Florida momentum shifts to Obama

TALLAHASSEE - As Hillary Clinton pins her last, best hopes for reviving her campaign on the still uncounted Florida and Michigan primaries, the momentum in the Democratic presidential race is rapidly shifting to Barack Obama - even in a state where Clinton carried 50 percent of the vote.

"If I had to put this in a sports analogy, it's the seventh inning of the ball game and the score is 8-to-2. Obama has got a huge lead,'' said state Sen. Steve Geller, D-Cooper City, one of Florida's uncommitted superdelegates. "But it doesn't mean the game is over yet, stranger things have occurred.''

As part of her underdog strategy, Clinton is pressing for the national party to count the Florida and Michigan primaries - which she won but were not recognized because those states' primaries were moved up in violation of party rules.

Clinton beat Obama by a 50-to-33 percent margin in the Florida primary.

Clinton is also heavily wooing Florida's superdelegates - seven of whom have endorsed the New York senator. Clinton, though, has not won any new commitments, while Obama recently picked up his fifth superdelegate from Florida.

Geller said he has received a half-dozen calls from Clinton emissaries seeking his commitment. He had not heard from Obama.

Instead, for the first time, Obama began openly courting Florida and its Democratic leaders on Thursday, a state he had officially shunned since the national party did not recognize its Jan. 29 primary.

Obama met with the Florida Democratic members of Congress while also promising to stage campaign events in Florida later this month, including fundraisers in Orlando and Miami and possibly a visit to a synagogue.

In a stark demonstration of the political shift, U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, a Clinton supporter, asked Obama if he wanted him "to kiss your ring now or when you come to Florida,'' according to a Hastings aide.

Obama said there was no need to hurry.

In another setback for Clinton, state Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, another superdelegate, threw his support to Obama this week, saying Clinton will not be able to overtake Obama.

"I think Sen. Clinton is not going to be able to prevail with pledged delegates and frankly I think Obama would be a terrific candidate,'' Gelber said. "I like them both. I think he has shown the kind of not only resiliency but political courage that I have hoped for in our nominee.''

Even Clinton's personal appeals appear to be coming up short.

She failed to win a commitment from U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-Stuart, another uncommitted superdelegate, after meeting with him in Washington earlier this week.

Meanwhile, Mahoney was among the congressional Democrats who met with Obama on Thursday, with the presidential candidate promising them the Florida delegates will be at the national convention in Denver with "their party hats on.''

As the likely nominee, Obama holds the key as to whether Florida's 211-member delegation will be allowed to attend the national convention, which runs from Aug. 25-28.

"It's time for Barack Obama to be presidential, to be unifying, to be healing and sometimes that means you give a little,'' said Jon Ausman, another uncommitted superdelegate and a member of the Democratic National Committee. "And now would be a good time for that to occur.''

Ausman has filed an appeal contesting the national party's decision not to seat the Florida delegation at the convention. The appeal will be heard May 31 in Washington, D.C., by the party's Rules and Bylaws Committee.

He said he is optimistic that at the very least the party will recognize half of Florida's delegation - 94 of the 188 regular delegates and 23 superdelegates for a total of 117 delegates.

Ausman said the Clinton campaign is open to that proposal, while the Obama campaign has yet to fully embrace it.

"In my negotiations with the Obama people, they are considering that possibility of a half vote,'' Ausman said. "And there's a big difference between acceptance and considering.''

Tallahassee City Commissioner Allan Katz, a superdelegate who has endorsed Obama, said "some reasonable compromise is doable.''

He said the compromise would involve recognizing a portion of the Florida and Michigan delegations and in the case of Florida apportioning the delegates, at least in part, based on the outcome of the Jan. 29 vote.

"We can all sort of join hands and go to Denver together,'' Katz said.

Katz also said under any scenario it was unlikely that Clinton could "close the gap'' in delegates with Obama. "I don't see it,'' he said. "I think the superdelegates are clearly moving in our direction.''

While the Democrats continue to quibble over the fate of the Florida delegation, the state's party leaders and strategists agree the dispute needs to be resolved to give the Democrats a chance in November against Republican nominee John McCain.

"I think the McCain forces will exploit our differences,'' said Todd Wilder, a Tallahassee-based consultant whose firm has done some work for the Clinton campaign.

"They have already started. As long as this drags out, this will hurt us more and get us less enthusiastic. I think it needs to be solved quickly.''