countries like Venezuela nationalized the oil, removing private corporations and giving the properties to the government (just like Cuba so long ago.) And of course production fell. Even where we can get oil, there is unrest and tribal conflict, further impeding product movement.

Concurrently, due to the power of marketing and branding, Americans fell in love with SUVs and other gas guzzlers. Also concurrently, the Middle East continued to go bananas and Iran emerged as a major player and the dollar fell and whammo. Speculators entered, because oil was now an even hotter commodity. Back at the farm, the man-made global warming theorists cried doomsday and began to see a valid legislative response. Speculators got even more excited because oil was now a sizzling commodity. As all these events played out, Congress fiddled just like Nero (Dems and Repubs). Through at least two 8-year terms under Clinton then Bush. And bear in mind we haven’t built any new refineries in years and much of the land under lease for drilling must go through an exhaustive environmental process, which is as it should be. While all these events boil, we are somewhat justified in our concerns about increasing our nuclear facilities.

The result: a quagmire. You have a commodity that everyone needs. Demand goes up, price goes up. Gold’s done the same thing.

Now have the Repubs made it a campaign issue? You bet. But frankly, the Dems did too, by embracing some of Al Gore’s theories that even the scientists who came up with the research dispute. The difference is the Dems followed Gore’s GW alarmist scenarios, pushing green. Is that good? Sure it is. But does that fuel speculation even more? Yes it does because developing alternative forms of energy takes time.

Note: I am not saying the earth isn’t warming. I am saying the results are inconclusive when it comes to whether it’s induced by man and whether we can really do anything about it with the emissions approach. Frankly, I don’t think we’re planning in the right way. And the fellow who did the original research that started the whole ball rolling agrees. You will never hear this from mainstream media. Why? Because a whole new energy industry has sprung up. Is that good? Yes. We need to be energy independent. But the truth is both political parties have politicized this issue, just each in their own relevant ways. What you’re hearing from Bush is basically the truth about drilling. He wasn’t crazy enough to bring it up before, because he’s been on the hot seat over the war and he is at odds with a congress controlled by the opposing party. You won’t hear it from Obama because he has to take the alternative energy approach.

What’s my bottom line: both parties have delayed the inevitable too long as have we, the US people. Now we’re paying the price. And let me tell you. If we start drilling the price will go down. You can bank on it. The very thought of that will impact. Why do you think the Saudis have defied OPEC to produce more? Writing’s on the wall for them too.

Through two presidents, I have criticized both parties, not so much either prez as the congress. Because for 16 long years, our congressmen have let us down time and again and that has simply not changed.

Gosh. Sorry that’s so long, but that’s my take on it. Admittedly, my take is more an industry-centric take because I have several folks in industries related to commodities. BTB, not only gas has been affected this way. If you know anyone in an industry reliant on copper, ask ‘em how easy that is to get right now.

Thanks Kay.

Now, let’s see what other bloggers are saying…

Robert Reich’s Blog…

First, the crude oil market is global. Oil companies sell all over the world. The price of crude is established by global supply and demand. So even if 3 million additional barrels a day could be extruded from lands and seabeds of the United States (that sum is the most optimistic figure, after all exploration is done), that sum is tiny compared to 86 million barrels now produced around the world. In other words, even under the best circumstances, the price to American consumers would hardly budge.

*Also check out the over 40 comments on Robert’s blog.

Peter from the Switchboard…

We can’t drill our way to lower fuel prices. As I’ve said before, efficiency is the fastest, and cheapest, way to lower fuel costs and combat global warming.

Joe Sudbay at AMERICAblog…

2030 isn’t quite the “short term.” If we had a national energy strategy, we should be able to develop alternative sources of energy and much, much better fuel efficiency by then.

*Also see 28 comments.

Sabrina from Life’s A Beach…

I got an email from the surfrider foundation today…

and I can’t BELIEVE this recent move by our government to ruin our seas! Yes, I realize gas prices are high, but I honestly don’t believe offshore drilling is the answer.

It would just break my heart to go anywhere on the coast and see it ruined with refineries and whatnot, and see the sea life compromised…and all because of the greed for oil!

On Our Offshore Drilling Phobia…

It’s not an either/or proposition. We need to be doing it all, wind, solar, bio-fuels, nuclear, clean coal, and good-old fashioned fossil fuels, wherever we can get our hands on it. And of course do it as safely and ecologically sensitively as possible. But the more expensive alternatives on all these fronts will only pursued by the markets when prices are high.

