The letter below has been sent to Howard Dean by the Democratic Women's Leaders, Every Vote Counts, organization (which can be found at COUNTTHEVOTES) as a follow up to a face to face meeting with Dean regarding the seating of Florida and Michigan and other issues. Dean acknowledged at the meeting, that the popular vote totals of Florida and Michigan were valid and that the issue of seating the delegates were a separate issue involving the DNC and the Rules Committee and did not reflect on the validity of the popular vote totals of both states. As of now, including the Florida and Michigan totals, and using my formula of apportioning the "uncommitted" line in Michigan of 39% by giving John Edwards the 14% of the vote he had received in other primaries and Obama 25%, ( which amounted to 149,010 votes) Clinton leads Obama in the popular vote by 25,016 votes. The delegates should be apportioned the same way. There are indications that a compromise is in the works regarding the seating of the Florida and Michigan delegates. Obama said in a speech the other day that he assured Michigan that "he would make sure" Michigan was seated, ( in typical overblown, grandiose and untrue fashion). With Dean acknowleding the obvious, that the raw vote totals in both states are valid, pressure needs to be put on the DNC to count ALL of the duly elected Florida and Michigan delegates. To punish 3 million voters and 15 million Clinton supporters and affecting the choices made for the fall, for what amounted to nothing more than a parking violation committed by state party leaders, would be like using a wrecking ball to swat a fly. With the expected collatoral damage. With the issue of Florida and Michigan becoming crucial, the DNC should be made aware of the feelings of the majority of Democratic voters and what the consequences would be if a nominee is chosen based on ALL the delegates not being counted in Florida and Michigan. And with the Rules Committee scheduled to meet May 31st, action should be taken immediately. Demands should also be made of local and national news outlets, especially by the people of Florida and Michigan, to start showing the popular vote totals as they really are, with Clinton ahead. And Deans acknowlement that the vote totals are valid should be all the proof they need. And lastly, super delegates need to know that they will be expected to use the true popular vote totals in making their decisons. Nancy Pelosi, an Obama supporter, said weeks ago that the popular vote is what reflects the true will of the people and that super delegates have an obligation to vote that way. Whether they do or not, super delegates who ignore the true popular vote totals, especially those who are elected officials, should be made aware that they will be held accountable the next time they run for re-election. No Democrat regardless of who you support should be for votes not being counted. To find a list of super delegates and their contact information at THE SUPER DELEGATES TRANSPARENCY PROJECT Democratic Women Leaders EVERY VOTE COUNTS May 14, 2008 The Honorable Howard Dean Chairman Democratic National Committee 430 S. Capitol Street, SE Washington, DC 20003 Re: Meeting with Massachusetts Women Democratic Leaders: Every Vote Counts Dear Chairman Dean: Thank you for taking the time to meet with us in Providence, RI last Thursday. As you know, the Massachusetts Women Democratic Leaders involved in the "Every Vote Counts" effort includes over 60 men and women, elected officials and leaders in and major donors to the Democratic Party. Eighteen members of the group participated in the meeting, which was substantive and productive. Please consider this letter a follow-up on the essential elements of the discussion and outcomes. As we conveyed in our previous letter to you and in our discussions, there is deep concern regarding the delay in seating the Michigan and Florida delegations to the national convention, especially in terms of its impact on the convention nomination and the general election. More to the point, we are concerned that waiting until May 31st to resolve this issue will in fact be too late to have any perceptible effect, and will send the wrong message: on the one hand, delegates are feeling increasing pressure to signal their preferences immediately (if not sooner), but on the other hand the meeting of the Rules and Bylaws Committee will not occur until the 11th hour. In order to have any impact on the process and to effectively give credence to the voters in Michigan and Florida, we believe the Rules and Bylaws Committee should act before May 31st, if at all possible. We are equally concerned that a persistent lack of clarity regarding the status of the state-certified votes in those states has resulted in widespread misperception - in the media, the public and among super-delegates - about the accurate vote totals for both candidates. As we discussed, the DNC’s authority extends to the apportionment of delegates only, and does not affect the validity of those votes. Once they were certified by the Florida and Michigan Secretaries of State, the votes were valid and countable toward the respective candidates’ popular vote totals. We believe that the confusion around this issue and the lack of a concrete statement from the DNC has contributed greatly to the frustration of the voters in Florida and Michigan and the damaging perception that their votes are being ignored. It was gratifying to learn that you agree that the DNC’s actions do not in any way affect the validity of these votes, and that you are amenable to making a public statement that clarifies this issue. We suggest the following, which speaks, not to the benefit of either candidate, but directly to those whose votes are at issue: "The voters of Florida and Michigan, like the voters of every Democratic primary and caucus, deserve to have their voices heard. They went to the polls and cast their votes in good faith. The votes have been certified by the Secretaries of State of both Florida and Michigan, and their validity is not affected by the actions of the DNC. Seating the delegates for Florida and Michigan, however, will be decided by the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee, but that decision does not affect the votes cast in those states." We were also gratified to hear your concern regarding the process by which state party caucuses are conducted and then utilized as a basis for delegate selection, given what we perceive to be significant irregularities surrounding some of the caucuses, as well as the degree to which delegates selected by means of caucuses (as opposed to primaries) are representative of both the diversity and numbers of the populations which they serve. We also discussed the concerns of coalescing a broad range of voters -- whose diversity encompasses a host of issues including gender, race and religious affiliation-- behind whoever the eventual Democratic nominee may be. Finally this primary season has raised the issues of race and gender to unprecedented prominence. We are extremely proud that the Democratic Party has addressed so forthrightly the issue of racial bias; this profoundly important dialogue, however, has not been matched by similarly substantive dialogue about gender bias, which has been prevalent, virulent, and not confined to the media. In some instances this emphasis is propelling the nation toward a more enlightened view about both race and gender bias. But too often, "the story of women’s suffering has remained untold," as you so eloquently put it, permitting commentary and remarks that have stunned women by their negativity. Just as we expect that our leaders will take an immediate and strong stance against racism, we expect that those same leaders will take an immediate and strong stance against sexism. We believe that women Democrats, and even women who vote independent and some women Republicans, will support the party that finds a way to initiate a national dialogue about the issue of gender as we head into the general election. Likewise, we are deeply concerned about the impact that the failure to promptly address this issue is having and will continue to have on the party strength and unity. We are open to discussing any ideas about the role that the DNC could play in this important endeavor, as the members of our group have spent decades helping women achieve more opportunities at every level of society. As we stressed in the meeting, we are Democrats, whose longstanding commitment to the Democratic Party and its principles is beyond question. We are strongly committed to electing a Democrat to the White House in November and look forward to working with you to successfully meet whatever challenges we face in the coming months and beyond. With regards, Massachusetts Democratic Women Leaders "Every Vote Counts" http://www.countthevotes.net/