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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The particulars of the Michigan experience and the legal fine points of DNC rules created a situation in which the two campaigns and the Michigan Democrats were proposing competing outcomes, all of which drew resistance from some committee members as unallowable under the rules.

Michigan Democratic chairman Mark Brewer and Sen. Carl M. Levin, representing the state, asked for their full delegation to be reinstated with full voting powers. But, calling their primary flawed, they recommended an allocation of the delegates based not only on the results but also on exit polls and an estimate of uncounted write-in ballots.

On the basis of those calculations, they said Clinton should receive 69 delegates and Obama 59. Clinton's campaign called for allocation based on the primary, giving her 73 delegates to Obama's 55. Obama's campaign said the delegation should be split 50-50 between the two candidates but did not take a position on whether the Michigan delegates should receive a full vote or half vote.

The Michigan Democratic Party proposal drew skepticism from members of the rules committee. "It seems to me that this way lies chaos," Elaine Kamarck said. "That if we start setting precedents that state parties can take a little bit of data from a primary and some data from exit polls and some data from assumptions they made, that we're really in trouble."

But in the end, the committee decided to set aside those qualms.

During the first session, Ickes pointedly challenged Levin over the Michigan plan, saying it would strip Clinton of delegates she had rightly earned through the primary. "Why not take 10?" he asked indignantly. "Take 20. Just keep on going."

"You're calling for a fair reflection of a flawed election," Levin shot back. "And what we're trying to do is keep a party together so we can win a critical state in November."