ABC: Obama Overtakes Hillary Among Super-Delegates
While each news organization's super-delegate count varies, Barack Obama has reached a new milestone: According to ABC News, the first news outlet to declare this, he has overtaken Hillary Clinton in support among super-delegates by a score of 267-265.
In a further sign of political decline for Hillary Clinton, African-American Congressman Donald Payne of New Jersey has now switched his allegiance from Clinton over to Barack Obama. "It's time now for us to pull our party together," Payne told the Newark Star-Ledger.
Obama has also picked up Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), while Hillary has gotten freshman Rep. Chris Carney (D-PA).
The score so far for today: Obama +2, Hillary net +0.
Late Update: Obama has just been endorsed by Maryland DNC member John Gage, bringing Obama to +3 so far today.
Late Update: Just to clarify a certain point, Payne's switch does beg the question of whether Hillary's statement about winning more white voters has alienated her in any way from black supporters.
Comments (226)
But . . . But . . . But . . . Senator Clinton has still stacked the rules committee! Hillary is still ahead there!
May 9, 2008 8:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
But . . . But . . . But . . . Senator Clinton has still stacked the rules committee! Hillary is still ahead there!
And she still believes she's ahead. That's all that matters.
May 9, 2008 8:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
John Gage just endorsed Obama. He's a super.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-obama-union,1,2397754.story
May 9, 2008 8:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
More importantly, he's head of AFGE, the largest union of federal employees, and brings institutional support beyond his one vote as a super.
May 9, 2008 9:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
African-American Congressman Donald Payne of New Jersey and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR).
I thought we were beyond this crap?
Maybe African-American Congressman Donald Payne of New Jersey and Italian-American Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) would be better!
May 9, 2008 8:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Or how about, maybe, possibly, just "Congressman?"
May 9, 2008 8:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
the rest of the media isn't calling Rep. Payne an African-American who endorsed Obama. Why are you making this distinction, Eric?
May 9, 2008 8:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Assoc. Press used the term "black" congressman
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/samgrahamfelsen/gGB9Ft
May 9, 2008 9:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
Eric
The game is over now. Get it ? She lost it. You can come out of the tank now.
And TPM is supposed to be a progressive blog, how ? Sheesh!
May 9, 2008 8:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
I agree - what's up with that, Eric???
May 9, 2008 9:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly, why isn't DeFazio listed as WHITE Congressman, or Italian-American Congressman?
May 9, 2008 9:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well, because that would be buying into Clinton's latest campaign strategy.
May 9, 2008 10:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's relevant in the context of Hillary's actions possible alienating black voters, but that context needs to be made clear earlier on. Better to just identify him as Congressman or Representative or whatever, and then refer to race in a second sentence reminding the world of Hillary's claim to get the poor white folk vote.
May 9, 2008 9:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
African congressman Donald Payne (D-NJ) and elitist latte liberal Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR). Happy now?
May 9, 2008 9:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
this just made my weekend
May 9, 2008 8:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Add another for OBama: John Gage of Maryland
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-obama-union,1,2397754.story
May 9, 2008 8:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Eric Kleefeld: The MSM, btw, is not identifying his race. Here is one case where I agree with them.
May 9, 2008 8:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Eric's a bit of a tool that way.
May 9, 2008 8:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
While the need to identify a human by their skin color should have passed - we are in a game of demographics. To hold Eric responsible for this trend is like Desidero holding everyone responsible for the oppression of women.
It sounds like a great conversation piece, but to call Eric a tool for it is as intolerant as that which you are raging against. This is neither the time nor place. Your own blog entry would do much better.
Civility takes all parties.
May 9, 2008 10:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well actually, the article Eric linked to about Payne does state that he is an African-American, but aparently that is put Payne's own statement about Obama being an African-American in context:
As for Gage, here is a link to his bio. He is President of American Federation of Government Employees, and there was recent speculation that he was going to come out for Clinton.
May 9, 2008 9:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
Good lord, Eric.
