Clinton wants Obama to help her get Fla., Mich. Delegates

Times have definitely changed.

With her candidacy on the brink of shutting down, Sen. Hillary Clinton is writing Sen. Barack Obama, asking him to help her seat the delegates from Florida and Michigan.

Here is the letter. I can't wait to see what you guys think!

May 8, 2008

Senator Barack Obama

Obama for America

P.O. Box 8102

Chicago, IL 60680

Dear Senator Obama,

This has been an historic and exciting campaign. Millions of new voters have been brought into the process and their enthusiasm for the Democratic Party and the principles for which you and I have fought and continue to fight is unprecedented.

One of the foremost principles of our party is that citizens be allowed to vote and that those votes be counted. That principle is not currently being applied to the nearly 2.5 million people who voted in primaries in Florida and Michigan. Whoever emerges as the Democratic nominee will be hamstrung in the general election if a fair and quick resolution is not reached that ensures that the voices of these voters are heard. Our commitment now to this goal could be the difference between winning and losing in November.

I have consistently said that the votes cast in Florida and Michigan in January should be counted. We cannot ignore the fact that the people in those states took the time to be a part of this process and to make their preferences known. When efforts were untaken by leaders in those states to hold revotes to ensure that they had a voice in selecting our nominee,
I supported those efforts. In Michigan, I supported a legislative effort to hold a revote that the Democratic National Committee said was in complete compliance with the party's rules. You did not support those efforts and your supporters in Michigan publically opposed them. In Florida a number of revote options were proposed. I am not aware of any that you supported. In 2000, the Republicans won an election by successfully opposing a fair counting of votes in Florida. As Democrats, we must reject any proposals that would do the same.

Your commitment to the voters of these states must be clearly stated and your support for a fair and quick resolution must be clearly demonstrated.

I am asking you to join me in working with representatives from Florida and Michigan and the Democratic National Committee to arrive at a solution that honors the votes of the millions of people who went to the polls in Florida and Michigan. It is not enough to simply seat their representatives at the convention in Denver. The people of these great states, like the people who have voted and are to vote in other states, must have a voice in selecting our party's nominee.

Sincerely,

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Roland S. Martin www.rolandsmartin.com CNN Contributor

Sent from Blackberry

Comments

[Angela]

Okay, I thought the DNC was going to come up with a solution to seat the delegates on May 31st. I am starting to think Hillary and those working on her campaign have all been sipping on some syzrp or hanging out with snoop dog smokin ** and sipping on gin and juice...

Seriously, they are just candidates for the Democratic Party Presidential nomination, not the DNC. It's up to them to decide how to handle the states that broke the rules... This is going to be one interesting election for the history books. Especially when our kids learn that there are no consequences for breaking rules!

[KIT]

I know she wants the nomination, but I am starting to think what she really needs is a psych evaluation. There is a thin line between tenacity and insanity. Pull up Hillary or we are going to have to seek to get you some real help!

[D'Anne]

As my aunties would say..."She Got her Nerves."

She says she has consistently said the votes in those states should count... yeah, consistently since she stared LOsiNg.

Didn't she and her campaign reject the last proposal from Michigan that would give her 10 delegates over Obama? I don't think it should get any better than that.

Simple, in life you cannot be rewarded for breaking the rules. Correct me if I am wrong, but The voters are not being dienfranchised being that it is not a law that parties allow voters to choose the candidate. Right?

[Pamela]

It's typical Clinton behavior...not unexpected at all!

She has been trying to pull an okee-doke since Feb. 5 when she realized that Obama might have a chance of defeating her.

Hillary and Bill think they are much smarter than anyone else (cunning, yes...smarter, no). It is her unwavering hope to continue to alienate more and more voters by insinuating that she is for the people not being disenfranchised while Obama could care less about it.

The problem with HRC, Bill and her campaign is that they don't mind underestimating people if it suits their purpose thinking that people will get over it because ultimately the ends justify the means!

Hillary cares about Hillary and that is why she rejected the suggestion from Michigan and will reject the one from Florida if they present one. Unless they seat the delegates in a way that gives her the advantage then to her the only hope she has is the 2012 presidency!

That means doing everything she can to ruin Barack Obama's chances which is just fine to her. In doing that she is essentially saying screw the American people...let them eat cake!

