Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton went to Florida on Wednesday, but they campaigned in different political universes.
“It’s noteworthy that Barack Obama decided to come to Florida first, with an eye toward the November election,” said professor Daniel Smith of the University of Florida. “Meanwhile, Hillary is still playing the Florida card — as well as the Michigan card — in an effort to tip the delegate balance in the primaries.”
Although Clinton still sees Florida as an intraparty battleground in the protracted struggle for the Democratic nomination, Obama views it as a
key component of his strategy to beat Republican John McCain in November.
“Last night … we marked a significant moment in our campaign, where we achieved a majority of the pledged delegates,” Obama told 15,000 rowdy supporters in a Tampa hockey arena. “And so we are at the threshold of being able to obtain this nomination.”
Obama’s calculation does not include Florida or Michigan, which were stripped of their delegates by the Democratic National Committee for holding their primaries too early. But Clinton sees those delegates as her only chance of winning the nomination, because she won more votes than Obama in both states, although Obama’s name was not on the Michigan ballot.
“Here in Florida, more than 1.7 million people cast their vote, the highest primary turnout in the history of Florida,”Clinton told supporters in Palm Beach County. “And nearly 600,000 voters in Michigan did the same.”
She added: “The Democratic Party must count these votes. They should count them exactly as they were cast. Democracy demands no less.”
Clinton took a different stance in October, when she discussed the Michigan election on New Hampshire public radio.
“I personally did not think it made any difference whether or not my name was on the ballot,” she said. “You know, it’s clear this election they’re having is not going to count for anything.”
The case has been appealed to the DNC’s rules committee, which might end up deciding at a May 31 meeting to seat half the disputed delegates.
If that does not resolve the issue to Clinton’s satisfaction, she said Wednesday she will fight all the way to the Democratic convention in late August to seat the delegates.
“I will, because I feel very strongly about this,” Clinton said.
But some observers believe that threat is Clinton’s way of effectively forcing her way onto the Democratic ticket as Obama’s running mate. According to this theory, if Obama were to select her as his running mate after the last primaries June 3, he could avoid three more months of Democratic civil war.
Mindful of this potential merger, Clinton and Obama have toned down their attacks on each other in recent days. They appear to be setting the stage for the inevitable rapprochement.
“Senator Clinton has run an outstanding campaign and she deserves our admiration and respect,” Obama said.
