May 20 May Be Dem D-Day

Politico: Obama Might Declare Victory After Securing A Majority Of Pledged Delegates

(The Politico)  This story was written by David Paul Kuhn.

---

Not long after the polls close in the May 20 Kentucky and Oregon primaries, Barack Obama plans to declare victory in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

And, until at least May 31 and perhaps longer, Hillary Clinton’s campaign plans to dispute it.

It’s a train wreck waiting to happen, with one candidate claiming to be the nominee while the other vigorously denies it, all predicated on an argument over what exactly constitutes the finish line of the primary race.

The Obama campaign agrees with the Democratic National Committee, which pegs a winning majority at 2,025 pledged delegates and superdelegates - a figure that excludes the penalized Florida and Michigan delegations. The Clinton campaign, on the other hand, insists the winner will need 2,209 to cinch the nomination - a tally that includes Florida and Michigan.

“We don’t accept 2,025. It is not the real number because that does not include Florida and Michigan,” said Howard Wolfson, one of Clinton’s two chief strategists. “It’s a phony number.”

Wolfson said they intend to contest the DNC’s 2,025 number “every day,” as well as any declaration of victory made by Obama based upon that number, because it does not include Florida and Michigan.

In January, Clinton won both states by wide margins when Obama did not actively contest them. The two states were stripped of their delegates for holding early primaries not sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee.

Obama will not reach the 2,025 magic number on May 20. Rather, on that date he is all but certain to hit a different threshold - 1,627 pledged delegates, which would constitute a winning majority among the 3,253 total pledged delegates if Florida and Michigan are not included.

“On May 20 we’re going to declare victory,” said an Obama senior advisor who asked that his name be withheld to speak candidly, adding that after those contests they will be “the ones with the most pledged delegates and the most popular votes.”

While the nature of that declaration of victory is “still developing,” in the advisor’s words, the Obama campaign contends that the winner of a majority of pledged delegates should be the party nominee.

“Senator Obama, our campaign and our supporters believe pledged delegates is the most legitimate metric for determining how this race has unfolded,” wrote Obama campaign manager David Plouffe Wednesday in a memo to superdelegates. “It is simply the ratification of the DNC rules - your rules - which we built this campaign and our strategy around.”

But the Clinton campaign’s insistence on counting Florida and Michigan would alter not only the overall delegate math, but the pledged delegate math as well. Because if the two states are included in the count, the total number of pledged delegates would rise from 3,253 to 3,566 - which means the magic number for a majority rises to 1,784, not 1,627 as the Obama campaign asserts.

By hewing to that interpretation, the Clinton campaign would thus be able to raise doubts about a May 20 declaration of victory by Obama.

Since the earliest possible resolution of the Florida/Michigan dispute is May 31, when the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee will meet in Washington to address petitions from Michigan and Florida DNC members, the 11-day period between the May 20 primaries and the RBC meeting could produce a chaotic stretch where Obama claims to be the party nominee while Clinton argues otherwise.

Already, the two campaigns are gearing up for the battle.

“With the Clinton path to the nomination getting even narrower, we expect new and wildly creative scenarios to emerge in the coming days,” wrote Plouffe in his memo. “Wile those scenarios may be entertaining, they are not legitimate and will not be considered legitimate by this campaign or its millions of supporters, volunteers, and donors.”

“You can declare mission accomplished but that doesn’t mean that the mission has actually been accomplished,” Wolfson said.

[tx2democrats]

we will vote for John McSame before we vote for such arrogance from Obama, claiming victory without it being a real victory is arrogance, which is all we''ve seen from him, this article settles it for us, we''d rather see Cindy McCain as first lady before we have someone who is "just now proud to be an American" Obama.

If Hillary drops out, so do we from the Dem''s.

[crat3]

Is Obama under the delusion he is in some African country - maybe Kenya - he''s going to "declare victory"? Is this the intended path of "change you can believe in" - along the path of tyranny of some messed up African government?

