Hillary Clinton is keeping open the possibility of taking her fight to the Democratic Convention. Here’s the title for Brendan Farrington’s article:

Clinton may take delegate fight to convention

I’ll bet that that headline is giving Howard Dean and Barack Obama their worst cases of heartburn in years. Here’s the portion of Mr. Harrington’s article that’s giving Mssrs. Dean and Obama their heartburn:

Clinton, too, was in Florida, pressing to narrow her gap with Obama by having delegates counted from its renegade January primary.

Democratic rule-makers meet May 31 to decide whether to count delegates from Florida and Michigan; the states were striped of their delegates as punishment for holding early primaries in violation of party rules. Clinton won both states, but Obama had his name kept off the Michigan ballot and neither candidate campaigned in those states.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Clinton said she is willing to take her fight to seat Florida and Michigan delegates to the convention if the two states want to go that far. Asked whether she would support the states if they appeal an unfavorable rules committee decision to the convention floor, the former first lady replied:

“Yes I will. I will, because I feel very strongly about this.” “I will consult with Floridians and the voters in Michigan because it’s really their voices that are being ignored and their votes that are being discounted, and I’ll support whatever the elected officials and the voters in those two states want to do.”

Taking her battle to the convention would fly in the face of an increasing number of party leaders who say the contest needs to be wrapped up shortly after the last primary on June 3 to prepare adequately for the fall election.

Don’t think that Republicans wouldn’t point out the Democrats’ hypocrisy if Democrats don’t seat Florida’s delegation. Think of how their actions today would contrast with their “Count every vote” mantra of November, 2000. Frankly, I’d highlight that fact that Sen. Obama is running as a change agent who’s talked about moving the discourse beyond partisan politics.

I don’t think it’d play well with independants if Sen. Obama doesn’t work to seat those delegates. Surely people would demand that a ‘postpartisan savior’ do everything possible to prevent the disenfranchisement of Florida’s Democrats.

Sen. Obama has other reasons to be worried. Even without seating Florida’s delegation, Florida will be a difficult state for him:

The Illinois senator confidently detoured Wednesday from the three remaining Democratic primary states, Puerto Rico, Montana, South Dakota, to campaign in Florida, a crucial state in the November general election. He also kept his focus on McCain, the Republicans’ certain nominee in the fall.

I’ve talked with several GOP activists in the state, one who lives in the panhandle, the other living in south Florida. Both contacts told me that Jewish voters are very skittish because of his willingness to meet with Ahmadinejad. Cuban Hispanics aren’t thrilled with him either, mostly because he’s said that he’d meet with Castro.

South Florida has a sizeable population of ex-New Yorkers who’ve retired in Florida to escape their high taxes. These New Yorkers still care about national security, which isn’t Sen. Obama’s strength. Sen. Obama’s inexperience will be exploited by the McCain campaign, too. Hillary couldn’t win the ‘inexperienced argument’ because she wasn’t significantly more experienced than Sen. Obama. Sen. McCain, however, will win that argument because he’s dealt with lots of national security issues over a couple of decades.

UPDATE: I just was researching a couple things and found this NY Times article that ties into my post perfectly. Check this out:

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — At the Aberdeen Golf and Country Club on Sunday, the fountains were burbling, the man-made lakes were shining, and Shirley Weitz and Ruth Grossman were debating why Jews in this gated neighborhood of airy retirement homes feel so much trepidation about Senator Barack Obama.

“The people here, liberal people, will not vote for Obama because of his attitude towards Israel,” Ms. Weitz, 83, said, lingering over brunch. “They’re going to vote for McCain,” she said.

Jeremiah Wright still plays a big part in Jewish voters’ trepidation about Sen. Obama:

American Jews hold two competing views of Mr. Obama, said Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington. First, there is Obama the scholar, the social justice advocate, the defender of Israel with a close feel for Jewish concerns garnered through decades of intimate friendships. In this version, Mr. Obama’s race is an asset, Rabbi Saperstein said.

The second version is defined by the controversy over his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., worries about Mr. Obama’s past associations and questions about his support for Israel and his patriotism. “It’s too early to know how they will play out,” Rabbi Saperstein said.

Sen Obama will be held hostage by Jeremiah Wright until Election Day. If he pops his head out right before the election, he might well sink Obama’s chances of winning Florida.

Clinton pressed this issue publicly at an appearance in Boca Raton in Palm Beach County, a key site in the battle between George W. Bush and Al Gore over the Florida presidential vote recount in 2000 that was decided in the Supreme Court.

Floridians “learned the hard way what happens when your votes aren’t counted and the candidate with fewer votes is declared the winner,” she told supporters. “The lesson of 2000 here in Florida is crystal clear: If any votes aren’t counted, the will of the people isn’t realized and our democracy is diminished.” “The people who voted did nothing wrong and it would be wrong to punish you,” she added.

Even if Hillary doesn’t push the issue, this is still a potential thorn in Sen. Obama’s side. If he doesn’t fight hard to seat that delegation, how will he have any credibility when he tells Floridians that he’ll fight for them? People will correctly ask why they should trust him.

If people don’t trust you, you’re going nowhere fast.

Technorati Tags: Obama, Hillary, Florida, Bush v. Gore, Democratic Convention, Jewish Voters, Hispanics, Voter Disenfranchisement, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

1. I guess if you look hard enough, you can find a ‘pro-Clinton’ slant pretty much anywhere. What seems to be forgotten by most Clinton types is that Obama has the lead in pledged delegates, super delegates and the ultra-meaningless “popular vote”. Whatever delusional world you wish to live in is fine, but this nonsensical fight that clinton keeps waging only inches McCain that much closer to the White House. Which is a bad thing, unless you like open-ended, economy crippling foreign wars.

   Comment by Sam Wainwright — May 22, 2008 @ 9:15 am