DNC lawyers weigh in - rules state FL and MI must lose at least half their seats.

[backscatter712]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080528/ap_on_el_pr/primary_scramble_1

WASHINGTON - A Democratic Party rules committee has the authority to restore delegates from Michigan and Florida but not fully seat the two states at the convention as Hillary Rodham Clinton wants, according to a party analysis.
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Party rules require that the two states lose at least half of their convention delegates for holding elections too early, Democratic National Committee lawyers wrote in a 38-page memo.

The memo was sent late Tuesday to the 30 members of the party's Rules and Bylaws Committee, which plans to meet Saturday to consider the fate of convention delegates from the two states. The party is considering plans to restore at least some of the delegates to make sure the two important general election battlegrounds will be included at the nominating convention in August.

The analysis lays out merits on all sides of the argument of how many delegates should be seated and how they should be divided. And it underscores a prickly problem — if the Rules and Bylaws Committee decides to restore any of the states' delegates, there is not a simple way to divide them between Clinton and Barack Obama.

That's pretty definitive. The rules are clear, and if the DNC decides to make an exception to the rules, that does invite a legal pissing contest that would last for months and go before a judge. In order to stay kosher, the party must follow its own rules.

Sorry, folks. MI and FL are not getting their full slate of delegates, no way, no how!

[Tommy_Carcetti]

1. What gave the DNC the audacity to strip ALL the delegates though?

Strip half the delegation, fine.

But strip all the delegation? I cannot get over how incredibly stupid and counterproductive the DNC was in enacting what it calls (collective) "punishment".

[backscatter712]

2. That's because the Democrats in both states were in on breaking the rules.

Florida in particular approved its legislation to move its primary date up by an almost unanimous vote. The Democrats not only didn't stop it, they enthusiastically endorsed breaking DNC rules, then tried to make a dog-and-pony show for the DNC to try to show them they tried to follow the rules.

If Florida's Dems had opposed moving the primary date up, but got outvoted, then the DNC would have only stripped half their delegates. But because they were flagrantly flaunting the rules, they got slapped hard.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

3. All the voters did was vote.

Yet the voters are the ones being punished by the DNC.

The DNC choose to punish the voters for a dispute it had with the state leaders.

This is a very simple concept as to how the DNC screwed the pooch, you know.

[EFerrari]

4. It's also dishonest and ignores the structure of the party. n/t

[KittyWampus]

8. No, it's an example of how the Florida and Michigan Democrats screwed their constituents.

[wileedog]

5. You really don't think Hillary wouldn't still be dragging us through this

If they only stripped half up front?

After all, she agreed just fine last year to the full penalty.

[MaineDem]

6. The Rules give them the authority

50% is the minimum. The R&B Committee is allowed to impose additional penalties. They did that by imposing the full 100% penalty, knowing full well they could pull it back to half.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. The DNC has to enforce their rules

otherwise, no states will follow them next primary season, and we'll be having the elections in 2011. I think that the DNC is correct in following through with the punishment that they said would happen-seat half the delegates. As to whom they vote for--what percentage were for Clinton, overall? Give her that percentage of delegates, and the rest should come from the uncommitted ranks. Only way to do it without redoing the election.