Reply #10: Is The DNC Leaving The Light On For The Florida & Michigan Delegations?] [View All]

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

Simple examination of Hotel reservations indicates that DNC is considering seating
the Florida and Michigan Delegates.

Is The DNC Leaving The Light On For The Florida And Michigan Delegations?Posted February 26, 2008

A cornerstone of Senator Hillary Clinton's strategy to become the Democratic presidential nominee--and a recently renewed argument on the campaign trail--is the eventual seating of the Florida and Michigan delegations. But could the official decision on whether to seat those delegates already have been made? And during the Democratic Convention, when lodging will be at an absolute premium, does the apparent lack of hotel space for the Florida and Michigan delegations portend their eventual absence in Denver?

As punishment for moving up their primaries in breach of party rules, the Democratic National Committee stripped both Florida and Michigan of their delegates, leaving those states' Democratic voters in a sort of convention limbo. Senator Clinton won both states, although it should be said that besting "Uncommitted" in Michigan by only 15 percent is not a particularly impressive feat. Her now-familiar, but somewhat rule-bending, argument is that effectively disenfranchising Florida and Michigan would jeopardize the chances of the Democratic nominee to carry either state in November. However, regardless of the merits of Clinton's argument, party officials are sending mixed signals as to whether the Florida and Michigan will indeed be invited to Denver this August.

One of the better forecasters of whether the DNC intends to seat the Florida and Michigan delegations is whether hotel rooms have been set aside for the offending states. Last November, the DNC announced hotel assignments for the convention, and while Florida was absent from the list, the Michigan delegation had been booked into the Red Lion Denver Central Hotel, as the Michigan delegates had not been officially stripped at that point. Then, last month, the DNC told the Michigan state Democratic Chairman that the Red Lion reservations had been canceled.

Huff Post OffTheBus's Ron Levitt contacted DNC headquarters and the DNC Convention Denver office to investigate hotel availability for Floridians and Michigonians. When pressed for an answer, the DNC press secretary, Natalie Wyeth, demurred, stating only that Florida and Michigan delegates and private citizens seeking to travel to Denver had to go online to get a hotel room, and for media members to register online for press credentials. But nowhere on the Convention's website is there any mention of hotel availability or lodgings, not just for Florida and Michigan, but for any state's delegates. ...