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The Super-Delegate Mess (and Other Messes)
February 08, 2008 9:48 AM
Greetings from Seattle. And yes, I'm sleepless.
78 delegates are up for grabs here in tomorrow's Washington State Caucus as are 19 SUPER-DELEGATES.
Read more about that -- as well as Clinton's insinuation that Obama's rhetoric is meaningless -- HERE.
Could it be that this race comes down to the roughly 800 party insiders anointed as "super-delegates"?
They comprise roughly 20% of the delegate total, and if Obama and Clinton continue to split the vote count roughly 50-50, how they vote could be crucial -- which is why Chelsea and Bill Clinton, and reps for Obama, are calling them and wooing them.
Super-delegates were created after the insurgent outsider campaigns of then Sen. George McGovern, D-SD, and former Gov. Jimmy Carter of Georgia, secured the Democratic party nominations in 1972 and 1976, respectively. The idea was to return some power to party officials. Political scientist Rhodes Cook has said super-delegates were created as a "firewall to blunt any party outsider that built up a head of steam in the primaries."
With her vast institutional advantages, Clinton took a lead in super-delegates long ago.
Here in Washington she has Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell -- though ABC News has learned that Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire will endorse Obama.
Obama this week warned Super-delegates to vote the way their states have voted, "if this contest comes down to super-delegates, we are going to be able to say we have more pledged delegates, which means the Democratic voters have spoken. Those super-delegates, those party insiders would have to think long and hard how they would approach the nomination." Obama suggested "the argument we would be making to super-delegates is, if we come into the convention with more pledged delegates then I think we can make a very strong argument that our constituencies have spoken and I think that's going to be pretty important when it comes to the general election."
Does that mean his super-delegates in Massachusetts -- Sens. Kerry and Kennedy, Gov Patrick -- should defect to Clinton?
Said Super-delegate Donna Brazile to CNN, "If 795 of my colleagues decide this election, I will quit the Democratic Party. I feel very strongly about this."
**
In other messy news, Clinton campaign staffers have yet to pay the rent to a Portsmouth, NH, landlord.
Landlord Dr. Terry Bennett says the staffers "skipped town without paying the bill. Making matters worse, Bennett said, the 3,000-square-foot building at 236 Union St. was left trashed.
"I sent about 20 e-mails," said Realtor Michael Whitney. "I hear the Clinton campaign is out of money. Maybe the woman got laid off. I called, but they will not return any of my calls."
Read more on that HERE and recall the similar tale told by the realtor of a Clinton, Iowa, office building who told the Quad City Times that after the Clinton "campaign staff had cleared out, he discovered garbage, spoiled food, holes that had been drilled in the walls to run phone lines without his authorization, and stains on the carpet that will require some of the carpeting to be replaced."
The Clinton campaign eventually sent the Iowa landlord a check for $1,750 to cover the expenses for cleaning up. In New Hampshire, Dr. Bennett is awaiting his check.
-- jpt
February 8, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (60)
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Now that the American people are aware of Obama's 20 year association with the anti-American, racist rants of his mentor/advisor Wright (and Moss) ... polls are already showing a dramatic drop in the polls for Obama. Had the American people known about this Obama/Wright association a year ago, Obama would not be ahead in popular votes, or delegates at this point in time ... in fact, he probably wouldn't even still be in the race. This type of situation is exactly why super delegates exist ... and, if they continue to support Obama, it will guarantee McCain's victory in November. The Democrats' only hope for victory in November's general election is HIllary Clinton.
Posted by: Howard | Mar 25, 2008 2:38:20 PM
Popular vote vs. delegates ...
Obama and his supporters keep saying that the democratic nominee should be the one who gets the most popular votes ... not super delegates. But, in addition to Obama accepting Richardson’s delegate vote, even though Hillary won the popular vote in New Mexico ... it’s apparent that if Obama’s 20 year association with racist Wright (and indirect association with Farrakan) had been known a year ago by the public ... Obama would not have gained a lead in the popular vote ... in fact, he probably wouldn’t even still be in the race at all!
Posted by: Howard | Mar 23, 2008 11:39:38 AM
Is is balanced after 7+ years in office for the Republicans? Lieberman!! My gosh lady, pick up a few newspapers and magazines and quit listening to Rush.
