It's hard to overstate the cynicism of Clinton's effort to equate the DNC's decision to strip Michigan and Florida of their delegates to the Florida recount, Zimbabwe's brutal "elections," the fight for women's suffrage, and the civil rights movement. Josh Marshall makes a valiant effort, but doesn't, I fear, go quite far enough.. The facts of the DNC's decision to strip Michigan and Florida of their delegates are clear. The Clinton campaign not only abided by the ruling, but supported it, and even helped decide it. In 2004, Terry McAulliffe, the chairman of Hillary Clinton's campaign, stared down Michigan's attempt to move up their primary by threatening to deny them their delegates. He bragged about the managerial steel this displayed in his memoirs. In this cycle, Harold Ickes, Hillary Clinton's adviser, was part of the DNC Committee that voted to strip Florida and Michigan of their delegates. And he sided with the majority. "This committee feels very strongly that the rules ought to be enforced," he said. So did 11 other Clinton supporters on the 30-person committee. Clinton's campaign could have, at that point, condemned the DNC's high-handed affront to democracy. But they did the opposite, releasing a statement by campaign manager Patty Solis Doyle that said, "We believe Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina play a unique and special role in the nominating process. And we believe the DNC’s rules and its calendar provide the necessary structure to respect and honor that role. Thus, we will be signing the pledge to adhere to the DNC approved nominating calendar."
