What can be done about states like Florida and Michigan, whose votes in January were discounted because they defied party rules and held early primaries? As the two Democratic candidates face-off for the nomination, those states are proving more valuable than originally expected.http://www.newser.com/2008 - Newseren-usNewser Feed GeneratorTue, 07 Oct 2008 6:27:33 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/39012/mccain-pulls-out-of-michigan.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThe McCain campaign is giving up on Michigan, the Detroit News reports. The Republican is pulling all ads, mail, and staff there to focus on more competitive states, a move that points to the difficulty the GOP faces in winning blue states. Michigan—which holds 17 electoral votes—was seen as a key battleground for McCain, but polls showed him slipping further and further behind.http://www.newser.com/story/39012/mccain-pulls-out-of-michigan.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThu, 02 Oct 2008 16:15:17 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/35730/mich-fla-get-full-delegations.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThe much-contested delegations from Michigan and Florida will receive full voting rights at the Democratic National Convention tonight, the Washington Post reports. Michigan and Florida’s primaries favored Hillary Clinton, but adjustments have been made in Obama’s favor, and Clinton seems poised to release her delegates to vote as they choose.http://www.newser.com/story/35730/mich-fla-get-full-delegations.html?refid=rss_all_defaultMon, 25 Aug 2008 7:58:20 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/35537/clinton-fans-say-her-support-for-obama-tepid.html?refid=rss_all_defaultYesterday Hillary Clinton gave a speech in Florida, site of her uncontested primary victory, and urged Democrats to vote for Barack Obama in November. But as the New York Times reports, many at the rally found her support for the presumptive nominee lukewarm at best. In a room full of her supporters, the sentiment prevailed that Clinton's performance was more perfunctory than heartfelt.http://www.newser.com/story/35537/clinton-fans-say-her-support-for-obama-tepid.html?refid=rss_all_defaultFri, 22 Aug 2008 6:40:35 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/28880/democrats-to-settle-score-on-fla-mich.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThe Democratic rules committee has begun a daylong meeting to try to settle the dispute over the seating of Florida and Michigan’s delegates, chosen in violation of party rules. Many Dems expect half the delegations from each state to be seated, the Washington Post reports, which would do little to alter the delegate math that underscores Barack Obama’s virtual lock on the nomination.http://www.newser.com/story/28880/democrats-to-settle-score-on-fla-mich.html?refid=rss_all_defaultSat, 31 May 2008 6:38:54 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/28723/top-democrats-say-race-ends-next-week.html?refid=rss_all_defaultDemocratic leaders say the primary fight will be over next week, making it all but certain that Barack Obama will be the nominee. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and party chief Howard Dean say they will press uncommitted superdelegates to make up their minds by midweek, after Tuesday's final primaries, the New York Times reports. “By this time next week, it will all be over, give or take a day," said Reid.http://www.newser.com/story/28723/top-democrats-say-race-ends-next-week.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThu, 29 May 2008 11:57:26 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/28756/mich-fla-plan-net-gain-of-19-for-clinton-picking-up-steam.html?refid=rss_all_defaultA plan to give each of Florida’s Democratic delegates a half-vote and to split Michigan’s halved delegates evenly between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is “gaining some traction in the right circles” ahead of Saturday’s DNC meeting, Talking Points Memo discerns from an MSNBC report. The compromise would net Clinton 19 delegates and set a new “magic number” of 2,118.http://www.newser.com/story/28756/mich-fla-plan-net-gain-of-19-for-clinton-picking-up-steam.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThu, 29 May 2008 17:02:01 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/28623/dnc-lawyers-only-half-of-fla-mich-can-be-seated-saturday.html?refid=rss_all_defaultBy Democratic Party rules, the long-awaited committee meeting on Saturday is authorized to re-seat no more than half of the outlaw delegations from Florida and Michigan, party lawyers have advised in a new memo. The Rules and Bylaws Committee is required to maintain a penalty for the leapfrogging states that cuts their original delegate counts at least by half, the AP reports.http://www.newser.com/story/28623/dnc-lawyers-only-half-of-fla-mich-can-be-seated-saturday.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 28 May 2008 11:33:41 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/28616/clintons-delegate-math-goes-from-fuzzy-to-demeaning.html?refid=rss_all_defaultAttempts by Hillary Clinton supporters to link the push to seat the Florida and Michigan delegations with fights for suffrage and other freedoms the world over is "an equation that makes a mockery of democracy and feminism,” Harold Meyerson writes in the Washington Post —particularly since Clinton herself supported sanctions on the states until it became politically urgent to shift course.http://www.newser.com/story/28616/clintons-delegate-math-goes-from-fuzzy-to-demeaning.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 28 May 2008 12:24:45 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/28622/obama-to-fans-dont-protest-rules-meeting.html?refid=rss_all_defaultBarack Obama is urging supporters not to demonstrate at Saturday’s meeting of the Democrats' rules committee, hoping to keep the event from becoming a cable-news circus, the Hill reports. Clinton supporters have pledged to gather outside the meeting, where party bigs will decide whether, and how many Florida and Michigan delegates are seated at the convention in August.http://www.newser.com/story/28622/obama-to-fans-dont-protest-rules-meeting.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 28 May 2008 9:13:35 CDT