I am a 37-year-old white guy. I had no idea Donald Payne was African-American. Further, I don't give a shit that he is African-American. Why does that need to be an identifier for his support of Obama? What the fuck?
Why in the world have you identified him that way?
Is it really so hard to understand that Obama can reflect a post race-identifying world? The younger generation (younger than mine) certainly doesn't see things in the stark black/white terms that for too long too many of us have.
C'mon man, you are better than this.
May 9, 2008 8:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Eric's a Clinton supporter. His posts have leaned that way.
May 9, 2008 8:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
I totally agree with that. I couldn't for the life of me recall a primary where race was such a big issue. And frankly, I am disappointed with our country right now, that some of us are still falling for racial divisive tools (not you Eric) that continue to serve the elite and not the masses success. *sigh*
May 9, 2008 11:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's like with Clinton; there are 'hard-working Americans' who are white and then there are Obama supporters.
May 9, 2008 12:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Eric, HRC got Chris Carney of PA?
Um, is that white-guy-Chris Carney of PA? I guess I need to know, so I can understand his suport of her. Is it a white thing?
Please illumine me.
May 9, 2008 8:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Ok, so Caucasian-American Chris Carney came out for Clinton, a Caucasian-American, last night.
May 9, 2008 8:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
Um, actually...while I'm not sure that it matters what Donald Payne's race is, I've kinda been wondering if we wouldn't see a lot of AA superdelegates either endorsing or switching allegiances, now that Hillary can't win and is continuing with the "but white voters like me better!" stuff. I'm not saying that this is why Payne has come out for Obama, but if it is, I consider it to be a totally legitimate reason for doing it. As it would be a totally legitimate reason for any of the white superdels who don't want to see this thing descend any further into a racial divide.
May 9, 2008 8:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
I agree.
Eric should have said something similar.
Hillary is pissing people off with her blatant race card playing.
May 9, 2008 9:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
African-American? We elect congressmen and women. We don't elect "African-American congressmen." Nor do we elect "Italian-American congressmen." Eric, if you disagree you might want to insert the term "Italian-American" in front of Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR).
If Eric had an editor the editor might have told him to remove "African-American." I guess it is up to us.
May 9, 2008 8:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
or when David Wu endorses, we'll call him "Asian-American Rep. David Wu". Man, this just makes Eric sound like a bigger tool.
May 9, 2008 8:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Just FYI, Wu has endorsed Obama.
May 9, 2008 9:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
Re: 2nd late late update.
Ah, is that where you were going with that? I guess...
May 9, 2008 8:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder how an Intelligent and astute woman like Hillary Clinton can stay in the race when it is mathematically impossible to win.
Is she waiting for a miracle, or for some one to assassinate Obama, or she knows something we don't? I'm just wondering here, for lack of logic.
May 9, 2008 8:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
You think ???
May 9, 2008 8:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe TPM could do us the favor and show us the breakdown of superdelegate votes by race. My understanding from the Clinton campaign is that African-American superdelegate votes are worth 3/5 that of a white vote, is that correct?
May 9, 2008 8:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
In response to the update:
No, it doesn't. Rep. Payne was one of the first superdelegates to endorse Hillary Clinton early on before the race started. He's switching because quite frankly, the writing is on the wall. I also don't think it's a race-based switch, but a pragmatic switch of supporting the eventual Democratic nominee.
May 9, 2008 9:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
The most intelligent magazine in the English speaking world, The Economist, has an article making the case for Obama's nomination. Obama's picture also, is on its cover page.
Wake up Hillary, the race is over.
May 9, 2008 9:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Please, TPM, please let me know for each ensuing SD announcment, whether the SD is a sneetch who has a star upon thars or if they are a non-star bellied sneetch.
I really need to know.
May 9, 2008 9:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
My guess is that the easiest delegates to flip from Clinton to Obama are the ones who made their endorsements like a reflex action when she announced. Joe Andrew is a perfect example. He endorsed her the day she announced. You could say he did it without thinking about it. Payne was also an early endorser.
The supers who endorsed her long before a single vote was cast might strangely have an easier time switching than those who endorsed after the voting began.