None of it is going to happen very quickly, regardless of the choices we make, and no, it won’t make an immediate dent in oil prices that would make us all happy. But turning this ship around will take a lot of time (pardon the pun). So we need to get on with it, balancing pragmatism and our ideal wishes.

This is from The Next Right…

The American Family Association sent out an alert to its massive list and got 400,000 letters sent to Congress for more oil drilling. Why is this important? In presentations, I often cite the AFA’s monster list as the biggest on the Right. And in my years on their list, I’ve never seen them focus on anything other than social issues. Their focus on oil is a big, big deal.

And Jerome Armstrong is waving Democrats off this issue, with a telling anecdote about Charlie Crist’s rather abrupt about-face on offshore drilling.

This is from Ido’s Blog…

I think that America, and pretty much the rest of the world at some point, needs to face the fact that oil is a dwindling natural resource and we need to look forward towards the future to a world without oil…or where oil has a vastly reduced role. This will be painful, yes, but it can be done. Brazil has done it with ethanol from sugar cane (which I have recently read about and I’m pretty impressed) and we can do it as well — whether it’s from solar, wind, biofuels or a mixture of all three.

Looking forward to an uncertain future is scary… it’s much easier to look back at what you know rather than forward into the unknown. However, it’s that forward vision that has made this country great and we need to be leaders in this effort if we are ever to break the stranglehold that OPEC has on us.

Wayne at unEARTHED talks about what offshore drilling means to him…

So I ask myself, what’s the real agenda here? Besides the obvious get-McCain-elected agenda?

Profits, of course. But in terms of policy, my guess is the Arctic. These guys have talked about the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge this week. But they know Americans are attached to the Refuge and so that idea won’t play. Besides, ANWR is onshore. I think offshore + ANWR = the Arctic Ocean.

This is from Brandon at Roanoke Red Zone…

The Democrats are flipping out over the increasing pressure to allows states to drill off their shores. I just watched an interview with the Chief Financial Officer of Florida (D) Alex Sink. She was particularly exercised over Gov. Crist’s willingness to have Florida open to offshore drilling. Her argument was that Floridians long ago decided to keep it’s waters free of drilling in order to preserve their tourist industry. HELLO! Lady, you aren’t going to have a tourist industry because no one will be able to fly or drive to your great state. Unbelievable! Great move by Crist–keep it up.

Josh Painter at Conservative Superiority says…

Yes, it’s still “the economy, stupid” and especially pump prices for gasoline and diesel, not to mention the high costs the airlines are incurring for jet fuel. The GOP seems to be waking up to what conservatives already knew. Make energy your number one issue and offer doable solutions to the problems of energy security and high prices.

The Democrats, meanwhile, have sentenced themselves to doing hard time in Al Gore’s lockbox, and they’ve entrusted the key to the Sierra Club. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch of people, one which has consistently put its own selfish political interests ahead of America’s security and her citizens’ bank accounts.

So, there you have it. What do you think?

This will be part one in a series of posts I will be doing on gas prices and offshore drilling. I want to take a look at the facts, and attempt to separate the truth from the fiction. Would offshore drilling lower gas prices? Why do the oil companies need more places to drill, if they aren’t even using all of what they have now? How would more offshore drilling effect the environment? Does this have more to do with politics than the people? These are just a few of the many question we will try to answer here.

Let’s start with an article in today’s New York Times. Here are a few excepts from that article, I really recommend you read the full piece.


READ FULL POST AT THE CARE2 ELECTION BLOG

John McCain is using our sky-high gas prices to justify his flip-flopping on the issue of offshore oil drilling. I mentioned this yesterday in a post, and questioned why the MSM didn’t seem to notice. Today, they have noticed.

However, there is no evidence that allowing more offshore drilling will help in reducing the price of gas in the near future (as McCain is suggesting), or even the far future. But, I guess the McCain campaign is hoping you will be fooled, and vote for McCain in the hopes of lower gas prices.

Here is an interesting clip from The Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer…

SEE VIDEO AND READ FULL POST AT THE CARE2 ELECTION BLOG

(If you would like to be a guest blogger on this site, please join our community)

As the Rules and Regulations Committee of the DNC convenes today, I can’t help but wonder…

When Americans in political positions of leadership subvert the freedoms of American citizens and American Democracy how are their actions any different from dictators that deny their citizens the right to a valid vote?