Obama will not have the requisite number of delegates for the presidential nomination; he has no presumptive lock on the nomination. The Democratic nomination process calls for all states to vote and if the candidates fall short in delegates for the nomination, then the superdelegates must select the best experienced, qualified candidate for the presidency using their independent judgment. The campaign continues and there is no declared nominee until after all remaining states have voted and the superdelegates decide.

It seems Obama plans to morph into an African Rambo on the loose "declaring victory" in complete disregard of the nomination process.

Swiping the nomination from Sen. Clinton - Obama will crash and burn in November and the Democratic Party will be a train wreck in November. McCain will be the next president.

[trishab4]

We don%u2019t accept 2,025. It is not the real number because that does not include Florida and Michigan,%u201D said Howard Wolfson, one of Clinton%u2019s two chief strategists.

-Of course, Clitorin does not like to be declared off her ''coronation'' title. So she is contradicting the people''s choice. She is dumb because she wants to break rules and break previous accords she agreed on by not counting the Florida and Michigan delegates.

[DCropp]

Hillary, did you forget you were on New Hampshire Public Radio in Octobaer and said the votes in Michigan were not going to count?

[veteran72]

Bill''s face says it all:

No young Girls giving me BJ''s in the Lincoln Bedroom this time around.....
I''ll be getting my Azz Kicked and listening to that Shrill-ary Voice for the next 4 years.......
Please Lord, let me die now......*sniff*.....

[tawpdawg11]

Lets run her on through to the bitter end....we"ve got ********* of new DEMOCRATIC voters to get registered in the remaining states. BURY THE GOP IN NOVEMBERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[trishab4]

Bill''''s face says it all:

No young Girls giving me BJ''''s in the Lincoln Bedroom this time around.....
I''''ll be getting my Azz Kicked and listening to that Shrill-ary Voice for the next 4 years.......
Please Lord, let me die now......*sniff*.....
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Posted by veteran72 at 05:50 PM : May 08, 2008

-LOL!

[tawpdawg11]

Bill''''s face says it all:

No young Girls giving me BJ''''s in the Lincoln Bedroom this time around.....
I''''ll be getting my Azz Kicked and listening to that Shrill-ary Voice for the next 4 years.......
Please Lord, let me die now......*sniff*.....

Posted by veteran72 at 05:50 PM : May 08, 2008

There just isnt a whole lot to laugh about nowadays vet...but you did it there. Thanks : )

[taddles-2009]

"Swiping the nomination from Sen. Clinton - Obama will crash and burn in November and the Democratic Party will be a train wreck in November. McCain will be the next president.

Posted by crat3 at 05:24 PM : May 08, 2008"


It certainly is getting whiny in here, lots of crying going on....did someone loose something?

[trishab4]

GOP Leaders Warn Of Election Disaster
Politico: Sniping And Selfishness Decried As Wary Republicans Fear November Nosedive.

-Enjoy your nosedive, Repukons, rejoyce! You''ll hit the ground and stay there for at least 16 years to come. You deserve it, you arrogant Repukons.

[prinzowhales]

The media has only just finished making Rev. Wright the goat for Obama and Wright''s shared theology... and now the new preacher at his Church, Rev. Moss has come out and called Father Abraham a "pimp"... I don''t know how the singing is at United Trinity since the minister of music was murdered on Christmas Day this past year...but even I would have trouble sleeping through these sermons.

See Newmax.com for details...

Being a "typical white" I find it amusing that so many atypical whites support a candidate whose theology is based on the work of a man who wrote that if a religion did not serve the purpose of destroying the "white enemy" then it should be cast aside...Now, just how many religions revere the pimp, Abraham?

[liberalvet]

If Hillary drops out, so do we from the Dem''''s.

Posted by Tx2Democrats at 05:18 PM : May 08, 2008

Well if you insist on being idiots then step on up and go your merry way.....

[liberalvet]

Swiping the nomination from Sen. Clinton - Obama will crash and burn in November and the Democratic Party will be a train wreck in November. McCain will be the next president.

