In addition to June 1 and June 3, when the remaining Democratic primaries will take place, here’s another date to mark on your calendar: May 31. That’s when the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee will meet in Washington, D.C. to discuss whether or not (and how) to seat the Michigan and Florida delegates.

The DNC made hundreds of tickets to the meeting publicly available this morning, but they were quickly snapped up by citizens who knew that the event will be a big deal. Fear not - we should be able to watch all the delegate drama go down, as C-SPAN is expected to broadcast the meeting beginning at 9:30 am Eastern.

There will be even more drama outside of the meeting, as Hillary Clinton fans are busy organizing what could be a massive march outside the meeting in support of the underdog candidate.

“They’re coming up on buses, they’re taking the train, they’re Metro-ing, they’re coming up with friends,” said Allida Black, a professor at George Washington University and an event organizer. “We’re trying to flood it.”
…
Besides their goal of pressuring the committee into counting the votes from Florida and Michigan, Mrs. Clinton’s supporters are hoping that an en masse gathering will demonstrate widespread support for her candidacy — and perhaps persuade a superdelegate or two.

I have to say this: protesting will do nothing to help Clinton. The members of the rules committee are clearly concerned with one thing - playing by the rules - and Michigan and Florida did not. Now Clinton is trying to change the rules.

Back in mid-February, I spoke with David McDonald, a Washington state superdelegate and one of thirty members of the rules committee. He was also the first speaker to cross-examine Florida before stripping the state of its delegates and the person who motioned to strip Michigan of its delegates. Here’s what he had to say about the situation at the time:

McDonald said he wouldn’t respond well if Clinton wanted to seat delegates based on the contests that already took place in the two states.

“If she makes the motion to allocate ‘beauty contest’ delegates, she will not get support from me,” he said. “If she gives [the states] a chance to comply with rules, I will consider it, but they were given 30 days to comply already.”
…
Even if Michigan and Florida could clean up their acts and comply with DNC rules, would it be fair to allow their delegates to count?

“That’s why I’m saying I wouldn’t necessarily approve it,” McDonald said. “But at some point you have to start healing wounds. They broke the rules and got a pretty severe punishment.”

Michigan and Florida have tried to come up with ways to re-do their contests, and they’ve failed to come up with a fair solution. If McDonald still has the same view on this issue, he will probably be against Clinton’s wish to seat the delegates as they are.

McDonald was and still is an undeclared superdelegate. For the record, here is the list of the endorsements (or lack thereof) made by all 30 members of the rules committee, according to DemConWatch as of April 28:

Co-Chairs - no endorsement
Alexis Herman (co-chair, Washington , D.C. )
James Roosevelt, Jr. (co-chair, Massachusetts )

Members - Clinton supporters (13)
Hartina Flournay (DC)
Donald Fowler (SC)
Harold Ickes, Jr. (DC)
Jaime Gonzalez, Jr. (TX)
Alice Huffman (CA)
Ben Johnson (DC)
Elaine Kamarck (MA)
Eric Kleinfeld (DC)
Mona Pasquil (CA)
Mame Reiley (VA)
Garry Shay (CA)
Elizabeth Smith (DC)
Michael Steed (MD)

Members - Obama supporters (8)
Martha Fuller Clark (NH)
Carol Khare Fowler (SC)
Janice Griffin (MD)
Thomas Hynes (IL)
Allan Katz (FL)
Sharon Stroschein (SD)
Sarah Swisher (IA)
Everett Ward (NC)

Members - no known endorsement (7)
Donna Brazille (DC)
Mark Brewer (MI)
Ralph Dawson (NY)
Yvonne Gates ( NV)
Alice Germond (DC) - DNC Secretary
David McDonald (WA)
Jerome Wiley Segovia (VA)

Clinton has a 13-8 advantage over Obama in terms of known support from the committee members. Will this work in her favor? We’ll find out Saturday if the committee can reach a decision.

If we don’t find out Saturday - cliffhanger! - the committee will forward all outstanding business to the credentials committee.