Rick Santorum has asked the Republican National Committee to investigate the actions of the Michigan Republican Party, which on Thursday switched its decision to award a delegate to Mr. Santorum, giving it to Mitt Romney instead.
A complaint submitted on Friday by Mr. Santorum’s lawyer to Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, alleges “backroom deals” on the part of party officials to rework the rules in Mr. Romney’s favor after the party’s primary last Tuesday.
“To change the rules after the fact is something we would not expect to be condoned within our party, which has a long history of fighting for freedom and integrity at the ballot box,” wrote Cleta Mitchell, the general counsel for Mr. Santorum. “And to condone such behavior by any entity — whether it be a state or local party or a campaign for the highest office in our nation — is a black eye to the leadership of our party.”
Mr. Santorum argued that he and Mr. Romney should have received 15 delegates each, according to the rules of the Michigan Republican Party. Instead, the state party decided to award 16 to Mr. Romney and 14 to Mr. Santorum.
“This request is not about the allocation of a single delegate,” Ms. Mitchell wrote. “It is about ensuring a transparent electoral process, avoiding unscrupulous tactics and backroom deals by establishment figures and campaigns who may have not received the result they hoped for at the ballot box.”
“The R.N.C. accepts the delegate allocation submitted by each state party,” Kirsten Kukowski, a spokeswoman for the committee, said in a statement. “The contest committee is designed to look at any delegate concerns that may arise.”
Saul Anuzis, a former state party chairman in Michigan and a member of the state’s Republican Credentials Committee, told The Associated Press that the initial allocation of delegates was based on a memorandum that was in error.
“It is clear now that the memo did not properly communicate the intent of the committee,” Mr. Anuzis said. “Could you interpret it both ways? Yes. But this is what we decided.”
Top Obama Adviser to Appear at ‘Super PAC’ Meeting
David
Plouffe, a top political adviser to President Obama, is scheduled to
appear at a West Coast fund-raising meeting Friday for the “super PAC”
backing President Obama’s re-election bid, according to several people
familiar with the event.
Mr. Plouffe’s appearance would represent the most visible sign yet of just how committed White House officials are to financing these kinds of independent groups as Democrats gird for a financial arms race against powerful independent groups on the right. The super PACs can collect contributions of unlimited size from individuals and corporations.
The event comes about a month after Mr. Obama essentially gave his blessing to the outside groups, signing off on a plan to dispatch cabinet officials and other senior White House advisers to address them on his behalf, signaling a turnabout from his attitude toward independent efforts in the 2008 campaign.
The meeting in the Bay Area is for Priorities USA Action, a super PAC set up by Mr. Obama’s former aides. It is being organized by Steve Westly, a venture capitalist and major fund-raiser for the Obama campaign in both 2008 and 2012.
Mr. Westly, a former California state controller who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2006, has drawn scrutiny from the news media, because his venture capital firm, which focuses on green technologies, had stakes in a number of companies that have benefited from millions of dollars of loans and grants from the U.S. Department of Energy, according to an investigation by ABC News and the Center for Public Integrity. The federal money flowing to the companies raised questions about whether political supporters to the president received preferential treatment in the awarding of funds, which was vigorously disputed by the administration.
Mr. Westly declined to comment about Friday’s event through a spokesman.
Mr. Plouffe, who managed the Obama campaign in 2008, serves as a senior White House adviser. His attendance at the fund-raiser is certain to incite criticism from campaign finance watchdogs. Democracy 21, which works to limit the influence of money in politics, wrote a letter to the Justice Department last month, raising questions about the legality of Priorities USA, as well as the super PAC backing Mitt Romney, arguing that they were violating campaign finance laws that ban coordination between independent groups and the candidates they are backing.
Obama Will Speak at Commencement at Barnard College
President Obama will deliver this year’s commencement address at Barnard College, officials at the college and the White House announced on Saturday.
Word of Mr. Obama’s appearance at Barnard, a 123-year-old women’s college in New York City, comes as the White House and Democrats have seized on Republican attempts to block a requirement for contraception coverage in the new health care law, saying it amounts to a “war on women.”
Democrats believe the issue could be an effective rallying point with women voters in a presidential election year, and the decision to appear at the prestigious women’s school could provide a high-profile forum for the president on that front.
An Obama administration official confirmed on Friday that the White House had called Barnard to offer the president as the commencement speaker.
Debora L. Spar, the president of Barnard, said she was thrilled that the president would deliver the keynote speech at the commencement on May 14.
“This is just an extraordinary opportunity for the college, a moment in time that will be unforgettable for the graduates and their parents,” Ms. Spar said in an interview on Friday.