Posted by crat3 at 05:24 PM : May 08, 2008

LMAO... How has Obama swipped the nomination from Sen. Clinton? She is loosing the election on her own. People are voting for him out of thier own free will. Blame Hillary for coming up short... she caused the train wreck that her campaign turned out to be.

It is time to stop the infatile temper tantrums and be true Democrats and support the nominee of our party.

[prinzowhales]

Obama''s new pastor is called by his congregants a "hip hop pastor" and refers to Tupac Shakur as a "prophet"...are you down with Reverend Moss''s theology?

[prinzowhales]

The Newsmax article also notes that the Hip-Hop Rev-e-rend Otis Moss says that blacks are "lepers" with a skin disease. Obama can really pick his preachers... I can''t wait to see what his Cabinet looks like. I''ll be here chillin'' for Change...Louis Farrakan should have his own new Cabinet post as Secretary of Numerology...

[stn_sage]

If Hillary drops out, so do we from the Dem''''''''s.

Posted by Tx2Democrats at 05:18 PM : May 08, 2008
--------------------------------------------------
My response: GO AHEAD! The RepubliCONS will be glad to
get you. Obcourse, they won''t do anything to improve the quality of your life, but that''s the trade-off!

[prinzowhales]

Remember! Al Gore will have an important post in any Obama Regime. Now, isn''t that special? As the planet cools we can be treated to tales of global warming while watching Al''s nose grow. I ask you! Who could possibly resist passing up the opportunity to put Obama and his special friends into power?-- I can''t wait!

[prinzowhales]

I can just see the hip-hop pastor, Otis Moss, swearing in President Obama...on a CD of "prophet" Tupac Shakur''s greatest hits...Now, can you get down with that!? I SAY!...Can you...get.....DOWNNNNN! with that!?

[gaiaschild-2009]

We in Oregon are voting now. Ballots arrive two weeks ahead of primary day as we are 100 percent mail voting. On primary day, elections workers in each county open envelopes and sort out any that won''t work in the machine. We don''t have hanging chads, we use a pencil to connect two sides of an arrow. Very low tech. Counties allow party activists to monitor by sitting around all day and watching the workers open the envelopes and sort the ballots. Some ballots won''t work in the machine, like maybe they were rained on, I don''t know what, and those might be processed manually. Probably about half of us drop these things off at the last minute and half get them in the mail as soon as they arrive. This is why I''ve voted in advance of the visits of the candidates. Obama is hugely respected in Oregon and even though Clinton has supporters, I will be surprised if the vote is anything close.

[lruiz490]

Is Obama under the delusion he is in some African country - maybe Kenya - he''''s going to "declare victory"? Is this the intended path of "change you can believe in" - along the path of tyranny of some messed up African government?
Crat3

we will vote for John McSame before we vote for such arrogance from Obama, claiming victory without it being a real victory is arrogance, which is all we''''ve seen from him, this article settles it for us, we''''d rather see Cindy McCain as first lady before we have someone who is "just now proud to be an American" Obama.

If Hillary drops out, so do we from the Dem''''s.
Tx2Democrats

You are both shining examples of in the closet republicans. Do you work for Rush Limbaugh''s operation chaos, or do you really have any clue about what you are talking about.

Do you understand that Obama and Clinton''s platform are very, very similar to each other? Do you have any clue about what John McCain represents. If you are going to vote for McCain, then you must have loved Bush''s four years in office.
And going out and calling someone an African Rambo wondering if he thinks that he is "some African country like Kenya?"
Change and progress have no room for your ignorance. I hope that you do go to the Republican party you will fit right in. As a matter of fact, take Hillary with you.

