Barack Obama needs 10 more delegates to hit the magic number for the nomination!

AND, Maxine Waters switched her endorsement from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama. Thank you, Maxine. This Californian appreciates the gesture toward party unity.

Chicago, IL – Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) endorsed Barack Obama for President. Waters switched her endorsement from Clinton to Obama citing his ability to unite the country and leadership on issues such as the housing crisis and war in Iraq.

Throughout this primary election, I have witnessed two extraordinary candidates champion the concerns that matter most to the American people. As an outspoken advocate on issues critical to women and children, I have great admiration for Senator Clinton and know first-hand her commitment to our country.

However, our nation is at crossroads. Now is the time for us to unite so that real change is possible in November. Today, I am endorsing Senator Barack Obama because I firmly believe that he embodies the judgment and conviction necessary to bring about change that will make a difference in the lives of all Americans.

On issue after issue, from ending the disastrous war in Iraq, to addressing the housing crisis to making healthcare affordable for every working family, Barack Obama offers bold leadership that will put our nation back on the right path after the eight years of failed policies of George W. Bush.

That is the choice we face in November, and that is why I am supporting Barack Obama for President.

The answer to your question about fighting over 4 delegates is this: It wasn’t just 4 delegates. It was an effort to claim the MI popular vote as all yours, with none to Obama. It was counter-Clinton spin.

But you knew that.

This is a shout-out to all Clinton supporters, particularly those who understand the issues around seating the Florida and Michigan delegates. I sincerely need you to educate me.

I found thistonight, via Daily Kos:

It was a localized version of the Michigan/Florida debate in Grand Prairie today and once again, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama supporters were at odds.

Local Clinton supporters advocated Thursday for unseating ALL of the Democratic delegates from Collin County because their senate district conventions were held on the wrong day.

Officials with the Collin County Democratic Party said they chose to hold the convention a day late because there wasn’t a large enough venue in the county available for the scheduled date of Saturday, March 29. Party officials warned at the time that the eligibility of their delegation may be challenged.

Collin County is MOMocrat Jenn’s territory. There was a lot of confusion leading up to that convention because they changed the day. Unfortunately, there was no choice. Faced with an unprecedented number of supporters, the choice of venue was limited, and accessible facilities were nowhere to be found on the actual scheduled day of the convention, forcing a reschedule to the following day in order to secure accessible facilities. The change was reported widely in local papers,it was posted on the Texas Democratic party website, and calls were made. There was an extensive discussion on Twitter about it with JavaJenn and other Texas delegates because of the concern that a challenge would be made or that it was an effort to confuse delegates so they wouldn’t show up on the correct day, but all concerns were laid to rest when it was made clear on the official state Democratic Party website that the change in venue was necessary in order to prevent any delegates from being unable to participate and/or attend because of the need for accessible facilities.

The convention lasted until the wee hours of the following morning because Clinton supporters challenged the credentials of every single delegate on the spot, and results were not reported out until well into the next day.

And now, THIS?

Clinton supporters, I am fighting to suppress my snark here. On the one hand, you have Senator Clinton out there fighting for “all votes to be counted”, while there’s a simultaneous effort to smack down voters in another state who didn’t vote for her? And worse yet, that challenge was brought by someone who wasn’t a resident of Collin County! Fortunately that small detail caused the challenge to be denied.

Seriously. Can any Clinton supporter tell me why they would be trying to disenfranchise Texas voters for voting on the wrong day at the very same time that they are fighting against voter disenfranchisement in Florida and Michigan for voting on the wrong day? Can anyone who supports Senator Clinton explain how this reconciles into “all votes must be counted”? Here is a statement by one of her supporters, Vijay Pothukanuri:

“If you follow rules it clearly states Collin county’s in violation of [electing their delegates on the wrong day]. we want to be sure to participate. We don’t want to disenfranchise any voters but at same time we want to make sure those who followed rules, both parties, on either side want them treated properly.”

Could I word this statement a bit differently and get the same result?

“If you follow rules it clearly states Michigan and Florida are in violation of [holding their election on the wrong day]. We don’t want to disenfranchise any voters, but at the same time we want to make sure those who followed rules, both parties, on either side, want them treated properly.“

I am truly at a loss on this. For now, I’m withholding judgment and hope that someone can help me understand how to reconcile what is happening in Texas with the Michigan/Florida dispute. My comments are open. Can someone from WomenCount PAC take a break from planning their Saturday Washington DC rallies intended to call attention to the possibility of voter disenfranchisement please help me understand this?

I do not want to assume that the motive here is winning by:

• disenfranchising voters in lost caucuses
• …While enfranchising voters in won primary states, including one…
• …where over 40% of the voters voted against Senator Clinton
• …but will be disenfranchised under the Clinton campaign proposal to…
• …fully seat delegates, and then…
• …claim popular vote victory by disenfranchising that 40% minority

I don’t want to assume that, so please help me understand. Because this issue really IS bigger than who gets the nomination. In the spirit of Senator Clinton, I remind that the issue raises the spectre of the 2000 election, the civil rights movement, women’s suffrage, and every principle that we, as Democrats, hold at the core of our beliefs.

Seat the delegations, but move them to the end of the roll call to prevent any last-minute machinations on the convention floor.

I’m more or less convinced that if Clinton doesn’t get her way with the rules committee on Sunday, she’ll will take the battle to the convention, and the meeting of the Credentials committee. So seat them so she doesn’t get to resurrect the “your vote doesn’t count” argument for three months, but change the roll call order to bring their vote in after all of the other states who didn’t break the rules.

Required reading. After researching the issue myself and getting ready to write about it for one last time, I found this post by poblano on Daily Kos, which has so excellently set out all of the arguments for how the Michigan and Florida delegates could (and should) be seated, that I abandoned mine and encourage you to read this one, start to finish.

Rules Committee, are you listening? Because this is the right way to do it.

To: Mainstream Media Outlets, including the NY Times, Washington Post, Cable Networks and Broadcast News

From: An Informed Democrat

Re: Your addiction to misinformation, horseracing, and misplaced hope

Please be advised that this metric is worthless.

There is only ONE METRIC that matters when it comes to the nomination for the Democratic Party.

Read this carefully. The only metric for measurement is this: DELEGATES.

Let me repeat this one more time: It’s delegates. Delegates. DELEGATES.

Not popular vote. NOT. POPULAR. VOTE.

Got it? Good. Then quit writing articles that make that metric seem legit, when it is not. Quit trying to make it seem like the nomination is being ripped away unfairly from Hillary Clinton. Because it’s not. It’s about winning delegates in every state, not just the ‘big states’. If you need some brushing-up on the rules, the DNC has graciously laid it out in a format that high-school students everywhere understand and could articulate better than you hacks. Try taking a course in Convention 101.

Thankyouverymuch.