Shocked
Posted at 1:07am on Jan. 26, 2008 It's "plans," Ezra. Not "tries."
But I'm glad that you guys are finally getting up to speed on this.
By Moe Lane
The title refers to Ezra Klein's sudden revelation that, hey, people are playing games with the Democratic Party's delegate count: he's got the basic outline, but is a little vague on how far it's gone. But that's why we're here, to help: well, help and mock savagely. Anyway:
CLINTON TRIES TO REINSTATE MICHIGAN AND FLORIDA'S DELEGATES.
This is a very, very, very big deal. From the Clinton campaign:
[snip of a missive by Senator Clinton informing the universe that yes, indeed, she will be championing the right of two absolutely vital States - ones that can mean the difference in November - to be given the delegates that they would normally have. It's a bit long, but I suppose that "E.S.A.D., Senator Obama" would have been considered uncouth. - ed.]
This is the sort of decision that has the potential to tear the party apart. In an attempt to retain some control over the process and keep the various states from accelerating their primaries into last Summer, the Democratic National Committee warned Michigan and Florida that if they insisted on advancing their primary debates, their delegates wouldn't be seated and the campaigns would be asked not to participate in their primaries. This was agreed to by all parties (save, of course, the states themselves).
Via Protein Wisdom, who essentially said "Well, duh."
Read on.
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Posted at 2:32pm on Dec. 26, 2007 Senator Obama might have ulterior motives regarding the FEC?
Perish the thought.
By Moe Lane
I mean, just because the FEC is about to grind to a halt because Senator Barack Obama has objected to one of Bush's picks:
The potential for an FEC shutdown has been looming for weeks, as a handful of Democratic senators voiced opposition to one of Bush's nominees to the commission, Hans A. von Spakovsky. Their concern stemmed not from von Spakovsky's work on the FEC but from his tenure in the Justice Department's civil rights division.
His critics contend that von Spakovsky advocated a controversial Texas redistricting plan and fought to institute a requirement in Georgia that voters show photo identification before being permitted to cast ballots.
"I am particularly concerned with his efforts to undermine voting rights," Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said in a statement released in September after he placed a hold on von Spakovsky's nomination. Obama and others gathered more opposition to von Spakovsky's nomination by drawing civil rights advocates into a lobbying effort for its rejection. They attracted the involvement of a number of groups, including the NAACP and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, that typically would not be engaged in a battle over an FEC nomination.
...with the result that the GOP has decided to follow suit in blocking the Democratic nominees, which means that there won't be a quorum starting January 1, which means that candidates looking for federal matching funds may find themselves increasingly strapped for cash, which includes former Senator John Edwards, which means that Obama, who is not accepting federal matching funds, has found himself somehow in the situation where his most important rival for the anti-Hillary Democratic vote is facing a long, slow financial strangulation.
What an amusingly serendipitous coincidence!
Read on.
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