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Is Obama Counting on Counting Michigan or Florida, or Not?

Posted on: Wednesday, 28 May 2008, 15:00 CDT

WASHINGTON -- So is Barack Obama counting on counting Michigan or Florida, or not?

Recently, the news releases coming out from the Democratic frontrunner's presidential campaign have showed him closing in on the number of delegates -- 2,026 -- needed to secure the nomination.

Or at least that's the number needed if you don't count Michigan and Florida.

For the record, Obama has said Michigan and Florida need to be seated at the Democratic convention in August and that both are battlground states he hopes to carry if he is the party's nominee. But for now, the states' delegations aren't seated -- meaning the number of delegates needed to nominate is 2,026, not the 2,210 needed if both states got their full delegations back.

The Democratic Party's Rules and Bylaws Committee meets this weekend to discuss proposals for seating those delegations. While it's widely known that rival Hillary Clinton is demanding both states have their full delegations seated in proporitions decided by their disallowed primaries -- both of which she won -- it is less clear what position Obama's campaign will take.

So far, besides saying the states' delegations need to be seated in some fashion, the Obama campaign has only argued that using Michigan's Jan. 15 primary as a way to divvy up delegates won't do -- because his name wasn't on the ballot and neither he nor Clinton campaigned in the state.

If the Michigan and Florida delegations don't get seated this week, the battle is expected to continue, even if Obama gets enough delegate support to be the nominee. Clinton has said she will fight all the way to the convention floor in Denver to have the states' delegations seated.

For now, Obama remains 48 delegates away from the nomination, picking up the endorsement of Wyoming Democratic Party Vice Chair Nancy Drummond -- a super delegate -- on Tuesday.

Source: Detroit Free Press

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