We now have over 400 women political bloggers on our list, here are the T’s…

Talk Left: The Politics of Crime

Talk To Me — Ask anyone who knows me, I’d stop St. Peter’s roll call to start a conversation. I’m a longtime Brevard County resident blessed with the gift of gab. Get settled behind your keyboard. Let’s talk local.

Tammy Bruce

Tarotlaydee

Taylor Marsh – Democrat Taylor Marsh blogs politics, Iraq, culture, and illegal aliens. A progressive blog that`s frank, smart, provocative and doesn`t take the party line.

Tea and Crumpets — This blog is a friendly exchange of ideas, some from the left, some from the right and some from the middle. There will be NO personal insults, no obscene language and no name calling, just some friendly discussions about some hot topics. Enjoy!

Tennessee Guerilla Women — Fighting the radical right in Tennessee and the Nation.

Teresa Centric — While they love one another very much, in many cases Andy and Teresa disagree on political issues. Please pay attention to the bylines of each post to keep the political opinions of the authors in context.

the 13th juror — Jacqueline Dowd is poverty lawyer (and, by the way, law professor) comments on social justice issues, news and court decisions … with a few other random thoughts thrown in here and there.

The Anchoress

The Blackbird Whistling or Just After — The politics of equality, freedom, and human rights

The Catharine Chronicles

The Civil Right — I am a 40-something marketing professional, writer, wife and mom living in Iowa who blogs conservative.

The Common Ills — This is a great site, pro-choice, left.

The Confluence

The Crone Speaks — My life experiences of being a mother, a caretaker of parrots, a breast cancer survivor, a business woman, a paralegal, and so much more, have shaped my conclusions on any given issue.

The Delaware Curmudgeon

The Demo Memo — written by Claire Celsi

The Democratic Daily

The Dishpan Chronicles

The Divine Democrat

The Essentia Sphere

The Garance — Politics and Whatnot

The Goddess — Progressive politics, civil rights, freedom of religion, and commentary from a Pagan perspective.

The Gypsy’s Caravan

The Hackenblog

The Hill Chronicles — Conservative weblog with a piffy twist.

The Impolitic

The Jaded Hippy

The Lady Speaks

The Little Pink Clubhouse

The Mahablog

The Motherhood — The power of mothers, making things happen.

The New Homemaker!

Penny Ronning – The NonSilent Majority

The Official Site of Lydia Cornell

The Ones Who Get Screwed — This site expresses my opinions on the world today. While you can disagree with them, they can not be wrong as they are mine and not yours.

The Ones Who Fly Away From Omelas

The Outskirts — Served From Philly’s LGBT Side of the Tracks

The Pakistani Spectator — Hi I am Ghazala Khan from Pakistan, I have been one of the very few female bloggers from Pakistan I run a blog with another female Amna Gilani, the title of our blog is The Pakistani Spectator.

The Peeled Apple

The Pink Flamingo

The Political Safari with Laura Fiorilli — A collection of interesting, often funny political stories and Web links.

The Punkin Patch

The Reaction with Libby and Carol Gee

The Silent I

The Sin City Siren

The Sirens Chronicles — Bitchy politics, culture critiques, manners, morals & random thoughts served with hot chicken soup & a loaded .45 caliber handgun in the apron pocket.

The Soccer Mom Vote — If you want to win the election, you’ve got to capture the soccer mom vote. Many political strategists keep their eye on this demographic, described as a moderate block that can swing for either party depending on the issue in focus any given election cycle. They’ve tried to describe us. They’ve tried to persuade us. They’ve even tried to charm us. The one thing they haven’t done is ask us what we think.

The Truffle

The White House Project — If you could do one thing to change America for the better, what would it be? At The White House Project, we believe that if you add women to the ranks of leadership, you change everything.

The White House Project Blog

The Women’s Media Center — The WMC is the first of its kind. Our mission is to assure that women and women’s experiences are reflected in the media just as women are present everywhere in the real world; that women are represented as local, national, and global sources for and subjects of the media; and that women media professionals have equal opportunities for employment and advancement.

The Women’s Post

The Zafting Redhead

Think Girl

Amanda from Think Progress

‘This & That’ Politically Incorrect

This Can’t Be Happening — A nice middle-aged Midwestern woman staying in touch with the reality that the USA, like Rome, will fall if we do not exercise our freedom of speech, listen critically, and uphold the Constitution. (It`s possible to be nice and an angry liberal.)