As for Eric mentioning Payne's race, well that just shows me he is an immature journalist who is viewing the switch in the lens of the most recent news cycle.
May 9, 2008 9:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hillary will be ignored.
May 9, 2008 9:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well, maybe Eric is stuck back in the prejudice that this contest should focus on race, thanks to Clinton's carefully chosen dog whistles [I have the most 'white supporters'] but that doesn't explain why all those white super delegates are endorsing Obama.
I think Eric just insulted the 'African American' in suggesting that race would be a factor for him, while it wouldn't be a factor for the other endorsers.
In other words, it is the black race which we can assume makes racist decisions, is that right, Eric? Just trying to understand your slant on this, Eric. Care to elaborate?
May 9, 2008 9:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
I get the outrage - we do not need to be identified by our skin color, or gender.
But everyone here does understand that Demographics is king in this game, right?
Not that we all should be, can, or are defined by some group title. But there is some truth to sorting behavior by vague groups, hence the concept of demographics.
Shitting on Eric for this unfortunate result of capitalism is like complaining about the fact that it is raining.
May 9, 2008 10:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Seems like the race is ending not with a bang but with a steady drip, drip, drip while she twists slowly in the wind. (Pardon the morbid mixed metaphors.)
She could choose to end her suffering now (not likely) ... or she could go out on a high note by campaigning positively and only attacking McCain ... or she could talk about how white voters like her the best and continue to damage her legacy. It's her choice now.
May 9, 2008 9:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think it's completely reasonable for him to mention the superdelegate's race. As Eric pointed out in his update, the reactions of AA superdelegates to Hillary
s "but white people like me more!" pitch is something to watch.
May 9, 2008 9:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
The issue is that Eric's racism argument is....less than comprehensive. Only one congressman's race is highlighted, and only AA could be insulted by Hillbilly's comment.
May 9, 2008 9:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm white. I'm insulted by it.
May 9, 2008 10:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's my point.
May 9, 2008 11:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
And Eric, your statement does beg the question of whether you believe Hillary's statement about winning more white voters has alienated her in any way from only black supporters.
Can't her white supporters be offended by her remarks as well?
May 9, 2008 9:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
Eric, Your clarification of why you made a point of Congressman Payne race makes some sense, but by not giving your rationale originally you are just flaming the White American argument that Senator Clinton is pushing.
I'm white, I work hard, and I support Senator Obama.
May 9, 2008 9:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
Wow...everyone's touchy this morning. Payne made the point about his race, and I thought, as I read it, that he was sending a message in that message. I think he was commenting on the tipping point without going there. At least, it seemed that way to me.
May 9, 2008 9:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
Please allow Eric to express his frustration seeing that his candidate is now irrelevant.
May 9, 2008 9:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
Whether African-American, Clinton-supporting superdelegates will abandon Clinton after her recent remarks is just as newsworthy as whether African-American voters will abandon Clinton after Bill Clinton's remarks in New Hampshire and South Carolina. Not every mention of race is implicit racism. How are we going to have the dialog that Obama suggested in Philadelphia if we can't talk about race in the political arena?
Eric phrased this poorly (we hope). Hint: reword it, Eric.
May 9, 2008 9:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
First, Eric, unless Payne actually said something about Hillary's statement, don't speculate. Ask him if you want to know.
Second, although it's great that he has passed or will pass her, the +/- thing is irrelevant. Assuming Obama wins about half of the remaining pledged delegates, Hillary could beat him 2:1 on supers from here on out and Obama still wins going away (and of course that ain't gonna happen anyway).
May 9, 2008 9:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think Eric's got the message.
May 9, 2008 9:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
clearthinker made the same point albeit in a different manner, and I did not see any of this drivel and outrage.
we are made of loosely defined groups. some have meaning and value, others do not. Every time we use our last names, we are subscribing to the group we came from. Every gender reference ties us to a group.
For better or worse, we fit into categories, and this is not Eric's fault.
For all that, I agree that we are not defined by our skin color.
