Results of DNC-RBC Cmte.

The Democratic National Committee's Rules and By-laws Committee, after vigorous debate, basically voted to seat the Michigan and Florida delegations with 1/2 vote per delegate (pledged and super).

According to the findings, Clinton will gain 87 pledged delegates and Obama will gain 63 and Edwards will gain 6.5 (from Florida). If one assumes Edwards' delegates will shift to Obama based on Edwards' endorsement of Obama, Obama will gain a total of 69.5, not including the handful of super delegate from each state that have already endorsed him but had also been excluded from the total.

Before the new math on MI and FL, Obama had 1985 total delegates with 2026 needed to win. After the new math, something like 2105 delegates will be needed to win. Today's events give Obama just under 2055, meaning that he will carry the nomination by Tuesday's contest in Montana and South Dakota with an assist from Puerto Rico – even without securing another superdelegate endorsement before then.

I suspect the Obama campaign prefers to win the nomination as a result of an electoral contest rather than on a superdelegate's endorsement. So look forward to an awesome speech Tuesday night!

Interestingly the vote to seat the Michigan delegation, perhaps the most contentious challenge of the two as Obama's name wasn't on the ballot there and which was pushed by the Clinton campaign, won 19-8 with no abstentions out of 30.

The Clinton campaign sought to block the motion to seat the Michigan delegate, ironically, because it wanted to have the delegates given their full vote at the convention. But only 8 Clinton supporters voted that way, meaning that 5 Clinton endorsers sought to avoid a divisive and contentious outcome.

Only 8 members of the committee have endorsed Obama.

Another point of information: the proposal to seat the Michigan delegation with one-half vote each came from a joint proposal made by both Obama and Clinton supporters in the Michigan Democratic Party.

Despite the heated contest over the past year or so, the Michigan Democratic Party showed maturity and a strong inclination to unite around the nominee and the campaign to defeat John McCain in the fall.

But the process of the Democratic Party and heated discussions should not obscure the fact that this week, Barack Obama is going to win the nomination of the Democratic Party. It is an historic moment in our country's life, and the beginning of a new journey toward victory for the people and the working class in November.

[Update 1] Huffington Post has a similar total count with even fuzzier math, but you get the point.

It’s not race vs. gender

By Terrie Albano, People's Weekly World, www.pww.org

Everyone's talking about it. Race. Gender. Who injected what first.

Especially Bill Clinton.

And that's where gender and race inequality come together.

It isn't about gender vs. race. Black women experience both racism and sexism intertwined.

There are many commonalities to both oppressions.

But that's not what Clinton-type politics want to talk about. No they want to do anything to win.

It's about Bill Clinton using racism to be the most sexist campaigner in the country.

This white guy is defending "his" woman against a Black guy. (It must really go over well in South Carolina…can't you just hear it… appeal, appeal appeal to the Emmett-Till-was-lynched-for-whistling-at-a-white-woman and wife-is-my-property-therefore-I-must-uphold-her-honor ideas…).

It's all about Bill. He's enjoying it. He's in the limelight again. "Sure I'll sign all your autographs...I'm loving this."

That's a sure sign of male supremacy…all about you, sir.

In Iowa, when he went on the stump, he spoke about "me, me, me" so much Hillary campaigners were afraid he forgot about "she, she, she."

Yet Hillary laps it up. And shame on her for it. Thought you found your voice? But it sounds just like Bill's. Anything to win, eh. You suffered a lot with that man of yours so you feel this is owed you, huh Hillary?
Guess you won't be dumping him anytime soon like so many of us hoped you would.

But this is worse than "Monica Lewinsky." Instead of cheating on and embarrassing your wife, again, you are cheating and embarrassing the whole country. And white, Black, Latino, Asian, Native American - all races and ethnicities - are disgusted by it.

And so are women.

It's all about the issues, some may say. Well aren't racism and sexism issues? Isn't it fair game to say we need a leader that won't pander, or give a wink and a nod to, the worst of our devils? I think it is.

We want leaders that will appeal to our better angels. Ones who take the high road. Let the GOP take the low road.

Hillary must be betting that once she claws her way to the top, the pro-Democrats coalition has no where else to go. And that may be right. But if that happens, madam president, you will have a really unruly bunch to rule. And tearing up won't get you too many more votes in Congress.

Keep strong, Barack and Michelle Obama. Don't feed the beast.

Clinton's Race-Based Tactics May Backfire

By Joe Sims

I was on the road Monday night and couldn’t watch the now famous slugfest between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton. So Tuesday morning I asked a friend and an astute observer how it went. He told me, “I turned it off. Couldn’t take it.” I’m reminded of that tonight when reading about yet another Democratic Party regular taking on Bill Clinton, for his destructive and divisive role in the primaries.

