Posted on 08/26/2008 4:32:54 AM PDT by Renfield
Supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton are furiously circulating petitions on the floor of the Democratic National Convention tonight, hoping to stave off a plan to hold the convention's roll call at breakfast Wednesday — out of the public eye — sources inside the delegations say.
The move being worked out between the Obama campaign and officials behind Clinton's suspended bid, would work in two parts: Delegates would cast votes at their hotels Wednesday morning; that night, at the Pepsi Center convention site, the roll-call process would rely on the votes cast that morning, the delegates said.
Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette, a former state co-chair for Clinton said she knows the camps are in negotiations about what to do.
"My view is we need to come together as a party," DeGette said. "I admire Hillary Clinton greatly, but I think it would be divisive to have a vote on the floor. We need to have a unanimous vote."
The evening event would call on the delegation from Illinois, which Obama serves as the junior senator, and then move to New York, which Clinton represents.
After New York delegates applaud Clinton's long-fought and historic candidacy, a motion would be made to accept the votes cast at breakfast.
The move is being resisted by some Clinton delegates, who are busy tonight circulating a petition among delegates as the opening night of the convention, titled "One Nation," gets underway.
"We just want a roll call like you're supposed to have," said one of the delegates collecting signatures for the petition, who asked not to be named because of concern about friction within the party.
The Obama campaign denied that there would be a change.
"This is not true," Jennifer Backus, a senior advisor, said in an email in response to a question about the negotiations for the roll call change.
David Harper of Macon County, Tenn., signed a petition to ensure a floor vote in the hall surrounding the Pepsi Center.
"I came out here by God to vote for her, and I'm going to do it," Harper said, visibly angry about the news.
Kelly Jacobs a die-hard Clinton supporter from Hernando, Miss., an area that went heavily for Clinton, stood in the hall collecting signatures. She said the Clinton backers need 800 to secure a floor vote.
Anything less than that, Jacobs said, would be an insult to her candidate.
"I could have voted from home," Jacobs said. "She is our captain. We don't want to see her disrespected."
She was furious, she said, when she learned this morning that the votes may be held at the delegate hotels instead of on the convention hall floor.
"That's not what we learned in civics class," Jacobs said.
Texas delegate Tory Lauterbach said she has heard about the petition, but is unsure if she will sign it.
"I think the votes should be cast and counted the way they have been historically," she said. "But I don't think every delegate needs to stand and say something. I want a good convention."
So does Sally Phillips of Tampa, Fla. She said that although she is a Clinton supporter, she will undoubtedly support Obama because she doesn't want another Republican in the White House.
"I think the world of her," Phillips said. "I've seen the petition but I'm not going to focus on that."
The discussions come after a long summer in which Clinton delegates have argued for a chance to be heard during the convention. The party wants unity, and the announcement made by Obama and Clinton last week that a floor vote would occur was meant to provide that opportunity.
Your reasoning is good. I too would like the instant gratification of watching the party fold during the convention. But practically speaking it will be more effective when the dem leadership is 100% fully up to their neck committed to BO&B. It then exemplifies the dems complete unreliability as advocates for the USofA. If they do this secret ballot thing, 18MM people are gonna be PO’ed.
Democrats and unions both hate fair voting systems.
This is really a win-win, isn't it?
If they do the secret ballot thing, then Hillary is shut out (again) and her followers will increasingly feel that they were robbed and that the nomination has been stolen from them. On the other hand, if there is a floor fight, Hillary could conceivably get the nomination -- in which case black Americans would feel that they robbed. Then again, Hillary could lose the floor fight, but all the attempts at showing unity will have come to nothing.
This is just great stuff.
I’m not the brightest bulb on the string but I don’t see any escape from this. And our buddy, H. Dean, is again the architect. He is such an autocrat - loves power and the exercise thereof. Pelosi and Reid cheer him on to higher and greater heights of stupidity. Remember, he changed his own rules to get the result he wanted during the primaries. But then there was some recovery time to repair the damage - which he didn’t do. So now he’s stuck with the 18MM and no place to go. Hope the delegates strip him and publically flay ‘em.
Incredibly arrogant and telling statement about the process. "Count every vote" except those you disagree with. Conventions used to be about the process of selecting a candidate. Now they are simply advertising.
Wow the President Of The United States answered me....Hey the Border Guards out of prision!!!!!
The chef is here. Good eats for everyone.
'La bonne cuisine est la base du véritable bonheur.' - Auguste Escoffier
(Good food is the foundation of genuine happiness.)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
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