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Hillary Camp Pressuring Super-Delegates To Not Endorse For Now
The Hillary Clinton campaign is taking a temporary step back from their super-delegate strategy, the Huffington Post reports, and trying to get super-delegates to not endorse for now.
The rationale is that supers at this juncture might break for Barack Obama in large numbers, so as to stop the primary race and move on to the general election.
A set of e-mailed talking points to supporters advances a counter-argument: "If House, Senate and DNC members try to end this process now, it would be very damaging to those institutions, the Democratic Party and our chances in November."
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FLIP FLOP!!!!
My, how times ahve changed.
Quinnipiac puts Obama within the margin of error in Pennsylvania today, too. This comes more than six weeks before that primary.
February 27, 2008 10:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
Good luck with that Hillary.
February 27, 2008 10:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
Ugh, I guess I spoke to soon in my last post about her backing off her push to have this decided by super delegates - well, they're going to try anything they can here to prolong the inevitable (and, to be fair, Obama's camp made the same request to super delegates weeks ago). OK, so let them hold off endorsing until after next Tuesday - once he takes Texas and (hopefully) Ohio, the floodgates can open and she will get a clear message that it's over.
February 27, 2008 10:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Ha...haha....hahhahahahahahahheheeeeeee. Thank you, Eric. I needed that.
February 27, 2008 10:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder when she'll notice that her requests don't seem to be making headway.....
February 27, 2008 10:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
So I'm assuming she'll be instructing all of her superdelegates to officially unpledge now?
February 27, 2008 10:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm glad this is the last "debate" until the fall. If I were either of the Dem candidates, I'd refuse to do it again no matter what happens on Tuesday. My reason would be, "John McCain isn't being invited to these things; why should we have to do all the work?"
February 27, 2008 10:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
She's hoping to get them behind her, but only after she takes back the momentum with a huge win in Rhode Island next week.
February 27, 2008 10:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
Uh oh superdelegates...you better watch out, you're THIS close to not mattering.
February 27, 2008 10:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
Edsall mentions it's a labor email; somehow I suspect union leaders who went into the tank for Hillary like Tom Buffenbarger and Gerry McEntee are panicking over the idea that the Change to Win folks might have better access to the next president than they will.
February 27, 2008 10:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
I am so praying that hillary wins texas, ohio, vermont and rhode island on march 4th... if she doesn't.... I will still vote for obama in november's general election for the fact that anyone can do better than John Mcain, who is nothing but another Bush alike.
I hope that there is a clinton/obama ticket but if we have to have a obama/clinton ticket i will be happy too....
I hate the polls, if you have ever read anything of mind on here, you know that i use to love those polls but i have finally learned that you can't trust them..... the only polls that matter are the ones when those go out and actually vote.
Hillary I'm praying for you but girl you sure need a huge victory and i don't see it happening.
February 27, 2008 10:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
The super delegates should be responsible and refrain from premature endorsing that would undermine the Democratic nomination process.
If the super delegates use premature endorsing to game the system and end the Democratic nomination process prematurely to favor Obama, this will in effect swipe the nomination for Obama using the Bush technique of stealing the election.
Obama would have no legitimacy for Hillary Clinton's supporters and this would be disastrous in November when the election would be lost to McCain.
February 27, 2008 11:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
That is funny. Sen Obama is going to win the pledged delegates, the raw vote total, the super delegates, a majority of states, a majority of cacuses, and a majority of primaries. How will that be a less than legitimate victory? Sen Clinton is the one who wished for the super delegates to over rule the pledged delegates. Now she has as on so many other issues come arround to his position to late to do her any good. It is all over. She lost. Yeha!
February 27, 2008 11:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
While I am amused at the campaign's sudden fear that the supers will subvert the process, I think they're right. The supers should stay out of this. The primary process will likely resolve this, and if not, then we can bring the supers into it and go back to figuring out how to keep the party from going down in flames.
I assume they'll take the next rational step and say people should stop using the already "committed" supers in delegate counts?
No?
