May 31, 2008 8:24 PM
A bruising event on the way to the White House
It was a critical -- perhaps historic -- game of inside baseball Saturday at the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting in Washington, D.C.
Click HERE for the full-story from www.RockyMountainNews.com.
The results -- restoring Florida and Michigan's delegations to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, but with 50 percent voting rights -- was billed as a compromise. It gave Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton a net gain of 24 delegate votes over Sen. Barack Obama, still leaving him on the verge of clinching the presidential nomination.
But the emotional festivities ended with a lot of anger for many Clinton supporters who wanted the full delegations restored -- with a much bigger net gain for their candidate. As the event drew to a close, they jeered, heckled and hollered "Denver! Denver! Denver!" and threatened to take their protests all the way to the Pepsi Center in August.
Will that happen? If Obama reaches the (new) magic number of 2,118 delegates shortly after this week's final primaries in South Dakota and Montana, how far will Clinton push the fight?
We raise the questions, but can't yet answer all of them, HERE.
In the meantime, check out some of the sights from the cheap seats at an event that's likely to be mentioned in political science text books years from now.
Debra Foster, 63, a school teacher from Long Island, N.Y., said she was bruised by the grip of a security guard who yanked her out of the hotel ballroom as she was jeering the committee's decision by shouting "Denver! Denver! Denver!"
"I was chanting, 'Denver!' because that is the next place" for a massive protest in August, she said. "We'll be chanting: 'Madam President, or else!'"
"I've been voting Democratic for 40 years, and I end up with a bruise and a really sad heart, that I don't recognize my party anymore," Foster said, crying.
Rules and Bylaws Committee co-chairs Jim Roosevelt and Alexis Herman face the press and defend the decisions on Michigan and Florida, saying it gives both states a chance to participate in the historic election and gives the Clinton and Obama campaigns clarity, putting Democrats back on track for party unity.
And yet, the last protesters standing in the darkness outside the hotel, are not yet convinced.
All photos by M.E. Sprengelmeyer.
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