[samthetvcat]

--"Remember! Al Gore will have an important post in any Obama Regime. Now, isn''t that special? As the planet cools we can be treated to tales of global warming while watching Al''s nose grow. I ask you! Who could possibly resist passing up the opportunity to put Obama and his special friends into power? I can''t wait!"--
Posted by Prinzowhales

I know you''re being sarcastic, but that''s been part of the beauty of Barack''s inclusive campaign . . . he brings freshness and inspiration to the campaign, but many of the battle-scarred Washington heavyweights are finding along the way the chance to show to the country once again what it is that made them popular in the first place. Like Barack''s campaign/Presidency has been/will be a means for Al Gore to come back to the White House where he deserved to be in 2000. Howard Dean has gone on from being the guy with the scream to being the guy with the kick-@ss commercials. Bill Richardson went from being the guy who only got 10% of the vote to being the gutsy guy who came out to bat at a time when it wasn''t popular and took some serious hits as a result. John Kerry the swift-boated will soon be John Kerry the VietNam veteran who''s going to go toe-to-toe against McCain and win with his anti-war platform this time around.

The Clintons could still hop on board and finally leave Monica in their wake, but I don''t think they''ve hit bottom yet . . .

[rowdytexan2]

OBAMA is going to DECLARE himself the winner!

Hahahahahahahahhaa!

The arrogant little shill!

[trishab4]

Hillary''s mouth is soooo large it reminds me of Pinky our neighbors'' collie dog. LOL!

[rowdytexan2]

Posted by SamTheTVCat at 06:53 PM : May 08, 2008

Freshness and inspiration to WHAT? CHANGE from Washington politics to corrupt Chicago politics!

No thanks!

[omaar-101]

Hillary is the ''Shill''

I do Agree...Hillary Clinton is Incompetent & Arrogant


Incompetent: Hillary agreed and Signed her name in agreement, that the Florida & Michigan Votes would not Count !! Now that her A!! is losing, she wants to retract and act as if, she Never Signed this Agreement...

Puh-Lease !!!


Obama: 250 Million generated by Obama, with More Money to come and hes Paying his Bills. Hes generating More Delegates and Super Delegates, as I Type !!



You are Right, Hillary is Incompetent !!


Hillary Clinton: 150 Million generated and shes Loaning Herself (Campaign) Money and She has not Paid her Bills in Ohio and other States shes Won in !!! She supposedly accumulated 10 Million on line, after her 9.5 Pt (PA) Win, which she was Suppose to win by 20 Pts. or more and yet shes Lending herself (Campaign) 6.4 Million !!!


Talk about No Experience in Campaign Money, Putting together a Sold Political Team...she cant Run her Team, Manaage Her Campaign Budget, and Pay Her Bills on Time, Her Campaign memebers jumping Boat and now Supporting Obama and she wants to Run The Government...

Puh-Lease

[omaar-101]

Obama has gotten another Super-Delegate..

Hillary is Toast !!!


Call me when Clinton EVENS or SURPASSES Obamas NUMBERS...Please

Until that Mystical, Majical, Majestical moment Happens....

Shes Toast

You Clintonites are just Blowing sand out of Your A$$''''s !!!


Total Delegate Count

Democrats | 2,025 Needed to Clinch

OBAMA 1,849

CLINTON 1,690

EDWARDS 18

Republicans | 1,191 Needed to Clinch

MCCAIN 1,328

HUCKABEE 231
ROMNEY 149

CBS News estimates. Includes super delegates.

[omaar-101]

Source: The Huffington Post

Bill Clinton

Call Bill Clinton a Racist Elitist..Now !!

Statements made by Bill Clinton on the same topic -- uttered while he was running for president in 1991 -- have now surfaced.


"The reason (George H. W. Bush''s tactic) works so well now is that you have all these (Economically Insecure White People) who are Scared To Death," Clinton was quoted saying by the Los Angeles Times in September 1991.



A couple months later, Joe Klein, writing for the Sunday Times, reported that Clinton made the following remarks:



"You know, he [Bush] wants to divide us over race. I''m from the South. I understand this. This quota deal they''''re gonna pull in the next election is the same old scam they''ve been pulling on us for decade after decade after decade.

When their economic policies fail, when the country''s coming apart rather than coming together, what do they do? (They find the Most Economically Insecure White Men) and Scare The Living Daylights out of Them.

[omaar-101]

Hillary: On Rural Southern White People...

/hillary-clinton-on-workin_n_97017.htmln

The same ''Rural Whites'' that she Appeals to...


