Fla., Mich. Delegates Each Get Half a Vote

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Democrats Demonstrate, Argue Outside DNC Meetings

Democratic Party members rally outside the site of the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting.

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Anita Dunn, an Obama spokesman, said after the votes that the committee had taken an important step to unify the party and said she doubts Clinton would have approved of the angry reactions by some of her supporters in the audience.

Dunn said she believes Clinton will seek to unify the party rather than appeal yesterday's decision. Clinton campaign officials said that decision now rests with the candidate after she has had the opportunity to review what happened.

The DNC last year sanctioned both Michigan and Florida for moving up the dates of their primaries in violation of party rules. Determined to send a signal to other states contemplating similar actions, the rules committee voted to bar both from sending delegations to the national convention.

The controversial decisions threatened to diminish the Democrats' chances of carrying Michigan or Florida in November, and as the nomination process has continued, both Clinton and Obama called for finding a resolution that would allow both delegations to go to Denver. But the contenders were sharply at odds over the distribution of delegates.

The committee spent more than five hours hearing challenges yesterday, breaking for lunch about 3 p.m. After the lunch break stretched to three hours, the committee returned with their compromises ready for votes.

The committee began its deliberations by taking up the Florida challenge. Florida Sen. Bill Nelson delivered an emotional appeal to the committee, urging the members to reflect the will of the 1.7 million voters who turned out for the state's Jan. 29 primary.

"These voters violated no rule," he said. "They committed no crime. They did not move the election date forward. The Republican legislature did. Yet they are the ones who would be unfairly punished, and in my humble opinion they do not deserve punishment. They deserve to be heard."

Florida State Sen. Arthenia Joyner, representing the Clinton campaign, traced her own history as a civil rights protester before delivering a powerful appeal to restore Florida's delegation in full with full voting rights.

"You have a unique opportunity right here and right now to write the people of Florida back into this historic election story," she said. "You have the power to say yes, their votes count; yes, their delegates should be seated; yes, their Democratic Party believes that their voices should be heard."

Rep. Robert Wexler, representing the Obama campaign, agreed with others that Florida's delegation should be represented in Denver but conceded that the committee was within its rights to allow half votes for each -- associating the campaign with the proposal of Jon Ausman of the Florida Democratic Party.

Wexler also ducked a question from Clinton supporter and rules committee member Tina Flournoy, who asked whether Obama backs giving Florida delegates full votes in Denver. From the audience, there were cries of "Answer the question!" and "Yes or no!"

Michigan proved a more controversial challenge for the committee, largely because Obama and three other Democratic candidates took their names off the Jan. 15 primary ballot, while Clinton and three others did not, and because the ballot specifically allowed people to cast a vote for "uncommitted."