US Democrats compromise on Florida, Michigan

JUST A CONCESSION: Though Florida and Michigan delegates can vote, their voting powers will be halved.

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Keywords: Hillary Clinton, US Presidential Elections

Washington: The Democratic Party backed a compromise to seat the disputed Michigan and Florida delegations at reduced strength on Saturday, sparking anger from Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and threats to press the issue at the August nominating convention.

At a raucous meeting of the party's rules committee, frequently interrupted by cheers and jeers from Hillary's backers, the panel agreed to seat the delegations from both states but cut their voting power in half.

The decision was a victory for front-runner Barack Obama, removing one of the last stumbling blocks on his march to the party's presidential nomination. The vote moved the magic number to clinch the nomination to 2,118 delegates, leaving Obama about 70 short as he heads into Tuesday, when Montana and South Dakota hold the last votes in the lengthy Democratic presidential nominating fight.

The Illinois senator said he supported the resolution to the dispute, which had threatened to damage his chances in both states in November's presidential election against Republican John McCain.

"Our main goal is to get this resolved so we can immediately turn the focus of the entire party on winning Florida and Michigan," Obama told reporters while campaigning in South Dakota. "I recognize that there were compromises on all sides in resolving this issue."

Hillary did not respond as happily. Campaign officials said they reserved the right to appeal the decision to the party's credentials committee and carry the fight to the convention in Denver. "Denver, Denver!" chanted Hillary-supporters after the vote. Many Hillary-backers stood and shouted at the panel as they tried to conclude the votes, making it hard for them to continue.

The committee rejected a Hillary-backed proposal to seat all the Florida delegates at full strength on a 15-12 vote, then backed compromises seating both the Michigan and Florida delegations while cutting their voting power.

The moves gave Hillary a net gain of 24 delegates, but still left her far behind Obama. Her supporters were particularly angry about the decision to award Obama delegates in Michigan, where he did not even appear on the ballot.

"I am stunned that we have the gall and chutzpah to substitute our judgment for 600,000 voters," said Hillary adviser Harold Ickes, a member of the rules committee.

The panel backed a proposal by the state party to award Obama most of the delegates for those who voted for an "uncommitted" slot on the ballot.

"We reserve the right to challenge this decision before the Credentials Committee and appeal for a fair allocation of Michigan's delegates that actually reflect the votes as they were cast," Ickes and Tina Flournoy, another Hillary-backer and rules committee members, said in a joint statement. Ickes said the deal "is not a good way to start down the path of party unity."

At issue was a rules committee decision last year to strip the two states of their delegates because they held nominating contests, both won by Hillary, earlier than party rules allowed. Hillary signed a pledge along with the other candidates not to campaign in either state and Obama took his name off the Michigan ballot.