Hillary: Screw The South

In January 1995, as the Clintons were licking their wounds from the 1994 congressional elections, a debate emerged at a retreat at Camp David.

Should the administration make overtures to working class white southerners who had all but forsaken the Democratic Party ?

The then-first lady took a less than inclusive approach.

"Screw''em," she told her husband. "You don''t owe them a thing, Bill. They''''re doing nothing for you; you don''t have to do anything for them."

The statement -- which author Benjamin Barber witnessed and wrote about in his book, "The Truth of Power: Intellectual Affairs in the Clinton White House" -- was prompted by another speaker raising the difficulties of reaching "Reagan Democrats."

It stands in stark contrast to the attitude the New York Democrat has recently taken on the campaign trail, in which she has presented herself as the one candidate who understand

[trishab4]

Laugh your azz off with dis.

http://dyn.politico.com/popvideo/kotecki.cfm

and RowdyTexan2, you are shill

[sgtrds]

Obama is the presumptive Democratic nominee already, so if he wants to come out and declare when he gets over the majority then let him. It''s his. He knows it. Hillary knows It And from the rock star reception he got on the Hill, Congress knows it too. Barack Obama is the next President of the united States of America.

[trishab4]

Hillary knows It And from the rock star reception he got on the Hill, Congress knows it too. Barack Obama is the next President of the united States of America.
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Posted by SgtRDS at 07:16 PM : May 08, 2008

-So be it, Randal! NaNanah! nananah! Hey hey hey Good Byeh!

[metroduck75]

I am Democrat who may very well vote for McCain this NOV.

I know DEM party can never win without the Majority of Women''s VOTES.

If Obama becomes the nominee, I think McCain should pick the woman Governor from Swing State Wisconsin... That will tip women''s Votes towards him.

Voters in FL and MI already hate the DEM party and Obama. It''s sad to say, but it''s true.

[prinzowhales]

Posted by SamTheTVCat at 06:53 PM : May 08, 2008
-----------------------
These disgusting figures, that you mention...all from the Democratic Establishment...make the lie of Obama''s promise of "change".

Obama may well ride to victory by misrepresenting himself as an antiwar candidate, but his 2004 admission that his position and the position of George Bush were essentially the same. He can''t talk his way out of that...so the media ignores it... just as they ignore the New World Order scum who work this particularly loathsome arse-puppet of the Rockefellers-- Ziggy Brzezinski, the Trilateralist...Anthony Lake of CFR...Austan Goolsby of Skull & Bones...It was Ziggy who said America needed a new Pearl Harbor to get Americans behind an aggressive foreign policy...Austan who said let the market deal with New England''s poor and their inability to buy heating oil and reassured Canadian free traders that Obama''s anti-NAFTA rhetoric was just politics...it was Lake who would have had us at war in the Sudan last year...it was Obama who would have bombed Pakistan without a by your leave from Islamabad.

Obama is a dangerous, lying fraudeur...just like Clinton...just like McCain.

[metroduck75]

Love your country, please say NO to Satanic Obama.

[metroduck75]

I am Democrat who may very well vote for McCain this NOV if Obama is the DEM nominee.

I know DEM party can never win without the Majority of Women''s VOTES.

If McCain is smart, he should pick the woman Governor from Swing State Wisconsin... That will tip women''s Votes towards him.

Voters in FL and MI already hate the DEM party and Obama. It''''s sad to say, but it''s true.

[sgtrds]

Ladies and gentlemen! The President of the United States of America, Barack Obama!

It even sounds good.

[rowdytexan2]

All the way to convention, Hillary! Take all your votes in Michigan and Florida and then have his arse disqualified from receiving any votes from those two states because he broke the rules!

Do what he did to Ellen Palmer and others in Illinois with his dirty politics!

[sgtrds]

Ladies and gentlemen! The President and First Lady of the United States of America, Barack and Mrs. Michell Obama!

That sounds pretty good too. I''m going to be looking forward to hearing that for the next 8 plus years!

