In the other part of that passage, which you conveniently left out, they specifically mention the 50% delegate loss.
I don't see anything about 50% seating in the Huffington post article I am quoting from and I don't have McA's book. So, feel free to quote and link to the passage you're talking about.
I read "The closest they'll get to Boston will be watching it on television" as a threat to not seat any delegates from MI.
Violation of timing: In the event the Delegate Selection Plan of a state party provides or permits a meeting, caucus, convention or primary which constitutes the first determining stage in the presidential nominating process to be held prior to or after the dates for the state as provided in Rule 11 of these rules, or in the event a state holds such a meeting, caucus, convention or primary prior to or after such dates, the number of pledged delegates elected in each category allocated to the state pursuant to the Call for the National Convention shall be reduced by fifty (50%) percent, and the number of alternates shall also be reduced by fifty (50%) percent. In addition, none of the members of the Democratic National Committee and no other unpledged delegate allocated pursuant to Rule 8.A. from that state shall be permitted to vote as members of the state's delegation.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/apache.3cdn.net/ 3e5b3bfa1c1718d07f_6rm6bhyc4.pdf
DNC Delegate Selection Rules
You've linked to DNC selection rules document. The commenter "sepulvedaj3" was talking about some alleged passage from McAuliffe's book while falsely accusing me of selective quoting.