This Girl’s Weblog — just me, my thoughts, and experiences.

This is my United States of Whatever!

Maggie Thurber — Thurber’s Thoughts — I’ve started this blog to share thoughts on issues and concerns that face Lucas County. Some of the items I discuss are issues I voted on when I was Commissioner.

Toledolefy — A personal blog focusing mostly on politics.

TruthHugger — Question with boldness, education, philosophy, humanity, culture, religion, social science

Twilight Notes

Tonight’s political blog roundup will address the DNC Rules Committee, that will meet tomorrow to decide if Florida and Michigan votes will be counted.

Over the last few months I’ve made my feelings pretty clear on the issues of disenfranchising Florida and Michigan voters, a Florida recount, and my lack of love for Howard Dean. People who don’t really know the facts, are quick to judge, and claim that Florida and Michigan broke the rules and deserve their punishment. However, a smart Democrat (and I’m not referring to Howard Dean, just in case there is any confusion) would see the bigger picture. And the bigger picture is…Democrats have a slim chance of winning the general election without Florida and Michigan.

Here is some of what other bloggers are saying on this issue. Let me know what you think in comments.

From Center for Media and Democracy…

On Saturday the Democratic National Committee Rules and Bylaws Committee will meet to decide the fate of Florida and Michigan’s delegates to the Democratic National Convention. As DNC members, the 30 rules committee members are all superdelegates and also have a vote at the convention. Between them, 13 have endorsed Hillary Clinton, eight have endorsed Barack Obama and nine are uncommitted. They also include one DNC member from Michigan (uncommitted) and one from Florida (endorsing Hillary), who are unable to cast a vote concerning their home states. (See the full membership here.)

The committee will hear challenges to its earlier ruling that Michigan and Florida’s delegates would not be seated at the national convention, with their votes thus not counting towards the presidential nomination. Bringing the challenges are Florida superdelegate and DNC member Jon Ausman (undeclared for either Clinton or Obama) and a representative from Michigan’s state democratic party. Other representatives from the two state parties and the presidential campaigns will also make their case to the committee.

The committee will hear three specific challenges:

• The Michigan Democratic Party is challenging with a compromise plan between the Clinton campaign’s call for all the delegates to be seated according to the January vote (with 69 going to Clinton and the 59 earned by the “uncommitted” slot on the ballot going to Obama because he was not listed there) and the Obama campaign’s call for the delegates to be split evenly, 64-64. This would result in 69 going to Clinton and 59 going to Obama.
• Ausman is challenging that the DNC rules dictate that a state party breaking the primary schedule (as Michigan and Florida did) will be penalized by losing half their pledged delegates (those resulting from the primary results) and not all, as was previously ruled by the committee. This would result in Florida’s delegates going roughly 52 for Clinton, 34 for Obama and 6 for Edwards.
• Ausman is challenging that the Florida party charter specifies that its superdelegates will be seated, regardless of any penalty imposed on the pledged delegates. The current tally from Congresspedia’s Superdelegate Transparency Project is that eight of the superdelegates are committed to Clinton, five are committed to Obama and 13 are uncommitted.

From CNN Political Ticker…

A day before the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee is set to determine how to seat the delegations of Florida and Michigan, the Clinton campaign’s chief lawyer said the committee is compelled to seat both delegations fully and not award Barack Obama any delegates from Michigan.

In a letter addressed to the co-chairs of the RBC, Clinton lawyer Lyn Utrecht said both states have already been sufficiently punished because of lack of campaign activity.

“It is a bedrock principle of our Party that every vote must be counted, and thereby every elected delegate should be seated,” Utrecht wrote. “The States have already been punished because no campaign activity was conducted in Florida or Michigan. There is no requirement or need to punish their duly elected delegates who represent the 2.3 million voters in Michigan and Florida who participated in the nominating process.”

Here are some excepts from an Open Letter to Howard Dean, Super Delgates, the Media, and the DNC – Marc Rubin at Tom In Paine…

The most resistance to fully counting Florida and Michigan has come from Senator Obama and his supporters. Their argument is that those states broke “the rules” when they moved their primaries up and therefore should not count. And what rules were those? No rule that in any way invalidates or calls into question the validity or accuracy of the results of elections in which 2.3 million people participated. Saying that “the rules are the rules” is not good enough. This country was founded by people who said there were higher and more important principles at stake than King George’s rules, especially when “the rules” were unfair.