[rowdytexan2]

Ladies and gentlemen! The President of the United States of America, Barack Obama!

It even sounds good.


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Posted by SgtRDS at 07:27 PM : May 08, 2008

lol, aren''t you forgetting something? There is the little matter of the general election.

The man will never see the White House as other than a guest.

[rowdytexan2]

McCain is better than Bush, Obama is WORSE than Bush!

It''s that simple!

[efarris38]

It is ashamed that we allow a hand full of people and the DNC to dis-allow the votes of 6 million people or so in Florida and Michigan. Why are penalizing the voters? We are telling them that their votes do not count. This should be against the law to disenfranchise voters of any state for that matter. Count these votes so that everyone is included. If we do not count every vote then we have not held a fair and balanced election. No wonder people get so disgusted and disinterested. This looks like the media and DNC planned for Obama to win all along come hell or high water. Honestly if you look at the hard facts on paper, Senator Clinton did indeed get more votes than anyone in the history of the Democratic Presidential primaries. Let''s count every vote! This isn''t a beauty contest people, these are facts and votes should always be counted from every city, county and state in this country!

[metroduck75]

For MI:

Hillary should get the delegates she deserves, while Obama should get nothing, because he abandoned the State by choice.

For FL:

Hillary should get the delegates she deserves, while Obama gets nothing. Because he broke the rules by running Ads in FL b4 the Primaries.

Yup, he ran Ads in FL... something the Media never emphasized.

[sgtrds]

Ladies and gentlemen! The President of the United States of America, Barack Obama!

Sounds better everytime I say it!

[rowdytexan2]

lol, This will go all the way to convention! Obama can''t pull it off either, and the superdelegates don''t even count until convention, period, they could move either way they wanted to.

The DNC could even pull out a per forma candidate like Al Gore and shoot the moon if they wanted to!

[rowdytexan2]

Why do you think Al Gore and John Edwards have been so quiet! lol

[sgtrds]

Hillary Clinton agreed that the votes in MI and FL wouldn''t count because she believed she was on a coronation tour and not running for the Democratic nomination. She feels that the party somehow "owes" her the nomination, like it''s her due. Once she realized Barack was spanking her all of the time, then all of a sudden she feels sorry for the "disenfrancished" voters. She''s acting like the police inspector in Casablanca. She''s Shocked! Shocked to discover they weren''t going to be counted! What a pile of horsesh*it she''s shoveling out.

[rowdytexan2]

Hillary Clinton agreed that the votes in MI and FL wouldn''''t count because she believed she was on a coronation tour and not running for the Democratic nomination. She feels that the party somehow "owes" her the nomination, like it''''s her due. Once she realized Barack was spanking her all of the time, then all of a sudden she feels sorry for the "disenfrancished" voters. She''''s acting like the police inspector in Casablanca. She''''s Shocked! Shocked to discover they weren''''t going to be counted! What a pile of horsesh*it she''''s shoveling out.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by SgtRDS at 07:49 PM : May 08, 2008

None of that BS matters! None of it! The candidate will be chosen at convention and the superdelegates can move any way they want to until convention.

Hillary will take it all the way to convention and if she has to will have Obama disqualified from any votes in Fla and Mich.

And again, the DNC can pull out a per forma candidate and run whoever they want to to unite the party!

I''m thinking they''ve got Al Gore in mind.

[likeitis5050]

Obama will get the ticket but Hillary is going to make him sweat for it...as he should have to do! He''s in for a bumpy ride and not all the Wrights and Ayers and all the other nasty little secrets he''s going to try to sweep under the carpet will change that. Now he''s got to deal with the chickens that come home to roost. But as the old saying goes...if you can''t run with the big dogs...you better be willing to sniff a lot of azz.

[myshiba]

McCain is better than Bush, Obama is WORSE than Bush!

It''''s that simple!

* ** *
It''s hard for anyone to be worse than Bush but I would definitely agree that "Anybody but Obama" should be on the lips of every registered voter!!!!!

[rowdytexan2]

Al Gore could sweep this country and unite it! What better solution could be had!