The Two Faces of Harold Ickes

"Yes to Florida and Michigan" "No to Florida and Michigan"



For years now, Harold Ickes has been regarded as one of the more unlikeable members of the Clinton entourage. It is people like Ickes, John Podesta and Sid Blumenthal that represent everything that is dispicable about the Clinton camp. If Bill and Hillary Clinton will stop at nothing to achieve political power and hold onto it, it is folks like Ickes who are their instruments. Now, in the past 24 hours, Mr Ickes has demonstrated the hypocricy that is the entire Clinton machine.

Ickes, aside from being a long-standing Clinton operative, is also a member of the DNC. As a member of that body, Ickes voted with the DNC to strip the states of Florida and Michigan of their delegates after these two states moved their primaries up-in contravention of party rules.

Of course, that was all before Hillary "won" those two states' primaries. (In the case of Michigan, she ran basically unopposed since Obama had taken his name off the ballot, yet still gained over 40% of the vote as "uncommitted".) Once Hillary "won" Florida, she announced that she would do all in her power to get those delegates seated.

So now, with Obama having gained the lead in voter delegates, the Clinton camp is lobbying hard to have the DNC reverse its previous ruling and seat those delegates. Even a court challenge may be in the offing. If successful, that would put Hillary back into the delegate lead. At this point, the DNC is standing firm. Nancy Pelosi has announced her opposition to reversing the decision.

And guess who has now come out for reversing the decision and awarding those delegates to Mrs Clinton? Why Harold Ickes, of course, notwithstanding the fact that as a member of the DNC, he voted to strip the two states of their delegates for violating the rules. Of course, Mr Ickes, when asked, insisted that there is absolutely no contradiction in his position(s). Of course not.

Wouldn't it be interesting if the primary season ends with Obama in the lead, only to have the DNC reverse their earlier ruling, hand the Florida and Michigan delegates to Hillary and then give her even more with superdelegate votes-thus pushing her past Obama and handing her the nomination?

I have no window into the thinking of Democrats, but I have to believe that they would not dare do such a thing lest they completely alienate half of their party's primary voters, not to mention the African-Americans who voted for Obama. Already, some of the superdelegates are re-thinking their support for Clinton. Of course, it is argued that the Clintons have their tentacles deep into the Democratic party and the DNC, so I would not underestimate what they could do. I am sure that the Clintons and their henchmen like Ickes know where a lot of bodies are buried among the superdelegates.