May 28, 2008 10:09

Rules & Bylaws Agenda

Posted by Jay Newton-Small | Comments (16) | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email This

So, what exactly will the much anticipated Rules & Bylaws Committee be discussing this Saturday in Washington? Some juicy tidbits from the schedule being circulated:

Florida has two challenges before the committee, one to reinstate its superdelegates as the state contends that the committee did not have the jurisdiction to remove those votes; and two, that the committee only had the power to remove 50% of Florida’s delegates, not 100%. While it’s true that the automatic sanctions were a 50% reduction, the staff analysis that the committee will consider Saturday shows it was within its rights as a committee to not only strip 100% of pledged delegates but to also strip superdelegates.

The money phrase in the staff recommendations: “The legally more defensible view seems to be that the RBC had authority, in its discretion, to impose the additional sanction that it did impose in August of 2007, but by the same token, that the RBC now has the discretion to revoke those additional sanctions, thereby leaving in effect the automatic sanction of Rule 20(c)(1), i.e., a 50% reduction in pledged delegates.” If I’m reading this correctly, this means that the committee might not have the jurisdiction to restore ALL of the delegates, but only 50% and, it seems, Florida is only petitioning to have 50% of its pledged delegates reinstated.

Michigan’s challenge is differently worded. It simply asks that the committee seat 100% of its delegation along the lines suggested by Michigan Senator Carl Levin: splitting the pledged delegates 69 for Hillary and 59 for Obama (less than the 73 Hillary would get if they actually allocated it by the 55% of the vote that she actually won). Again, the committee must first determine if it has the power to seat 100% of Michigan’s delegation. The staff recommendation:

To be sure, the Credentials Committee of the Convention is vested with broad authority, under the, to “determine and resolve questions concerning the seating of delegates and alternates to the Convention.” As the Party’s highest authority, the Convention itself, on the recommendation of the Credentials Committee, could arguably determine that the MDP should be provide all the delegate positions originally allocated to it, without regard to the sanctions imposed by the Delegate Selection Rules. By contrast, however, the RBC’s authority is limited to hearing challenges regarding alleged violations of an approved Delegate Selection Plan, Delegate Selection Rules 20(B)(2), and in resolving such challenges the RBC is limited to finding that actions taken in the delegate selection process comply or do not comply with the State Party’s delegate selection plan and to requiring corrective action to bring about compliance.7

For these reasons, it seems clear that while the RBC could revoke its additional sanctions, leaving in place the automatic sanctions of Rule 20(C)(1), it does not have authority to reverse or prevent the imposition of those automatic sanctions.

The staff then loops back to the Florida argument where the analysis weighed the pro and con positions for reinstating 100% of the delegates without coming to a conclusion. Assuming they overcome this hurdle the committee then must decide if it can use the results of Michigan’s January 15 primary since Obama was not even on the ticket and then if they have the power to arbitrarily reassign pledged delegates based on political will. All of which is to say, this is a giant mess and Saturday is going to be very complicated.

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Reader Comments (16)

Elvis Elvisberg

Thanks for spelling this all out, Jay. I knew there was a meeting, and that Florida, Michigan, and hysteria were involved, but I didn't know exactly what was up for debate.

It sounds like best case for Clinton is 50% of Florida and a net gain of 10 delegates in Michigan. That wouldn't close the gap too much, would it?

Posted by Elvis Elvisberg | May 28, 2008 10:28 AM

johnr:

No, it's not a giant mess, and it's not very complicated. Florida and Michigan knew the rules. They violated the rules. They were told no delegates for violating the rules, yet they violated the rules. So, no delegates.

See, just that simple.

Posted by johnr | May 28, 2008 10:31 AM

RubyPanther:

Yep. Simply that simple.

"No," she shouts, "turn it over!"

"Just read it."

"No, there must be another secret rule if you read it upside down! See!! Right there! If you hold it at an angle it says I win!"

"Just read the parts with writing, please."

Posted by RubyPanther | May 28, 2008 11:27 AM

KathyR:

Jay - For what it's worth, MSNBC also had the take that the RBC could only "legally" reinstate 50% of the delegates.

This is presumably something HRC has been aware of, so I wonder if it will form the basis of her continuing on to the credentials committee, since she has publically been plugging for "all" the delegates to be reinstated.

Posted by KathyR | May 28, 2008 1:07 PM

Disenfranchised_Libertarian:

Not to worry, Howard Dean is in control.

Not only are the Democrats going to Florida and Michigan. They're going to take South Carolina and Arizona and North Dakota and New Mexico, and California and Texas and New York. And then South Dakota and Oregon and Washington. And then they're going to Washington, D.C. to take back the White House.

BYAHHHHHHHHHH!

Posted by Disenfranchised_Libertarian | May 28, 2008 1:13 PM

chokora fukara:

johnr wrote:
"No, it's not a giant mess, and it's not very complicated. Florida and Michigan knew the rules... So, no delegates."

Agreed.
In fact, prior to their action, their party leaders (eg Carl Levin) were boasting to RBC that they can act contrary to the RBC rules and get away with it.
So, do DNC's rules and bylaws mean a thing?
Or are the democrats a bunch of unprincipled, indeed lawless and toothless chihuahua adrift in a GOP's dog-eat-dog world?
----
Women would vote for Sen McCain!
Vote for a McNasty who calls his wife a "trollop" and a C-word? Why does she deserve that?
For a man running partly on biography, he treated his first wife, Carol, poorly.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/opinion/17kristof.html
Even feminists would vote for McCain!
----
C-Word? "Trollop"? Words of Endearment for American Woman? / McCain '08, WRONG for America

Posted by chokora fukara | May 28, 2008 2:32 PM

Malcolm:

The DNC should never have instituted such a draconian penalty in the first place, especially in Florida where the governor is a Repub and the legislature is controled by the GOP. Just stripping them of half their delegates should've been sufficient. Moreover, the pledge that the candidates not campaign there, which I believe was requested by other early-voting states, should never have been allowed. But be that as it may, the best course of action now, next to holding re-votes, would be to allocate Michigan 69-59 as proposed and then strip the delegations from BOTH states of 50% of their voting rights. The 69-59 split is to redress the unfairness to Obama of counting an election in which he was not on the ballot, while the 50% reduction in voting power for both states is the penalty for violating the rules.

Posted by Malcolm | May 28, 2008 11:05 PM

Great Granny:

Do any of you seriously think Hillary will take what the committee rules on and abide by it? I don't. I think she does not care at all about the party. Only herself.

Posted by Great Granny | May 29, 2008 4:15 AM

goldstonesoft:

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