We got a heads up that it was being sent, and that was it," Hillary spokesperson Phil Singer said on a conference call with reporters moments ago. He also said: "We didn't know wh

O I'm sure your largest donors wanted to make it all a nice surprise, Hillary. They decorated the rec room, got you a cake, and they were going to present you the nomination they had extorted out of the Democratic party all wrapped up in a shiny bow.

And I am Marie, the Queen of Romania.

I did not have sexual relations with those superdelegates!

"We got a heads up that it was being sent, and that was it," "

Right. We believe ya, Phil. We are all like Greg here.

Greg, no need to be defensive. We believe ya too.

How many signatories on the letter were at that big meeting with all her donors a week or so back?

I'm willing to believe that Clinton's campaign isn't so stupid they would think the letter was a good idea. They're stupid, just not that stupid.

They may not have known that it was being written but they didn't have a problem with it after it was released to the media. The Obama campaign called on them to condemn the letter but they didn't do it. Instead they claimed that few had done more to build the party than they had. That only seems to me to back up the threat contained in the letter. I guess they just mispoke again or said it under the threat of sniper fire.

Pelosi claims to be neutral when everyone knows she is for Obama. She claims to have to maintain neutrality because she is co-chairman of the Democratic National Convention. But she has repeatedly made statements betraying that neutrality, including saying a unity ticket is impossible and that the super delegates should overturn the popular vote in favor of the pledged delegate count. She argued against revotes in Florida and Michigan. She should be impeached.

I've always thought that the word "no" stands pretty well on its own. I've never understood the need for an "emphatic" no or a "catagorical" no.

So these people just told the Clinton campaign they were sending "something" to Nancy Pelosi, but didn't tell them what? A letter from big money people to Pelosi and the campaign didn't think to ask what was in it?

Obviously the Clintons didn't tell them not to send it, so there's definitely some culpability here.

Another Day. Another Lie.

And, No, I am not misspeaking.

The next letter Pelosi gets will include a photo of a money bag, with a copy of today's NY Times pinned to it.

Now that they've made contact, they need to prove they're serious.

Separately, one of the signatories of the letter -- someone I trust -- tells me that the letter was not written in consultation with the campaign. You all will make of this what you will, but that's what the person said.

Here endeth the Lesson.

American should be outraged at Hillary for attempting to pull a George W. Bush move in trying to steal the nomination.

"We Didn't Know What Was In Donors"

When does the lying stop, Hillary?

Wow, this took real courage for the Clinton camp. After the last 8 years, hell, after the last 16 years, the feeling in this country is that we need change.

By denying knowledge the Clinton campaign is announcing that Hillary's Presidency will be just like the Bush and Bill years: A presidency based on plausible deniability.

Hillay Clinton '08, if you hated Bush just wait until you see the shit we pull!

*sigh*

Note:TPM, please fix your login issues. They make posting reliably more trouble than it's really worth. Anyway, I'll post again, and it'll get double posted, but whatever.

They bought her. They own her.

Why should they care if Hillary knew what was in their letter on her behalf?

Of course they're saying no - that letter did even more damage to their cause among Super Delegates who didn't take kindly to being threatened.

Actually, I believe the Hillary camp's story. Allowing such a letter to go out without vetting it is perfectly consistent with the most incompetent, bumbling political campaign of my lifetime. Never forget that a large chunk of the party has been waiting for years for Hillary to run and she had possibly the highest name recognition of all time as well as testimonials from accross the political spectrum for the past several years. Then she hired a bunch of hacks who spent more time squabbling about what jobs they'd get in the administration than on actually planning and competently running a campaign. She's losing to a first term senator who has almost no policy differences with her. So yeah, letting the letter go out without inquiring or checking makes perfect sense in context. I spent the last 3 years trying to convince my democratic friends that she was electable. I was wrong.

Some interesting background on this signatories can be found here, at dKos:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/27/912/91904/66/485037

I think we should all forgive the Clinton campaign for any possible involvement in the Pelosi letter. My guess is that she was under sniper fire and can't remember that it wasn't real but that she made it up.

Speaking of rabid Clinton supporters, where's Mister Softee?

Unrelated, but:

"Sometimes the phone rings at 3 a.m. in the White House and it’s an economic crisis. And we need a president who is ready and willing to answer that call."

What the hell does that even mean?

Perhaps Greg's source is parsing the meaning of the word "campaign" a bit more closely than usual?

If the campaign wasn't involved, how were these 10 people organized to get together and write the letter? They sound like pretty busy folks; I don't think they all ran into each other and the neighborhood Starbucks one afternoon and decided to draft a letter to Ms. Pelosi.

I hope Pelosi doesn't have a cat.

Or a bunnyrabbit.

Anyone want to take odds on when we get the breathless title on the front page about the Gallup Tracking poll?

"Sometimes the phone rings at 3 a.m. in the White House and it’s an economic crisis. And we need a president who is ready and willing to answer that call."

Bill doesn't have cab fare home?

(Ok, it was cheap and easy and I'm a bad girl.)

I can always count on TPM for being the most up to date Clinton surrogates.

And:

You could twist any headline in the news to be an example of Clinton's evilness. Greg Sargent - keep up the great work!

Amazing sleight of hand, Greg.

For everyone crying "BIAS", do you see how silly this has become?

I assumed that the campaign hadn't written the letter, for this reason: The letter makes the arguments that Pelosi is wrong to say that superdelegates should follow the pledged delegate totals, because:

1. Not everyone has voted yet, so it overturns the will of the voters, and,

2. After the voting is over, the superdelegates should be free to vote their judgment and overturn the will of the voters.

Both these talking points are promulgated by the Clinton campaign, but they're usually smart enough not to put them in one letter where the contradiction is obvious. QED. ;-)

It's really worth reading Angry Vets link above on who some of these people are.

I am guessing everything they say is technically true. I can believe the donors wrote it on their own--after all they're expecting to be ambassadors and have influence (and maybe pardons) and all of that is being washed away by these COMMONERS. So, the campaign didn't "consult" with them on the actual writing. I would guess someone called and said, "Hey, we're going to write that commie skank Pelosi and tell her weren't not going to give to the DCCC anymore if she keeps this up." But they don't know the exact contents, like, word for word.

"We got a heads up but didn't read it."

Hillary was given a heads up about the N.I.E., but didn't read that either.

Why does Greg's report indicate that Hillary's camp didn't know what the letter to Pelosi stated, but the Huffington Post's story implies that that they knew the context, if not the actual verbage???

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/27/clinton-campaign-stands-b_n_93749.html

Singer: Hello, this is Phil...yeah, hi, nice to hear from you, I was just thinking about calling...you know we're in a tough fight, but she's a fighter, and these fights get expensi...oh, what? What's that? You're sending a letter? To...to Pelosi? Um, ok. Uh, yeah, no that's uh...that's great.

Can you tell me what it's about? What? I don't want to...well, actually, I think I do want to know, because I wouldn't want...what's that? Ok, so really? I really don't want to know? Ok, I guess. Um, thanks for the heads-up I guess...anything else I can do for you? No? Ok, well, we sure appreciate your support, and speaking of support, we sure could use...hello? Dang.

Yeah, sounds about right.

You people are just too cynical. If the Clinton camp says that they did not know what the letter said, then, based on their past record, I believe them.

Have you all turned into habitual skeptics. Next thing you will actually be accusing Senator Rambo Clinton of not having caught sniper bullets between her teeth at Tuzla Airport in Bosnia.

Good question...

What does it mean that after all the campaigning, Hillary Clinton's popularity is the lowest it's been since 2001?