A Democratic party committee has declined to fully seat Florida's and Michigan's convention delegations, striking a serious blow to Hillary Clinton's increasingly long chances of overcoming Barack Obama to win the party nomination. The committee opted instead to halve the states' delegate votes, awarding in total 87 new delegates to Clinton and 63 to Obama. The committee rejected a move backed by the Clinton camp to recognise fully the Florida delegation.When the meeting began, Obama was only 42 delegates short of the 2,026 then needed to clinch the nomination, but the added Florida and Michigan delegates have increased the number now needed to win.
Obama picked up a total of 32 delegates in Michigan, including superdelegates who have already committed, and 36 in Florida. Clinton picked up 38 in Michigan, including superdelegates, and 56.5 in Florida. Obama's total increased to 2,052, and Clinton had 1,877.5.