Busloads of Hillary Clinton supporters are expected to descend on the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington on Saturday in an effort to persuade a Democratic National Committee subpanel to include the votes of the discounted Florida and Michigan primaries.
At stake are 2.4 million votes and 366 delegates, which, if completely validated, would help revive Clinton’s flagging candidacy.
Many of those expected to attend the protest today have been rallied by pro-Clinton groups such as WomenCount Pac, a political action committeethat describes itself as “feeling frustrated about calls for [Clinton] to withdraw from the race.”
Clinton trails Obama by roughly 200 delegates and has virtually no way of winning without the inclusion of the Michigan and Florida primary results.
Several Web sites reported that representatives from the National Organization for Women and Emily’s List, a fundraising arm for female candidates, will attend the protest. Neither organization would confirm their involvement.
Barack Obama, who leads Clinton in the race for the nomination, told supporters to refrain from counterprotests and has encouraged them instead to help with a voter registration effort taking place Saturday.
Clinton campaign aides said Friday they support the protesters.
“They are coming to say they stand up in support of the people of Michigan and Florida and the idea that they should be seated and they should have a say in how this country moves forward,” said Clinton senior adviser Tina Flournoy. “Why this is trouble, why this is eliciting negative comments I am not sure but I find it particularly disturbing.”
But the shouts of the protesters will probably have little influence on the 30-member DNC bylaws panel, which is made up of 13 Clinton backers, eight Obama supporters, and seven members who have not endorsed either candidate.
Party lawyers told the subcommittee earlier this week it has no authority to fully seat the two delegations, as the Clinton camp wants, but could seat at most half their numbers as a punishment for holding early primaries.
Both candidates signed a pledge not to campaign in the two states, which held their contests in January. In Michigan, Obama was not even on the ballot.
Donna Brazile, an uncommitted superdelegate from Washington, D.C., and a bylaws panel member, said Friday she would seek a compromise “that is grounded in the rules and respects the voters in Florida and Michigan as well as the other states.”
The Web site RealClearPolitics calculates Clinton would lead in the popular vote in the unlikely event the subcommittee fully seats the two delegations.
Clinton aide Harold Ickes Friday would not indicate whether Clinton will appeal at the August convention if the panel does not rules in her favor.
Clinton is expected to win today’s Puerto Rico primary, though the territory carries no electoral votes in the general election.
Superdelegates in Maryland, Virginia and D.C.
MarylandHillary Clinton
- Sen. Barbara Mikulski
- Gov. Martin O’Malley
- Treasurer Nancy Kopp
- Former Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend
- Alvaro Cifuentes, DNC member, Montgomery County
- Richard Michalski, DNC member, Prince George’s County
- Michael Steed, DNC member, Montgomery County
- Maria Cardone, DNC member, Montgomery County
Barack Obama
- Former Gov. Parris Glendening
- John Gage, American Federation of Government Employees president, Montgomery County
- Michael Cryor, Maryland Democratic Party chairman
- Lauren Dugas Glover, Maryland Democratic vice chairman
- Janice Griffin, DNC member, Prince George’s County
- Karren Pope-Onwukwe, DNC member, Prince George’s County
Uncommitted
- Sen. Benjamin Cardin
- Rep. Chris Van Hollen
- Rep. Steny Hoyer
- Del. Heather Mizeur, Montgomery County
- Belkis Leong-Hong, DNC member, Montgomery County
- John Sweeney, AFL-CIO president, Montgomery County
- Susan Turnbull, DNC vice chairwoman, Montgomery County
Washington, D.C.
Barack Obama
- Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton
- Mayor Adrian Fenty
- Shadow Sen. Michael D. Brown
- Shadow Sen. Paul Strauss
- Councilman Harry Thomas
- Jeffrey Richardson, D.C. Democratic vice chairman
- Anna Burger, DNC member
- Larry Cohen, DNC member
- Arrington Dixon, DNC member
- James Zogby, DNC member
Hillary Clinton
- Marilyn Tyler Brown, DNC member
- Mary Eva Candon, DNC member
- Yolanda Caraway, DNC member
- Hartina Flournoy, DNC member
- Harold Ickes, DNC member
- Ben Johnson, DNC member
- Eric Kleinfeld, DNC member
- Mona Mohib, DNC member
- Minyon Moore, DNC member
- Elizabeth Smith, DNC member
Uncommitted
- Christine Warnke, DNC member
- Donna Brazile, DNC member
Virginia
Obama
- Gov. Tim Kaine
- Rep. James Moran
- C. Richard Cranwell, Virginia Democratic chairman
- Jennifer McClellan, Virginia Democratic vice chairwoman
- Rep. Robert Scott
Clinton
- Terry McAuliffe, former DNC chairman
- Barbara Easterling, DNC member
- Mame Reiley, DNC member
Uncommitted
- Sen. Jim Webb
- Jerome Wiley Segovia, DNC member
- Alexis Herman, DNC member
Democratic National Committee Rules and Bylaws panel members who have not endorsed either candidate:
- Donna Brazile (D.C.)
- Mark Brewer (Mich.)
- Ralph Dawson (N.Y.)
- Yvonne Gates ( Nev.)
- Alice Germond (D.C.)
- DNC Secretary David McDonald (Wash.)
- Jerome Wiley Segovia (Va.)
Source: 2008 Democratic Convention Watch
