Via Ben Smith
Disclaimer: I'm a big Obama supporter. Check my comment and diary history for proof. Not looking to incite a flame war against Hillary, just a conversation starter considering last night's debate.
Here's the quote:
CLINTON: I think it’s important for the DNC to ask itself, Is this really in the best interest of our eventual nominee? We do not want to be disenfranchising Michigan and Florida. We have to try to carry both of those states. I’d love to carry Texas, but it’s usually not in the electoral calculation for the Democratic nominee. Florida and Michigan are. Therefore, the people of those two states disregarded adamantly the DNC’s decision that they would not seat the delegates. They came out and voted. If they had been influenced by the DNC, despite the fact that there was very little campaigning, if any, they would have stayed home. But they wanted their voices heard. More than 2 million people came out. I mean, it was record turnout for a primary. Florida, in particular, is sensitive to being disenfranchised because of what happened to them in the last elections. I have said that I would ask my delegates to vote to seat.
Q: So your intention is to press this issue?
CLINTON: Yes, it is. Yes, it is. It’s in large measure because both the voters and elected officials in Michigan and Florida feel so strongly about this. Senator Bill Nelson, of Florida, early on in the process actually sued because he thinks it’s absurd on its face that 1.7 million Democrats who eventually voted would basically be disregarded, and I agree with him about that.
In order to understand my reasoning, we have to look at this through the prism of last night's debate. Hillary knows she is very unlikely to win the nomination and you could see this for a number of reasons:
- Her unwillingness to directly attack Obama (with the exception of that canned Xerox line)
- Her unwillingness to say Obama was not ready to be CinC when asked
- Her conciliatory nature at the close of the debate
Seen through this prism: "Hillary is going to do what's best for the party instead of herself" it doesn't seem like she's trying to steal the nomination, but instead to fight disenfranchisement. We need to contest Florida in particular, and knowing that she will concede the nomination to Obama (most likely on March 5th) changes the whole tone of this argument. As an ardent Obama supporter the argument sounds different and seems right to me.
Thoughts?