Some points from this week's "This Week W/ George Stephanopoulos."
- Howard Dean Interview about Florida (all info from Dean unless otherwise specified)
- The losing side needs to feel like they've been treated fairly so that Democrats are not left divided in the face of Republican opposition
- Waiting for proposals from the states
- Two proposals being discussed
- Mail-in ballot
- $5 million
- Pretty much everyone agrees taxpayers will not pay for this
- Nelson specifically working on this plan
- Split delegates 50/50
- George reports Clinton favors contest, Obama favors split, but Dean will not confirm.
- State laws do not apply to Democratic caucuses and primaries, only the rules that the state parties agreed to a year and a half ago
- Must be completed by June 10, according to Democratic rules
- Democrats won back Hastert's seat in Illinois yesterday, which Dean takes as a big sign that the nation is ready for change
- Doesn't want to talk about possibility of brokered convention until the voters have finished having their say; claims the voters will decide this and there won't be a tie.
- Negotiated settlement will not be necessary.
- Dean says he would prefer that the MI and FL delegates will be reseated, but no preference on how they do it as long as it is within the rules.
- After July 1st, control of the convention shifts from teh DNC to the person who has the most delegates (the nominee). Dean is anxious to avoid a fight happening at that time.
- Senator Levin on Michigan (all info from Levin unless otherwise specified)
- Seems to say there is no practical and fair way to hold a new election
- Discussing possibility of a mail-in caucus, but it is problematic for security and other reasons
- Looking for practical, secure, fair and affordable solution
- No indication they have any plan at this point, seems reluctant to commit to saying anything decisive
- He says Obama campaign has said it will abide by the DNC's decision if a contest method is found
- Says Michigan didn't follow the rules because New Hampshire jumped ahead
- Governor has rejected paying for new contest, Levin thinks they could raise the money if it cost a couple of million.
- Levin calls the potential of not seating the delegates "unthinkable." But he leaves open the possibility of a bloody convention battle, including bringing the previous vote to the floor. He does not offer a plan that satisfies his criteria above and makes me wonder if they're even converging on a plan to deal with the problem.
- Governor Crist (Republican) on Florida
- Would administer a mail in vote BUT
- "The preference" is to seat the delegates that have already been selected
- George says Clinton would prefer that, but it looks unlikely
- Crist is pushing hard to use the existing vote
- Crist has put forward a proposal in which the state administers new election, funded privately
- It will probably take an act of the state legislature, because of FL constitution
- He thinks that the state is in charge of elections, not parties
- Even with this proposal, his heart isn't in it, he wants to shove the existing vote back at the DNC.
- Crist for McCain's VP?
- Replies with a campaign commercial for McCain.
I won't summarize the roundtable, but I'll throw out some points I heard. George Will (Will), Sam Donaldson (Sam), Cokie Roberts (Roberts), George Stephanopoulos (GS)
- Will: Clinton has chosen to make Obama implausible and unwinnable as president, to McCain's advantage
- Sam: Obama needs to effectively answer the 3AM ad.
- Will: "Negative campaigning" is a redundancy. Why the squeamishness?
- Sam: He should counter the ad, not have people whine about it
- GS: Obama in a bind. If he counterattacks he's not the new politics. If he doesn't answer it he seems weak.
- Will: WTF is "new politics?" -- doesn't exist.
- Roberts: Can Obama work with people like Ted Stevens? How far will new politics take you?
- Roberts: No choice but for Powers to resign. But the voters don't care.
- Sam: This has not been a very negative campaign at all compared to the past
- Sam: Obama is right to call for tax returns -- Ken Starr reference is ridiculous
- GS: Is it smart for Clinton to bring up Ken Starr?
- Roberts: We saw a resurgence of women saying "hold on" this week, explaining Clinton's bump
- Will: Obama can't close the deal
- Roberts: Clinton's big win resulted in minor increase in delegates therefore the system is nuts.
- Will: Delegates vs. Popular vote? The superdelegates will go with Clinton based on all her large state wins -- this is the argument she will make
- GS: Clinton has shifted from seating the existing FL and MI vote results to new contests because she thinks she can build on big state wins
- Sam: Soft money can pay for new contests
- Roberts: "Dream Ticket" talk is cynical maneuvering from Clintons
- Sam: Disagrees, "Dream ticket" really works
- GS: Loser will look like a sore loser if they don't run together
- GS: Isn't it a super energizer for turnout?
- Roberts: You can't ignore the minuses of the "Dream ticket" -- McCain is not that weak
- GS: Net gains for first black and first female president. Much larger negative for first 70 year old president.
- Roberts: McCain's VP becomes very important
You can watch/listen here.
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