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For five and a half hours last night, and all day today the Democratic Rules and Bylaws Committee was debating what do with the contested primaries of Michigan and Florida. And hell, were they debating. It’s a nightmare for the Democratic Party but a wet dream for C-SPAN addicts and, most of all, this guy:

Both states moved their primaries ahead of February 5th, in violation of party rules, and subsequently had their delegates stripped. The DNC apparently believed that defending the entitlements of early states like Iowa or New Hampshire is better than pissing off the people of Florida or Michigan. And who can blame them? When did a state like Florida ever matter for anything? Oh, right….

Anyway, Clinton won the Florida primary with 49.8% to Obama’s 32.9%, and got 55.2% in Michigan where Obama removed himself from the ballot. Having those delegates reinstated in full would result in a net gain of 43 delegates for Clinton, increasing her prospects for the nomination from virtually impossible to extremely unlikely.

Obviously, the Obama campaign has some problems with that, and argues that neither primary is an accurate reflection of the intent of the voters. And so they and Clinton campaign sent proxies to be both cheered and booed by supporters of the candidates in the audience when presenting their cases before the committee.

Now conventional wisdom would dictate that that committee is made up of unbiased, fair and impartial people, judging on the merits of the arguments presented. But, once again, we’re talking about the Democrats here, who are neither conventional nor wise. Former Michigan Governor James Blanchard, a Clinton supporter, appropriately quoted Will Rogers at the beginning of his testimony: “I am not a member of any organized party — I am a Democrat”

In fact, a majority of the 28 members have actually endorsed a candidate and their preference is painfully apparent at the hearing. Committewoman Tina Flournoy proposed to “cancel the 2012 primaries and divide all the states right now”, while her colleague Donna Brazile even recalled her childhood: “My Momma always taught me to play by the rules! And if you change the rules mid-game, that’s called cheating.”

The party’s lawyer’s, in a memo to the committee, proposed to seat the delegates with half a vote each, and that’s exactly what the committee decided on Florida, voting 27 in favor and one abstention after a heated discussion. A proposal to seat the delegation with full votes had previously failed, much to the disdain of the vocal Clinton supporters in the audience.

Not so much unity on Michigan. The vote went 19-8 for seating delegates with half a vote and a 69-59 Clinton-Obama split. Committee member Harold Ickes told his colleagues that “Senator Clinton reserves the right to appeal this decision at the Credentials Committee”, which will meet at the Democratic National Convention in Denver (Clinton followers were chanting “DENVER, DENVER” throughout the meeting) starting August 25. Oh boy.