Amazingly, a decision actually got made yesterday. All of the delegates from Michigan and Florida primaries will be seated - but they will only get half a vote each. This is the compromise intended to give those states a voice at the convention whilst still punishing them for being bad, bad states. Clinton nets 24 extra (full) delegates out of this arrangement.
Her team and supporters are not happy. Clinton's gritty, battle-scarred consigliere Harold Ickes said the decision 'violates the bedrock principles of our party and our democracy' and that they reserve the right to challenge it. He also described the Michigan decision as a 'hijack', a word freighted with the anger over Bush-Gore 2000. Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe said his team, by contrast, were 'extremely gratified' by the decision (wouldn't it have been smarter to at least have pretended to be a little disappointed?).
We'll see over the next few days what the true level of outrage amongst Clinton supporters is about this decision. There was a 'McCain, McCain, McCain' chant in the hall at one point yesterday. If much of that anger continues to roll on through the week and beyond then the Obama team will have to think seriously about how they address it. Might they, for instance, appoint a key Clinton supporter to the ticket or even, horror of horrors, Clinton herself?
Unless things get really out of hand then it's likely Clinton will concede later in the week. She or her husband might be tempted to carry on, challenging the DNC decision in the courts, and stoking the anger of their supporters. But if Indiana marked one turning point in the narrative of this campaign, the last primaries will mark an even bigger one. Particularly if Obama manages to pull out enough superdelegates to put him over the new magic number of 2,118. The media and the public will focus almost exclusively on Obama as the Democratic nominee. Clinton will become a sideshow, an angry buzzing in the background. She probably knows that, which is why I don't think she'll continue to campaign.
But there are other questions. Will she endorse Obama? If so, when? In her concession speech, or later, after she's extracted some promises out of him? Will she continue to challenge the Michigan and Florida decision, just not as a candidate?
It's going to be an interesting week.
ps Eve Fairbanks's report on the protests outside the hall is excellent and includes this insane exchange:
"Would you rather have a president who had an affair [Bill Clinton] or one who was a murderer [Obama]?" Jeannie, the Greensboro Democrat, asks a fellow in a floppy Tilley hat and Hillary buttons. "That's a good point," he replies.
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