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Bayh: Superdelegates should wait for Fla., Mich. |
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By Sam Youngman
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Posted: 04/02/08 12:15 PM [ET] |
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Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), a high-profile supporter of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), said Wednesday that the controversy regarding the seating of Michigan’s and Florida’s delegates remains the “biggest impediment” to Democratic leaders’ pleas that superdelegates make their nomination preference known by July. Bayh, speaking to reporters after a breakfast, argued that, if no solution is found for the Michigan-Florida dilemma, then superdelegates would not have all of the information they need to make a decision between Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.). Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), has said in recent days that he wants those superdelegates who remain undecided to make their preference known before July in hopes of avoiding a bitter summer and a divided convention. But Bayh said the more than 300 undecided superdelegates will not be in a position to make a sound decision — using the winner of the overall popular vote as a factor — if the two states “are still in limbo.” Dean met with Florida’s Democratic Party leaders Wednesday morning, and he said the DNC is committed to seating the Sunshine State’s delegates, according to The Associated Press. Both Michigan and Florida were punished by the DNC for moving their primaries ahead of the committee-approved date. As a penalty, both states were stripped of all their convention delegates. The Democratic candidates did not campaign in the states and Obama was not on the ballot in Michigan. The former first lady won both contests and, since then, has argued vehemently that the delegates should be seated or the states should re-vote. Obama’s campaign has said that a fair method of seating the delegates needs to be found. |