Are we still blaming Bill Clinton for this pending recesssion?
-----------------------------
Vote Republican and vote it often! Our budget would be balanced, the pending recession/depression would be curtailed and moral/social values would return more sooner than later if an astute Jewish candidate would run and win, such as Joe Lieberman. Get rid of Clinton and Obama and keep the Republican party in office.
Posted by: Daisy Mae C. | Feb 28, 2008 1:54:18 PM
Posted by: Gary | Mar 12, 2008 7:53:07 PM
Isn't giving money to sway votes called lobbying? Yet Obama gives money to the campaigns of the super-delegates to get their votes.
Why is it OK for him to lobby? You can't have it both ways.
Posted by: Ed Coronado | Mar 1, 2008 7:32:16 PM
Vote Republican and vote it often! Our budget would be balanced, the pending recession/depression would be curtailed and moral/social values would return more sooner than later if an astute Jewish candidate would run and win, such as Joe Lieberman. Get rid of Clinton and Obama and keep the Republican party in office.
Posted by: Daisy Mae C. | Feb 28, 2008 1:54:18 PM
If Hillary could just kindly remove herself from this race, then we would not have to worry about this discrepancy any more. All she does is sling mud.
Posted by: Johnathon Jones | Feb 25, 2008 8:07:25 PM
People can be so ignorant.....IF Obama received money from muslims I'm sure the media would be all over it. How much money did the Bush family receive from the osama bin laden's family???That is the question..... and are we suppose to hate all muslims? I thought we Americans are suppose to be better than that.
Posted by: maria50 | Feb 13, 2008 3:01:02 AM
The issue of super delegates and the democratic party is unconscionable. Currently Obama is ahead in the popular vote and behind in the delegate vote. We can not have 800 party insiders decide the primaries for us! I have created a protest page here
If you think this is an issue please add a comment to the protest page of the website. I will print out all the comments and give them to the Democratic party.
Posted by: avijit ghosh | Feb 12, 2008 12:47:18 PM
If Dave Peck is correct, then why do they keep putting Michigan and Florida in the "Clinton column"?
There is obviously some kind of Clinton "machine" at work here. Politics as usual.
I warned the DNC that this huge turnout of enthusiastic, young voters and first-time voters will be extremely angry if the "party elders" say, "We know what's best for you" and vote against their wishes. Some will be so angry that they will either stay home or vote Republican.
Posted by: Broo | Feb 11, 2008 10:11:13 AM
It sounds like some of you just awoke from a long sleep. The DNC, that's the Democratic NATIONAL Commitee, told ALL of the states that if they tried to butt ahead of the schedule, they would not be counted. Yet, FL & MI responded by thumbing their nose at the rest of the democratic COUNTRY. That is 2 states saying, "We don't care what the other 48 states think, cause we are special". Now they are whining for their vote to be counted. WHY? It seems obvious that once they get their way, they will again thumb their nose at the rest of the country and say, "See, we are special!"
Posted by: WGG | Feb 10, 2008 11:59:50 AM
Everybody keeps talking about delegates from Florida and Michigan.......what the people were told is if they didn't want Hillary to vote "Undecided"......
If you had paid attention, Hillary got 42% and the rest were "UNDECIDED"
Of course you also have to remember that Hillary was the only one who broke ranks to go visit these states and even then,...
42% and she had no compitition !!!!
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Posted by: Dave Peck | Feb 10, 2008 3:16:24 AM
I didn't give no permission for no "Super Delegate" to cast my vote!I have already went down to the motor vehicle dept and changed to Independent. No more Democratic party for me! The Democrats could have had it all this time around but they will try to bypass the will and the strength of the people and push Hillary down our throats (Just like they did with Kerry)......not only because she is part of the clique but because they like politics the way they are and they are voting will their greed in mind instead of the will of the people they are suppose to represent!If they do as I suspect, I urge all Obama democrats to change your affilation to independent and not only can we mass together and get rid of Hillary once and for all but we can also get rid of the "Super Delegates" that sold us out!!
Posted by: Dave Peck | Feb 10, 2008 3:07:33 AM
Since Oprah is supporting Obama, maybe we can get Bill Gates to support Clinton. I mean that would be fair, but then I am sure I would be called a racist then. The Bush administration has drastically ruined the state of the US and even a lot of people's patriotism. I for one am having a hard time caring anymore....