. . .

Regardless of whom anyone supports, no Democrat can support votes not being counted. Not anytime but especially not after what happened in Florida in 2000. The Democratic Party cannot send out a candidate for President who is there only because votes weren’t counted.. It cannot send out a candidate for President who is carrying an asterisk on their back.

All the delegates must be seated and all the votes counted as per the results of two fair and full elections.

. . .

TO THE NEWS MEDIA: The issue of the Florida and Michigan delegates is and has always been, an internal DNC issue. The popular votes in those primaries are not. Regardless of what the DNC decides with regards to the delegates, there is not now, nor has there ever been, even a remotely rational reason not to count the results of the popular vote from both states. The popular vote is just that — the popular vote. People went to the polls. They voted. Their votes were recorded and certified and they are a legitimate reflection of the will of the people. By not including Florida and Michigan in the popular vote totals and an auxiliary delegate count that shows the true results including both states, the media has skewed, distorted and misrepresented the true status of this nominating process. They have given the country a completely false impression of the status of the race, the true will of Democratic voters at any given time, and have created a false atmosphere surrounding this entire process.

By ignoring Florida and Michigan and their impact on this election, the media has not only slighted the people of those states, but the 17 million people who have cast votes for Senator Clinton and the democratic process itself. The news media has been nothing less than irresponsible in not including the votes from Florida and Michigan, the validity of which has never been called into question.

WITH REGARDS TO MICHIGAN: Many people, with no knowledge of the events in Michigan (and some who do know but choose to ignore them) try to point to the claim that Senator Obama wasn’t on the ballot: This is a straw man and entirely untrue as it impacts the results of that election.

As reported by the Des Moines Register in October of 2007, Senator Obama chose to take his name off the ballot for political reasons after his polling showed him losing in Michigan by 20 points and to win favor with a show of solidarity with the first in the nation status of the upcoming Iowa caucus. Senator Obama, however arranged to have his name represented by a line that read “Uncommitted” on the Michigan ballot. John Edwards joined, and every voter in Michigan who went to the polls that day knew that “uncommitted” represented both Senator Obama and John Edwards. The proof that they knew is that “uncommitted” received 40.7% of the vote, the second highest total to Senator Clinton’s 56%. There has also been the assertion that Senator Clinton was the only name on the ballot. That is also untrue. Other Democratic candidates were on the ballot that day. The only question to be resolved is how to apportion the 40.7% of the vote represented by “uncommitted” between John Edwards and Senator Obama and that is not difficult.

. . .

Super delegates, the news media and party leaders have a moral, ethical and patriotic obligation to respect the will of all the people and the news media to report facts accurately and fairly not according to their own agenda. The electoral process must be respected and so must the results it produces. Florida and Michigan delegates must all be seated and their popular votes must be counted. These votes must be included in any super delegates’ deliberations regarding the true will of the people and who is the strongest candidate in November.

Seat all the delegates. Count all the votes. To do anything less will guarantee irreparable damage to the Democratic Party not just in November but in every facet of the nation’s business for years to come.

Kay Day at Covering Florida (also at The US Report)

Just when you thought the Democratic National Committee couldn’t stir the Florida and Michigan pot beyond a boil, the scenario has moved to a state akin to an explosion. Sort of like the day my husband tried to warm up a boiled egg in the microwave. And now Sen. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has entered the political milieu, telling The San Francisco Chronicle she’ll “step in” if she has to so the brawl doesn’t reach the national convention in August in Denver. What’s she gonna do? Hit somebody on the head with her gavel?

Florida’s governor Charlie Crist has appeared on several national news shows in the last two days. He’s peppered with questions about Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) intentions for a GOP running mate, but Crist is stressing counting all the votes cast in our primary. And he doesn’t overlook the Republican Party strategy to halve the delegates. He wants both parties to count all the delegates.

From Jamie Dupree…

I’ll say it again: Too bad Florida and Michigan didn’t decide to have a replay primary, because it would certainly give us a furious finish to the Democratic Presidential race.

Instead, a bunch of party officials will sit in a hotel ballroom in Washington, D.C., trying figure out how to put the best face on this delegate pothole.