In its announcement, the college said Mr. Obama, a 1983 graduate of Columbia University, would be awarded the Barnard Medal of Distinction, the college’s highest honor, at the commencement. Barnard is an independent liberal arts college for women; it is one of the four undergraduate schools of Columbia and enrolls about 2,400 students.
A month ago, Barnard College announced that Jill Abramson, the executive editor of The New York Times, would be its graduation speaker, but those plans changed with the call from the White House. Ms. Spar said that Ms. Abramson had said she would be happy to speak at Barnard in the future.
The college’s last three commencement speakers were Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook, the actress Meryl Streep and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Historically, some politicians in the middle of a presidential campaign have been less than deft in finding the right tone for addressing the graduates of women’s colleges. In 1955, Adlai E. Stevenson gave the commencement speech at Smith College, telling the women that their job should be to influence “man and boy” through the “humble role of housewife.”
“It just went down as one of those bad moments,” Ms. Spar said.
Mr. Plouffe’s appearance would represent the most visible sign yet of just how committed White House officials are to financing these kinds of independent groups as Democrats gird for a financial arms race against powerful independent groups on the right. The super PACs can collect contributions of unlimited size from individuals and corporations.
The event comes about a month after Mr. Obama essentially gave his blessing to the outside groups, signing off on a plan to dispatch cabinet officials and other senior White House advisers to address them on his behalf, signaling a turnabout from his attitude toward independent efforts in the 2008 campaign.
The meeting in the Bay Area is for Priorities USA Action, a super PAC set up by Mr. Obama’s former aides. It is being organized by Steve Westly, a venture capitalist and major fund-raiser for the Obama campaign in both 2008 and 2012.
Mr. Westly, a former California state controller who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2006, has drawn scrutiny from the news media, because his venture capital firm, which focuses on green technologies, had stakes in a number of companies that have benefited from millions of dollars of loans and grants from the U.S. Department of Energy, according to an investigation by ABC News and the Center for Public Integrity. The federal money flowing to the companies raised questions about whether political supporters to the president received preferential treatment in the awarding of funds, which was vigorously disputed by the administration.
Mr. Westly declined to comment about Friday’s event through a spokesman.
Mr. Plouffe, who managed the Obama campaign in 2008, serves as a senior White House adviser. His attendance at the fund-raiser is certain to incite criticism from campaign finance watchdogs. Democracy 21, which works to limit the influence of money in politics, wrote a letter to the Justice Department last month, raising questions about the legality of Priorities USA, as well as the super PAC backing Mitt Romney, arguing that they were violating campaign finance laws that ban coordination between independent groups and the candidates they are backing.
Obama Will Speak at Commencement at Barnard College
President Obama will deliver this year’s commencement address at Barnard College, officials at the college and the White House announced on Saturday.
Word of Mr. Obama’s appearance at Barnard, a 123-year-old women’s college in New York City, comes as the White House and Democrats have seized on Republican attempts to block a requirement for contraception coverage in the new health care law, saying it amounts to a “war on women.”
Democrats believe the issue could be an effective rallying point with women voters in a presidential election year, and the decision to appear at the prestigious women’s school could provide a high-profile forum for the president on that front.
An Obama administration official confirmed on Friday that the White House had called Barnard to offer the president as the commencement speaker.
Debora L. Spar, the president of Barnard, said she was thrilled that the president would deliver the keynote speech at the commencement on May 14.
“This is just an extraordinary opportunity for the college, a moment in time that will be unforgettable for the graduates and their parents,” Ms. Spar said in an interview on Friday.
In its announcement, the college said Mr. Obama, a 1983 graduate of Columbia University, would be awarded the Barnard Medal of Distinction, the college’s highest honor, at the commencement. Barnard is an independent liberal arts college for women; it is one of the four undergraduate schools of Columbia and enrolls about 2,400 students.
A month ago, Barnard College announced that Jill Abramson, the executive editor of The New York Times, would be its graduation speaker, but those plans changed with the call from the White House. Ms. Spar said that Ms. Abramson had said she would be happy to speak at Barnard in the future.
The college’s last three commencement speakers were Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook, the actress Meryl Streep and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Historically, some politicians in the middle of a presidential campaign have been less than deft in finding the right tone for addressing the graduates of women’s colleges. In 1955, Adlai E. Stevenson gave the commencement speech at Smith College, telling the women that their job should be to influence “man and boy” through the “humble role of housewife.”
“It just went down as one of those bad moments,” Ms. Spar said.
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