Nothing "Settled" About Democratic Nomination Process
The unofficial split of Sunday's vote is 42 of the Puerto Rico delegates for Sen. Clinton and 19 for Sen. Barack Obama. Puerto Rico has more delegates than most of the states. The net result: Sen. Obama's lead over Sen. Clinton continued to narrow. He leads with only 51.67 percent (1739.5 to 1626.5) of the delegates selected by voters.
Why the Democratic party didn't make a decision about Florida and Michigan earlier remains a mystery. Although the Ds and Rs take a different approach to punishing party members for decisions of their state legislatures, the net effect is the same for both parties.
And the fact that the state legislature sets the dates -- not party leadership -- should put another nail in the coffin of the current nomination process.
It's past time to separate the machinery of elections -- where every voter is and should be equal -- from that of the party primaries, where "equal" depends on a variety of factors, as is the right of any membership organization. For example, citizens in Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands all have a say in picking the nominee, although these are not states and they cannot vote for President.
Puerto Rico, for example, has 63 Democratic convention delegates (23 Republican), nearly twice as many as South Dakota and Montana combined, the final two states holding primaries on Tuesday.
In the Michigan-Florida weekend news, Democratic party leaders awarded Sen. Barack Obama all of Michigan's uncommitted delegates and four delegates won by Sen. Clinton, even though Sen. Obama did not appear on the Michigan ballot. A Clinton supporter and member of the Rules Committee protested this decision:
The Committee awarded to Senator Obama not only the delegates won by Uncommitted, but four of the delegates won by Senator Clinton. This decision violates the bedrock principles of our democracy and our party.
The vote reflected division within the party. Although the Florida proposal to halve total delegates passed unanimously, the Michigan vote passed 19-to-8. The result, delegate-wise: Sen. Clinton picked up 34.5 delegate votes from Michigan and 52.5 from Florida; Sen. Obama, 29.5 and 33.5, respectively. Sen. Obama pulled his name from the Michigan, but not the Florida, ballot. All Democratic candidates agreed not to campaign in either Michigan or Florida.
In addition, Republicans hold a contest in New Mexico on Tuesday.
See 2008 Democratic Delegate Count.
