Five more fights await U.S. Democratic presidential candidates

Source: Xinhua | 05-31-2008 15:41

WASHINGTON, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Ahead of the final three primaries in June, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are facing a high stakes contest Saturday as a Democratic party panel decides whether to reseat the Florida and Michigan delegates.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC)'s rules and bylaws panel is set to begin a day-long meeting in Washington Hotel at 9:30 a.m.

It was dubbed "Decision Day" as it was seen as pivotal not only to the two states, but to the party's presidential nomination race that has lasted for almost five months.

On its website, the DNC has warned against any banners, signs, handouts or noisemakers, but supporters of seating Florida and Michigan delegates are still planning to stage rallies outside the hotel.

Longtime dispute

A total of 368 delegates should have been yielded from the two populous states, but they were overridden, as the state Democratic parties violated the DNC's rules by moving forward their primary dates ahead of Super Tuesday on Feb. 5.

Although the decision was made at the end of last year without opposition from any presidential candidate, Clinton, as an exception, was actively involved in the two primaries.

In Michigan, Clinton was the name on the voting ballot, while other rivals removed their names to show their agreement with the DNC's decision. In Florida, no candidates were allowed to campaign in the state, while the New York senator appeared at a "thank-you" party after its primary.

Since she won Michigan with 55 percent of the votes and beat Obama in Florida with 50 percent to 33 percent, Clinton and her campaign have pushed for reseating full delegates of the two states at the national convention in Denver, Colorado, in late August.

However, the DNC and the two state parties failed to reach an agreement on redoing primaries and other options.

In view of the slim chance that Clinton can overtake Obama before the primary season ends, her supporters and the two states' Democratic parties have launched the second round of efforts to make their votes counted.

Obama's campaign, on the other hand, found themselves caught in the dilemma between maintaining their upper hand and appeasing voters of the two states that are key to the November general elections, and said they are willing to cede some delegates to Clinton, but not all of them.

Indecisive "decision day"

Clinton's hope on "Decision Day" was diminished as DNC lawyers ruled Wednesday that Florida and Michigan must forfeit at least half of their delegates, 187, as punishment for their violation of the party's rules.

Some analysts even considered the DNC's decision on "Decision Day" as not decisive to the presidential nomination race since Obama has 1,981 delegates, only 45 short of the 2,026 needed to secure his nomination. Clinton is lagging behind with 1,782 delegates, according to CNN's statistics.

Mathematically, no matter how large a share Clinton gets from the 187 delegates, she can hardly change her current situation as the No. 2 candidate.

But some other analysts said that if Saturday's ruling is favorable to Clinton, it would help reduce Obama's delegate advantage and bolster her argument to uncommitted super delegates taken by the party's elected officials and senior members that she, winning a majority of popular votes, should be in a better position to win in November.

Post-primary season fight

The Democratic nominating battle has only three primaries left, in Puerto Rico Sunday and in Montana and South Dakota Tuesday, which Obama's campaign already sees as their victory day.

It is still uncertain if Clinton will concede after Obama collects 2,026 delegates since she also counts on her lead in the number of popular votes.

So far, Clinton has won 47.9 percent of popular votes including those in Florida and Michigan, compared with Obama's 47.4 percent.

Some Democrats fear if the popular vote match-up really weighs on race, the infighting will drag on, attenuating the party's power to meet the challenge from the Republican rival, John McCain, in November.

Editor:Xiong Qu