Democrats consider Fla., Mich. delegate plans
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"In life you don't get everything you want. I want it all," Florida state Sen. Arthenia Joyner said with a smile.
But moments later, Obama's campaign called for half-votes for each of the 211. Rep. Robert Wexler of Florida said that marked an "extraordinary concession, in order to promote reconciliation with Florida's voters."
Obama supporters cheered loudly when he spoke, but there were boos from some in the audience who back Clinton.
The challenge is to "come together at the end of the day and be united," Howard Dean, the party chairman, told members of the committee gathered at a hotel across town from the White House.
Obama is a mere 42 delegates short of the 2,026 needed to clinch the nomination, in the Associated Press tally, and appears on track to wrap up the party prize in the coming days. He intends to signal the beginning of his general election campaign next Tuesday by holding a rally in the arena in St. Paul, Minn., where Republicans are staging their convention this summer.
Clinton, who picked up the support of a Louisiana super delegate during the day, trails her rival by about 200 overall. She has pressed to have the entire Michigan and Florida delegations seated, both to narrow the gap and to buttress her debatable claim that she has outpolled her rival in the popular vote in the primaries and caucuses.
If anything, the Michigan case was more complicated than the one in Florida. Obama's name was not on the primary ballot. Clinton prevailed over "uncommitted" and Obama's allies claim the large majority of those votes were cast by his supporters.
Mark Brewer, the state party chairman, urged the panel to award Clinton 69 delegates and Obama 59 — an allocation that neither candidate has endorsed publicly
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080531/ap_ ... y_scramble