This is from Electile Dysfunction…

Tomorrow, the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee is meeting to discuss the options they have for seating these previously punished delegates from Michigan and Florida.

This committee is in a very difficult position, because they need to maintain its primary process, but they do not want to anger the 2.3 million Democratic voters in Michigan and Florida and do not want to prolong the battle for the nomination.

And did I mention that Michigan and Florida are swing state electoral goldmines that are vital to winning the general election?

So, here’s my solution. Let’s start with Florida.

Florida is pretty simple. Since every major candidate was on the ballot in Florida and no one campaigned there, the DNC should seat the Florida delegates that were elected on January 29, giving each delegate a full vote at the convention.

Clinton’s people will be happy, and Obama’s people will have to put up with it because they don’t want to start another argument that would prolong the start of the general election campaign.

Michigan is much trickier. Clinton’s people want to seat the delegates as is, which means that since no one voted for Obama officially, he should receive no delegates. The DNC will not go for this, and will look for a compromise, that could be very complicated.

But I have a simple solution. Since Edwards endorsed Obama, and the bulk of Edwards’ pledged delegates have already shifted towards Obama, I would give Obama all of the uncommitted votes. Then I would give each pledged delegate half of a vote at the convention.

Then, the DNC should strip the state party leaders who were responsible for moving up the primaries of their superdelegate status, and fine both state parties.

This way, Obama will be relieved that it’s all over and done with, Clinton won’t have much of a leg to stand on because the DNC would be ruling in her favor, and it won’t affect the overall outcome of the primaries. Clinton’s supporters will most likely not be angered by the outcome, and will probably be willing to support Obama in the fall.

The Democrats need these two states in the fall, so they must favor Clinton with their decisions, so those 2.3 million voters feel like their voices have been heard. The DNC should not punish these voters for what their party leaders did, and they cannot risk losing Michigan and Florida’s combined 44 electoral votes in the general election because of their pride and stubbornness.

From The Left Coaster…

If there is one thing I regret the most in this campaign, that would be the fact that I was not paying any attention in the Fall of last year to the DNC’s shenanigans on Florida and Michigan. I just assumed it was a silly game and like many others I assumed that those delegates would eventually get seated – and therefore paid little attention to the goings on back then. The fact is, I really ought to have written about it and pointed out that it was completely unacceptable to strip FL/MI of all their delegates – which is contrary to the traditional “punishment”. That I didn’t do so was my mistake.

Also See:

RealClearPolitics

The Daily Democrat

Glamocracy

Common Sense Quotient

Have you wondered What Actually Happened in Florida?

“…For the millionth time, Florida Democrats had no power to block the moving of Florida’s primary election. Thus, the DNC should not have “punished” Florida Democrats.Our state legislature moved the primary dates, an entity on which the DNC’s rules are not legally binding. Our State House has about 77 Republicans to 43 Democrats. Republicans constitute about 60% of our State Senate.

In short, Florida Republicans can unilaterally pass or block any legislation they want. They could have moved the primary date without a single Dem vote.

This is from a post at BlogHer by PunditMom…

Interestingly, while the Democratic National Committee, as well as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, are still trying to figure out what to do with the votes case in the Florida primary, Obama is pushing ahead in the Sunshine State with his own GOTV efforts. It strikes me as a little funny that the Obama campaign is pushing hard in Florida when he doesn’t want the primary votes to count, but wants them to matter in the November general election. That could leave Florida voters scratching their heads

From Faye at Anderson@Large…

I missed the drama of Election Night 2000. After NBC called Florida for Al Gore shortly before 8 p.m., I turned off the TV and zonked out. So you can imagine my surprise when I woke up and discovered that the election was too close to call.I hoped to atone by researching, writing and producing a film about the recount debacle. The documentary, “Counting on Democracy,” aired on PBS stations nationwide. I’ve also screened it at countless colleges and community organizations.

In a primary season full of twists and turns, we’ve come full circle. In voting-challenged Broward County, they’re chanting “count every vote” like it’s 2000. And the head cheerleader is Hillary Clinton — read full post

This is by Jill from Brilliant at breakfast…

This weekend, John McCain has invited some prospective running mates to one of his eight homes, presumably for barbecue. Specifically, those being interviewed are the closeted governor of Florida, a card-carrying member of the Christofascist Zombie brigade who thinks joking about bombing Iran and about assassinating a black presidential nominee constitute humor, and Paulie Walnuts.

