A deal!

From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON — To jeers and boos that showcased deep party divisions, Democratic party officials approved a deal Saturday to seat delegates from the disputed Florida and Michigan primaries with half a vote each, dealing a blow to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The deal, reached behind closed doors and voted on publicly in a raucous meeting of the Democratic National Committee’s rules panel, would give Mrs. Clinton a net gain of 24 delegates over Senator Barack Obama — but fell far short of her hopes of winning the full votes of both delegations.

The decision left Mrs. Clinton lagging behind Mr. Obama in delegates in the final weekend of campaigning before the last of the nominating contests — Puerto Rico on Sunday and Montana and South Dakota on Tuesday — are held.

Under the compromise, Mrs. Clinton, who won the Michigan and Florida contests that were held in defiance of party rules, picked up 19 delegates in Florida and 5 delegates in Michigan.

The deep wounds among Democratic partisans — and the unification challenges awaiting the party — were laid bare when the committee voted on Saturday evening. Supporters of Mrs. Clinton jeered the decision, loudly booing and hissing the members of the group as their faces were shown on a large screen in the room.

One woman, wearing a blue “Team Hillary” shirt, shoved a man in a suit and tie wearing a small Obama button on his lapel. Another woman in a white Clinton shirt hung her head in her hands.

“That was a crime!” a man shouted. “McCain in ’08! McCain in ’08!” a woman yelled from the back of the room. “No-bama! No-bama!”

It remained an open question what Mrs. Clinton would do, with strong hints that she might take the fight to a committee that does not meet until the end of July.

“Mrs. Clinton has instructed me to reserve her rights to take this to the credentials committee,” said Harold Ickes, a senior adviser to Mrs. Clinton who serves on the rules committee. His words drew cheers from Clinton supporters, including many people who yelled, “Denver! Denver! Denver!” — a threat to take their cause all the way to the convention.

It would seem that the Democrat party considers the people of Florida and Michigan to be halfway adults who can halfway make an adult decision and halfway abide by the consequences of that decision.

You will remember that the states of Florida and Michigan both knew full well that the price of moving their primaries was the loss of their delegates. They both chose to exchange having their delegates seated for the increased media attention that would be paid to them when they moved their vote dates up.

Of course since we are talking about Democrats here it is highly likely that it never occurred to them that there would be actual consequences associated with their actions.

Despite the hysterics of some of Hillary's supporters this decision by the party is very much in Mrs. Clinton's favor. With Florida and Michigan having official representation at the convention Senator Clinton's case that she has won the popular vote will be strengthened.

However in the end it will make little difference. Neither candidate will go into the convention with enough pledged delegates to put them over the top. This will leave the decision to the so-called super delegates. These men and women are all elected officials and other Democrat party hacks. They will be far more afraid of appearing to steal the nomination from a black man than a woman. Even if they are convinced that Obama cannot win they will still hand him the nomination because in the complex hierarchy of identity politics which is the foundation of the modern Democrat party race always trumps sex.