February 27, 2008 11:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
How does the primary process resolve it? Neither one will arrive at the convention with 2025 pledged delegates. It can't happen. Theoretically it could, but practically it isn't going to happen. The superdelegates, for good or ill, are going to have to decide the race. The question is, will they back the candidate that has the most pledged delegates or not? The latter scenerio spells trouble, but one of the two has to play out.
That's why Clinton should drop. She cannot garner a lead in pledged delegates barring astronomical wins in every state from here on out. It just isn't going to happen. The only way she can secure the nomination is scenerio two. If she drops out, questions of legitimacy of the winner, Obama, become mute.
The best possible outcome at this point is for Obama to win big in Texas and Ohio, as it will almost certainly force Clinton to drop. But even if Obama loses by small margins, he will maintain the delegate lead. It is rapidly becoming a political game of chicken with Clinton being in a decidely weaker position than Obama.
She should take one for the team.
February 27, 2008 11:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think the supers should stay out.
But this is just too funny. And adds to a growing air of desperation, which isn't helpful to Clinton at this point.
February 27, 2008 11:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's not going to resolve itself through math, certainly, but Obama could pull enough ahead to make him look inevitable. Back when the Clinton camp was very pro-super delegate, they wanted to remain close enough that if the supers gave it to her it wouldn't look funny. But the way thing are going, they will have trouble remaining as close as they'd hoped. So, by resolving itself, I mean eventually Hillary will see the writing on the wall and drop out. Or not, in which case we deal with the supers.
February 27, 2008 11:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
They are asking if corporate media is biased for Obama:
Duh, when CNN reads a Peggy Noonan hit piece attacking President Clinton on the air, it is very obvious.
Clinton obviously crushed Obama in the debate but the corporate media spun it Obama won. They don’t even bother trying to hide it anymore like gop being corporate w-hores. Then they will turn on Obama and help elect McInsane the corporate candidate.
Should be fun next week on the Rezko trial and they will spin it like the lobbyist lover McInsane Times story and blame Rezko.
And people will swallow all this crap like they do with w’s lies. Half of America got punked with Obama, are dumbed down by the media and very gullible just like the RWingnuts.
Then we have the liberal left blogs like Daily Obama and the Obama Post. They have thrown away all credibilty they have established for Obama bias. Crooks and Liars is the only progressive blog that stayed neutral and are still credible. They are the best blog for the truth. The rest are like corporate media.
February 27, 2008 11:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
Are you high? What debate were you watching? Or did you just close your eyes and cover your ears on the multiple occasions when Hillary got petty and shrill?!? "Let's ask Barack if he needs another pillow." Lame, desperate and completely unPresidential.
February 27, 2008 12:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Be nice, man, it's his job :P
February 27, 2008 1:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Superdelegates ready to bolt???
Wonder why
And then there's that 1,000,000 citizen donor base
February 27, 2008 11:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Agree with others here, thanks for the laugh to start the day Eric. Much appreciated.
February 27, 2008 11:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the link JohnMc. So, let me see if I have this straight, there are actually dems in red states? Even though they don't matter? But, hey, someday want to? Amazing that. It's like the HRC campaign has had no care about trying to further the Dem stronghold on Congress when they dismiss "red states". Actually, it is probably because they really don't care. Which is a huge strike against her candidacy.
February 27, 2008 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Clinton campaign must see something dreadful to make this particular pitch. We can see Obama's momentum, but are they hearing more chatter from the Super Delegates that we aren't privvy to? Curious timing to plea for restraint from Clinton.
February 27, 2008 11:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sure they do, but I doubt that it is anything more than the rest of us are seeing. She has actually lost more supers than she picked up so far this month. Of course, under such circumstances, she is in favor of everybody staying right where they are - the uncommitteds staying uncommitted and the already committeds staying in their present positions. Lot of luck to her in convincing anyone else of that, but you can certainly understand why she would be advocating such a policy.
February 27, 2008 12:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Congressional hopefuls ride the Obama wave
Democrats in some of the unlikeliest places are looking forward to running on a ticket with his name on the top line.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8711.html
February 27, 2008 2:32 PM | Reply | Permalink