The Obama running mate hunt is just beginning, despite the Clinton campaign’s attempt to rewrite history and spin the Florida/Michigan situation as being (pick one) Zimbabwe, Florida 2000, or Jim Crow, even though it was HER VERY OWN PEOPLE who helped put together, and voted for, the rules that put us into this mess.

I haven’t got a freaking clue who Obama should pick, but I’m emphatically opposed to the so-called “dream ticket.” It’s clear that Barack Obama can’t trust Hillary Clinton one bit, and there’s something Shakespearean about the idea of a young president with the wife of a former president as his #2, with said former president lurking around the hallways. — read full post

This is from Kay at Covering Florida…

Sen. Barack Obama is spending time in Florida, venturing here now that dust has settled over national party leaders’ decision to make outcasts of Democratic voters in the state. I’ve said it before and I’ve had it said to me many times: media loves Barack Obama. Another media triumph in the Obama arena is a contributing editor from ‘National Journal’—Linda Douglass officially moves into a new role as Obama strategist and spokesperson, according to Politico blogger Ben Smith. Douglass interviewed the senator’s campaign manager in April. My, how she must have struggled with her “objectivity.”

I’ve pointed out figures before, from a study done by the Committee for Concerned Journalists. In early campaign coverage, here’s a breakdown on stories about the current candidates, with each statistic reflecting a percentage of positive or negative stories about the candidate. Of Hillary Clinton stories, 26.9 percent were positive; 37.8 percent were negative. Of Barack Obama stories, 46.7 percent were positive; 15.8 percent were negative. And coming as no surprise when it comes to media and conservatives, of John McCain stories, 12.4 percent were positive and 47.9 were negative. — read full post

Check out Florida Speaks, for more links to Florida bloggers.

From Pandagon…

Wow, talk about hardball. This was on CNN this AM, and it looks like the Clinton camp is tossing out some kind of not-so-veiled convention chaos blackmail card for the VP slot, and/or a way for the New York senator to have a face-saving exit strategy. The report from Suzanne Malveaux describes three scenarios being floated by people “inside Hillary’s innner circle.”

From The Women’s Media Center…

From PunditMom…

When someone calls Hillary Clinton a bitch, it’s not just about her.

It’s about me and my fellow MOMocrats and my sister. It’s about my mother and my aunts and my daughter. It’s about mothers and friends and women who haven’t even become the next generation of leaders, yet.

Of course, as the Women’s Media Center rightly points out in its new video called Sexism Sells, But We’re Not Buying It Anymore, we’ve been focusing on the wrong thing. The MSM doesn’t limit its use of terms like “soppy,” “bitchy,” “castrating,” “nagging,” or “Wicked Witch of the West” to Hillary.

The most famous and infamous TV pundits aren’t reserving their ‘looks are everything’ moments to talk of Hillary’s cleavage or wrinkles. There are no limits. We are all fair game. — read full post

Here is a video clip that recaps last night’s primary results, and show the candidates are in Florida today…

See more on last night’s primary results, get more information on super-delegates, and see why Florida and Michigan could still be in play.

From The Nation…

Barack Obama may have reached what he describes as “a major milestone on this journey” up the 2008 campaign trail. The senator from Illinois has now secured a majority of the “pledged” delegates to be chosen in the party’s primaries and caucuses.

Citing that achievement, Obama told wildly cheering supporters in Des Moines that he was now “within reach of the Democratic nomination for president of the United States of America.”

But Hillary Clinton is not going to let him grab the prize this week.

The lady is not quitting this contest just yet.

I found an interesting blog, it’s called Superdelegateland.

Welcome to Superdelegateland. This blog’s purpose is to examine the developments and finer points in the delegate math for the Democratic Primary, providing objective analysis and insight where possible. This site is neither pro-Obama nor pro-Clinton. Email me at independent.don@gmail.com with your thoughts and questions.

From Talk Left…

CNN, along with NBC, at the behest of the Barack Obama campaign, will pretend Florida and Michigan do not exist. They will declare that Barack Obama has won a majority of the pledged delegates in the Dem race. They will declare that 2.3 million voters in Florida and Michigan do not exist. This is not only outrageous of these news organizations, it is monumentally stupid of the Obama campaign.

————

Also See:

Tennessee Guerilla Women

Politico.com

The Confluence