Posted by: Imtyringtobefair | Feb 10, 2008 2:41:58 AM
When superdelegates vote the way their state voted the voices of Democratic voters will be heard simply means that the superdelegates will vote accordingly with the state majority votes.
As far as Obama's grandmother, she looked well dressed to me. She dressed as well as any American walking around here everyday. Her dress and her head piece matched in every picture that I've seen of her and the material seemed to be of fine quality. Her home appeared to looked as nice as some Americans homes now look. We have people that are homeless and live in trailers and trailer parks that don't look any better and people that live in homes and apartments all across America that don't look any better and it's going on for years and OUR government seems to think it is normal because they haven't done anything about it. By the way that is a cultural issue in Kenya, also they have alot of poverty there. What type of issue would you describe it here, the land of golden opportunity, the home of the free and the brave, the land of the rich and famous when you have people living here in America like they do in Kenya? People living in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Take a look at yourself, your relatives and your surroundings first before casting the first stone because your house can come tumbling down too.
Posted by: Cynthia | Feb 9, 2008 8:30:38 PM
Since this election raises a lot of interest, I would like to contribute with my understanding and experience. A lot is said about unity,because America is a melting pot. I live in Paris in a neibourghood where are concentrated more than anywhere else multiracial groups.Since I run a theatre company and also an artistic space, I receive small subsidies to help create a sense of community through artistic events.Because of differences of culture the most sensible thing is to maintain the status quo among the groups.The worst thing is to project agressively your vision over your stranger neighbour. Now the asians have a strong background of stoicism through their culture, they work hard and try to send their kids to the university, if not run business so they have a decent life. I read from blogs that in America they vote for Hillary against black people. This is completely wrong. My asian background tells me that they are pragmatic and see that Hillary wants health care for people and they already know about her. I have family in California so I can speak. It's as simple as that. It's not against Obama so the supporters should not get offended over this, and create an unnecessary bad atmosphere by implying racism. Diversity is great if there is real respect and understanding. This takes time. Don't be untolerant and impatient. If Obama does not get the asian support now maybe he will in the future if he shows proof of his competence.
Posted by: Michelle | Feb 9, 2008 4:54:08 PM
I doubt if Obama has unpaid bills. Oprah has made sure that he stays ahead of the game. It's hard for some of you to accept the fact that Obama is a truly gifted individual and will make a great president. This country needs to change Jena six proves that. As far as his grandmother goes and where she lives, how do you know what he has attempted to do? He doesn't have to relate all of his personal choices and decisions to you. How many of you feel responsible for the way your grandparents live or for that matter, where they live? How do you know that it's not her choice to remain in Kenya? Some of you assume a lot. How truly informed are you about Obama? I for one support him wholeheartedly and look forward to having the first bi-racial president of the United States.
Posted by: Marie | Feb 9, 2008 7:06:15 AM
blk folk need to realize that the dem's don't need them anymore.The Hispanics & Asians rescued Hillary.Poor Obama freaks
Posted by: VANITY | Feb 9, 2008 5:29:57 AM
super-delegates were created as a "firewall to blunt any party outsider that built up a head of steam in the primaries."
Can anybody say OBMAMA CULT. This is exactly why they have super delegates. To prevent Obama's cult following from make a mistake for this country
Posted by: Freak Show | Feb 9, 2008 4:13:35 AM
Obama should be more afraid if the award Florida. Thats the peoples vote to. BUt Obama fails to mention them like their vote don't count because they voted for Hillary.
Posted by: Freak Show | Feb 9, 2008 4:09:35 AM
Full State-by-State Scorecard Democratic Race
Current Delegate Count:
BIDEN 0
CLINTON 1,075
DODD 0
EDWARDS 26
GRAVEL 0
KUCINICH 0
OBAMA 1,014
RICHARDSON 0
2,025 Needed
to Secure Nomination
Full State-by-State Scorecard Republican Race
Current Delegate Count:
GIULIANI 0
HUCKABEE 163
HUNTER 1
MCCAIN 709
PAUL 10
ROMNEY 171
THOMPSON 3
1,191 Needed
to Secure Nomination
Posted by: lukout09 | Feb 9, 2008 1:22:00 AM
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