Please, folks -- we need to come back togther... I'd be saying the same thing if Clinton were the presumptive nominee at this point...

I don't know that it looks like it will continue past next week though.  We'll just have to wait and see.  

His son?  Let's just say, something happened to the gene pool in that family.  Sad.

Then, Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, every super delegate, even those already committed to Clinton, should endorse Obama to send a message for those with their heads in the sand.  Every. Last. One.

Including President Bill Clinton (NY).  It's time.

As to the more rowdy members of the audience, I don't think they make the Democratic Party look horrible.  I wish they had kept quiet and respected the proceedings.  I wish that the chairs could have done more to control them.  But oh well!  We, Democrats, have disagreements all the time.  And even on here passions flare.  Does RK then reflect poorly on the Democratic Party?  I don't think so.

I think looking around the room there (from my perspective via C-SPAN), the audience reflected a truly diverse crowd.  The speakers, the members of the committee, and the chairs all gave us something to be proud of and reflect extremely well on our party, IMHO.  Nothing that happened today made me ashamed to be a Democrat, made me ashamed of the people there, or made me think that this reflects horribly on us.  

I support the vote on Florida - being from Florida.  The election was not fair, but the decision is as fair as it could be given where we are at today.  The smart thing to do would have been to punish us with 1/2 our delegates from the beginning just as the Republicans did.  We wouldn't be having this discussion today if that occured.

Michigan on the otherhand was a fiasco.  Only HRC was on the ballot!  What were they thinking even holding an election like that?

The root problem isn't how we count votes.  The problem is that from day one this party had poor leadership and poor judgement in how it dealt with my state of Florida and the state of Michigan as punishment for us (I'll say it) cheating.

The Republicans got it right.  The Democrats got it wrong.  I have been raising the alarm on this issue since before anyone knew it would be an issue.  If you are now watching television you now realize that it is an issue of epic proportions.  

This historical vote is going to happen in the next few seconds.  How will history look upon this moment?

The committee agreed on a compromise offered by the Michigan Democratic Party that would split the difference, allowing Clinton to take 69 delegates and Obama 59. Each delegate would get half a vote at the convention in Denver this summer, according to the deal.

They also agreed to seat the Florida delegation based on the outcome of the January primary, with 105 pledged delegates for Clinton and 67 for Obama, but with each delegate getting half a vote as a penalty.

The resolution increased the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination to 2,118, leaving Obama 66 delegates short but still within striking distance after the three final primaries are held in the next three days.

[...]

Obama picked up a total of 32 delegates in Michigan, including superdelegates who have already committed, and 36 in Florida. Clinton picked up 38 in Michigan, including superdelegates, and 56.5 in Florida.

Obama's total increased to 2,052, and Clinton had 1,877.5.

Still, if Hillary Clinton insists on a scorched earth strategy to divide the party... she may just be able to hand the presidency to John McCain.

You know, there is a big thing we should be getting out of this party tonight, and that is the Democratic National Committee is not somehow controlled by the Clintons. Not by the Clinton campaign any more. We may have started this campaign believing that the Clinton campaign controlled, but this is Barack Obama's party now. He's already been winning the outside game, he now won the inside game. Yes it's true that Harold Ickes can threaten this stuff about the credentials, but Don Fowler really did signal today by being for the Michigan compromise that, "Guys, it's over."

Hat tip to Daily Kos

It is in the interest of the Party to sanction MI and FL. Otherwise there awould be no party. How could you have a party without rules? Hillary agreed to abide by the rules but suddenly the world must change in her favor because, well, she wants it to.

If Hillary does mount a lawsuit and allows it to be pending during the general election I think it will finish her career and rightly so.

I also want to say that her attitude of privilege has given the women's movement a black eye and has reinforced all the negatives stereotypes that people have about those who take advantage of affirmative action programs without having to prove themselves. The willingness of many of her supporters to buy into her privilege mythology and to act out like spoiled children also detracts on gains women have made over the past few decades. Why can't we have a female candidate who can play fair?

This post was written by a white woman over 50 who works in a male dominated field. I know what I'm talking about.

DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee Reaches Agreement on Seating Florida and Michigan Delegations  

Washington, DC--Today, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and Rules and Bylaws Committee Co-Chairs Alexis Herman and Jim Roosevelt issued the following joint statement:

"Today, after careful consideration and debate, the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee reached an agreement on the two challenges before the Committee on seating delegations from Florida and Michigan.  The Committee voted to seat the full Florida delegation with a half-vote each.  The RBC accepted the Michigan Leadership Plan as presented today by the Michigan Democratic Party with the exception that each delegate receives a half vote.  In addition, the Committee agreed that delegates from both states should be slated under Rules 5, 6, 7, and 12, outlining the candidate's right of approval.  With this decision, the revised total of delegate votes needed to secure the nomination is 2,118.

"This decision was not made easily or lightly but after listening to oral arguments made by the complainants, State Parties, and both presidential campaigns, we believe this to be the most fair and equitable solution allowed within the rules.  The Committee arrived at its decision with three basic principles in mind: One, that we must be fair to the voters in both states. Two, that we must be fair to both campaigns who abided by the rules in good faith and three, that we must be fair to the 48 states that followed the rules.

"We believe today's decision is a step forward in unifying our Party as we work together to put a Democrat back in the White House so we can bring the Iraq War to a responsible end and get our economy back on track.  We want to thank all of today's presenters, members of the public - both those here today and the many others who have made their voices heard throughout the process, and supporters of both campaigns."  

A great job by both!