Hillary's (mis)calculation.

[Exilednight]

Hillary had every intention of sitting the FL, and MI delegates no matter what.

She had everything in her favor. The DLC was behind her, She was far ahead in the Super Delegate count prior to the first ballot being cast, she had a huge campaign war chest, a husband who was a very popular President (at least among Democrats), an almost insurmountable double-digit lead in every poll (in every demographic), a national machine left in place from her husband's campaign, and who's - who of surrogates to campaign on her behalf.

She expected to win the nomination by Super Tuesday. If she would have won big on Super Tuesday she would have seated the delegates, as is, to make them feel part of the system. It wouldn't have mattered, she would have had the nomination wrapped up and seating them would only make them feel good, but their votes wouldn't have really counted. Thus the reason she left her name on the ballot.

Where she miscalculated is the fact that she would need them to win the primary, and placed her in a catch-22 after signing the pledge "not to campaign, or participate in any contest".

She figured no one would hold her to the "participate in any contest" clause, if she would have won big on Super Tuesday. But there's the nugget of truth, she didn't win big on Super Tuesday. Obama took the lead in delegates in the first contest and has never relinquished it. This now put Hillary in the awkward position of playing catch up and demanding that Florida and Michigan be counted so that she may close the gap on Obama.