[doc]

I see what she is trying to do, but its not going to work. She wants to have the Michigan vote counted as is, b/c she is trying to close Obama's popular vote lead. If she just gets the delegates, and not the vote tally, she essentially loses because he still maintains his popular vote edge, and there is no way that she can catch him in terms of pledged delegates. She has a sliver of hope to catch him in the popular vote if the Mich. and Fla. are votes are counted toward her total. This is sickening! Obama better ignore this and continue building a gen. election strategy and coalition to defeat Mccain.

[Nola]

I agree Pamela - Obama should ignore any request from her and keep his eyes on the prize. My father would say "she has the nerve of a brass monkey".

[Tee]

First of all the letter is a joke. She stated that she has consistently stated that MI and FL should be counted. That would be a lie! When she thought she was going to run off with the nomination she stated that they shouldn't count she only changed her mind after she got behind. The problem I have with this is that the media doesn't call her out everytime she makes this statement.

[Ruth Ferguson]

Did she not learn anything for the sniper incident --- in this day and age, everything you said is recorded in some form. She knows she is on record of agreeing to the rules when she did not think they would matter in her bid one way or another.

[Raum Sandoval]

She could be a crackhead

[Lynne4Obama]

It is ludicrous for her to be so adamant about this now and expect him to move on it. I personally like his new strategy - ignore her and don't take any baits (racial or not), just let her spend herself out and concentrate on another strategy for John McSame!

[Darlean]

Why don't the media pick up this story and run with it. If Obama had asked her to do something like this you bet everyone would hear about it. Barock don't go for that bate.

[rikyrah]

They offered her 10 more delegates than Obama in Michigan...SHE said no. Remember, he wasn't even on the frigging ballot. Hell no.

Florida? Split them 50/50.

NO counting of the popular vote. No way.

BTW, she 'won' Indiana by a little over 11,000 votes. - Easily accountable to Rush Limbaugh's 'Operation Chaos'.

[Jody Gaddy]

Roland,

You should not post and introduce this kind of ignorance here on this blog. Hillary is ignorant and all her thoughts and actions in this nomination show this.

Why write a letter to Obama? Why not write to DNC or to House members and governors in Florida and Michigan who designed and enforced the policy? Why blame Obama when he had no control of what happened in Michigan and Florida?

This deranged, nasty, ignorant, and parasitic woman wants to see to it that Obama loses. BUT she will fail as she failed in the past.

[colacola3]

What I think? I see you all (and Jackie) in Washington DC on January 20, 2009.

[David's Girl]

Hillary Clinton has lost her damm mind.

Just as it happens when I hear Hillary speak on television (nails on a chalkboard to me), when I read this letter I started hearing Charlie Brown's teacher...

Wa wump wump wump wa wump....LOL!!!!

[Deborah]

This letter is dated a little late...it should have been dated/written April 1 so it could be an April fool's joke. I am really beginning to see how desperate she is becoming. Everyone knew the rules before all of this started and I heard no one complaining about it then. Where were all the "supporters" of making sure the delegates of Florida and Michigan get seated when these two states changed their primary dates. I didn't hear all the hooplah about the situation when it was signed as law. I have only really heard about it when Senator Clinton started training Senator Obama. It's too late to cry now. Remember during Senator Clinton's campaign in Pennsylvania, she compared herself to Rocky. I guess she forgot that Rocky didn't win all his fights.

[simplycharming47]

She's lost her "White Hardworking American, I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on" mind folks!!

This sums up what I think of Hillary and her ilks letter to Senator Obama:

THE SCORPION AND THE FROG

Once upon a time there was a scorpion who wanted to get across the lake. Once day he came upon a frog. He asked the frog if the frog would be willing to swim across the lake while the scorpion rode upon his back.

The frog replied, "I am sorry Mr. Scorpion, I can not do that because you will sting me and we will both drown." The scorpion replied, "I give you MY WORD, I PROMISE NOT TO STING YOU, I just want to get across this lake.
Besides that WOULD be STUPID to do that!"

So the KIND HEARTED frog TRUSTED the SCORPION. The scorpion crawled on his back and the frog began to swim. When they got half way across the lake the scorpion stung him VICIOUSLY in the back.

The frog, NOW MORTALLY wounded, screamed out crying: "WHY did you do that? Don't you realize that now WE ARE BOTH going to DIE and DROWN in the lake!" The scorpion responded, "Yes I know, but I could not help it... IT IS IN MY NATURE!!!!!

un-huh, I'm just saying...