CNN reported it. Here’s what they said:

“In an interview with CNN, Dick Harpootlian, a former chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party and an Obama backer, said some of Clinton's recent remarks on the campaign trail were appeals based on race and gender, meant to "suppress the vote, demoralize voters and distort the record."

Harpootlian said the remarks were "reminiscent of Lee Atwater," a hard-hitting Republican strategist who worked for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and whose tactics were reviled by many Democrats.”

Many men and women of good heart will turn off and tune out. And there the danger lies.

President Clinton response to reporter who asked about the charge was a five-minute harangue, most of which was spent hiding behind John Lewis, Andy Young and Dolores Huerta (which itself is another story). The rest of the time, Clinton was bashing the reporters for daring to ask the question.

It made me think, what is Bill’s role, now that Senator Clinton is campaigning in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and California. My suspicion is that Harpootlian has it right. To put it another way: create a colossal diversion, dominate the airways, keep Obama off focus, and turn potential voters off.

So much for the themes of unity and uplift. The Republicans strategists must be having a field day planning for the general election; the Clinton’s attack strategy proving a manual in the art of war. And who was it that thought that anyone would have difficulty running against a Black candidate and playing the race card well? The Clinton’s are proving themselves yet again past masters.

They should not however underestimate the reaction in the Black community. Many are furious, as well they should be. The Clinton’s short-term victory may be a long-term loss, if a less than enthusiastic Black electorate does not turn out to vote in November in large numbers. It could even severely damage the Democratic Party.

Meanwhile Obama is ahead in South Carolina. But they said that in New Hampshire. The numbers below were provided by the Daily Kos:

Amid stories that Clinton will refocus away from SC and look toward other states, today's Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby tracking poll released on Wednesday has Obama leading Clinton 43 percent to 25 (Edwards is at 15), pretty much matching every other recent poll including today's PPP automated poll (Obama 44, Clinton 28, Edwards 15).

Of note from Zogby:

More than half of the Democratic primary voters in South Carolina are expected to be black. Obama, an Illinois senator who would be the first black U.S. president, leads among African-Americans by 65 percent to 16 percent...

[Zogby] said the race in South Carolina still showed some fluidity. About 14 percent of voters in the state are undecided, and about 20 percent of voters backing a candidate say they could still change their mind.

Only one night of polling was done post-debate.

Bill Clinton's Race-Based Campaigning

By Joe Sims
Bill Clinton is coming under increasing attack from leading Democrats as he campaigns in South Carolina for Senator Hillary Clinton’s bid for the nomination. The New York senator is campaigning in California having all but abandoned South Carolina to Barack Obama.

The former president hatchet-like remarks have riled up Senator Edward Kennedy, former Senate leader Tom Daschle and Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina, head of the Congressional Black Caucus, the latter of whom last week sharply criticized the Clintons for their conduct in New Hampshire and now advises him to "chill a bit and "tone it down."

According to Newsweek, Kennedy angrily gave Clinton an earful saying he was partly responsible for "injecting race into the campaign." Newsweek says, the Clinton camp is fearful that Kennedy, formerly neutral, is leaning now toward Obama. Even Clinton insiders are worried, but it’s no-holds-barred campaigning: "This is excruciating," says a member of the Clintons' circle, who asked for anonymity. "But the stakes couldn't be higher. It's worth it to tarnish himself a bit now to win the presidency."

This is classic Clintonism. The ex-president repeatedly used racism in his for the White House, as borne out by the Sista Soulja episode at the Rainbow Coalition and his personal supervision of the execution of a mentally retarded prisoner in Arkansas.

Tom Daschle also ripped Mr. Clinton. Today’s New York Times reports:

Tom Daschle of South Dakota, former Senate majority leader, denounced Mr. Clinton’s conduct as "not keeping with the image of a former president." In a conference call with reporters arranged by the Obama campaign, Mr. Daschle compared the onslaught of criticism to Republican attacks leveled at him in 2004, when he lost his seat.

"This is the same kind of tactic that Washington uses quite frequently," Mr. Daschle said, adding: "I think it destroys the party. Ultimately it’s going to divide us, and it’s going to have a lasting effect down the road if it doesn’t stop soon."

The Times also reports that Bill Clinton’s role is not accidental:

"Advisers to Mr. Clinton said that some of his criticism of Mr. Obama had been choreographed with campaign advisers and that some had been spontaneous.

His attack on Mr. Obama for declaring that he had maintained more steadfast opposition to the war than had Mrs. Clinton — an assertion the former president referred to as a "fairy tale" — was discussed in advance within the campaign as a way to sharpen public and media focus on Mr. Obama’s record, advisers said. (It is unclear whether the term "fairy tale" was Mr. Clinton’s idea or was fed to him.)"

The sharpness of Clinton’s attacks along with the use of coded language clearly has racist overtones. African American, Latino, Asian and white voters are sure to draw the right conclusions.