February 22, 2008, 3:15 pm
Clinton Plans to Press for Florida and Michigan DelegatesBy Katharine Q. Seelye
So much for a valedictory speech.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton told Texas Monthly this morning that she plans to push for the delegates from Florida and Michigan to be seated at the Democratic National Convention, contrary to the plans of the Democratic Party.
Asked if it is her intention to press the issue, Mrs. Clinton said: "Yes, it is. Yes, it is. It's in large measure because both the voters and elected officials in Michigan and Florida feel so strongly about this. Senator Bill Nelson, of Florida, early on in the process, actually sued because he thinks it's absurd on its face that 1.7 million Democrats who eventually voted would basically be disregarded, and I agree with him about that."
Evan Smith, the editor of Texas Monthly, tells us he conducted the interview at 6:30 a.m., Central time, after she had been interviewed by the three morning broadcast shows -- and after her debate last night in which she made comments that were widely perceived to be valedictory.
Mr. Smith said he was "dumbstruck" at her response this morning because he too had interpreted her debate remarks as a signal that she was laying down her sword.
But after his interview this morning, he said, he thinks she is back to battle mode.
"There was no question in my mind, not only in this answer but in answers to other questions, that she's in this thing," he said. "She's in and is going to play hardball."
In portions of the interview that have not been transcribed yet, Mr. Smith said, she said that when she noted in the debate that "whatever happens, we're going to be fine," she wasn't talking about herself but about the American people.
He said he asked her about statements from her husband, Bill Clinton, and other supporters, who have said that Texas and Ohio, which vote March 4, were "do or die" states.
"She said they weren't," he said. "She kept coming back to the idea that she wasn't quitting," even though she has lost 11 contests in a row and is behind in delegates and money. Polls show her even with Senator Barack Obama in Texas and her once-strong lead in Ohio shrinking.
There is a battle raging over whether to seat the Michigan and Florida delegates because those states violated party rules in moving up their primaries. Mrs. Clinton told Texas Monthly that she agreed only not to campaign in those states, not to oppose seating their delegates.
"We do not want to be disenfranchising Michigan and Florida," she said. "We have to try to carry both those states."
The campaign of Senator Barack Obama has said the party should abide by the rules it had set before the voting occurred. Michigan and Florida voted for Mrs. Clinton and she would get more delegates from