May 9, 2008 10:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm wondering what the heck is wrong with my state! (PA) Why do we insist on hitching our wagon to the loser???
May 9, 2008 9:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
New York, too. There's like three undeclared supers, one Obama super, and the rest are for Hillary. Ugh.
May 9, 2008 9:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
Good Lord you Obama people are ugly. Suddenly we're post racial? You were the same people arguing with me just last week that Hillary can't have the nomination because black people won't vote. So, group people into race only when it's convenient for you?
May 9, 2008 9:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey. I've always found you to be a thoughtful and sensible Hillary supporter, so I was curious what your current position is. It's really hard to accurately gauge Hillary supporters' state of mind right now with people like gotalife and Louisville acting the fool.
May 9, 2008 9:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
They aren't acting.
May 9, 2008 9:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
Touche.
May 9, 2008 9:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
My position is that the nomination race is over. It's sad, and I'm still a little bitter, but I'm forcing myself to come around for Obama. He was always my second choice, but for so long I really believed Hillary would pull it out.
Now, however, with no chance to catch up in the popular vote any longer, she has no real argument. Pushing the whole "Obama's not winning whites" thing, while somewhat true, is making me sad for her. I still believe she would have the best chance to win in the fall. However, not running a black man because some people in this country are racist is not my idea of the Democratic Party. We're better than that. Roll the dice. Prove them wrong.
I am happy to see her follow through on the promise that everyone will get to vote, and I think she should stay in--but only as a positive candidate--until these primaries are over. I expect she will find the grace we need to see from her.
May 9, 2008 9:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
Great to hear, another_reader. Seriously. Thanks for that.
And I agree. If she calls off the attacks, I have no problem with her staying in throughout the rest of the primaries, and I think most of my fellow Obama supporters feel the same way.
May 9, 2008 9:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
yep, yep, yep.
May 9, 2008 10:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
If she doesn't call off the attacks, she's going to alienate a lot of her former supporters.
May 9, 2008 10:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, glad to have you on board! Of course, choosing to support Obama does not mean ever saying that he is/was a better candidate than Clinton, but merely saying that he is our candidate now and we need to group together to beat McCain, something that should be important to the vast majority of us.
FWIW, I agree that some are a bit quick to jump on race-based accusations both with respect to Eric here and with respect to Clinton. As you said, if we're going to have a dialog on race, we need to actually be able to discuss it. I think Eric's assumption here is weak (since we're talking about one person, we should give them the benefit of asking them rather than making assumptions about them), but I don't think it's impossible, either.
May 9, 2008 10:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm glad to be on board. How great is it that I have to let go of one historic campaign, but can jump on another?
May 9, 2008 10:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
What a great way to put the choice. Thanks.
May 9, 2008 10:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
Welcome aboard another_reader. Acutally, I am sorta jealous, you have got best of both worlds. :)
Seriously though, I think you, having seen her side, can bring in saner perspective to the exuberance of his supporters here and tell us when and where go wrong.
May 9, 2008 11:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
One suggestions I have--don't condemn John McCain the man, condemn his policies and actions. Nothing was worse for me than reading from many Obama supporters on here why Hillary was a this or a that. That's not a way to win people over.
May 9, 2008 11:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
another_reader
I agree some comments here go overboard in Hillary-bashing by being personal but many are harmless snarks based on her and her camp's actions and words. They are definitely nowhere near scale of MyDD, Hillaryis44 and Taylor Marsh, where racism seems to be the main qualitification to comment.
But everyone here loves Greg and Eric bashing :).
May 9, 2008 11:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
The thing is, Rep. Payne did answer the question, although somewhat obliquely, as to whether Hillary's remarks "alienated" him:
That's from the article Greg linked to, so I assume he read the whole thing. Payne also said that he had "really been mulling it over for quite a while" and that he announced his switch now because it is time for the party to unite behind one candidate and focus on defeating McCain.
So, on the one hand we have the public statements on the the whys and hows from Payne himself, taking pains to explain that his decision was based on the math, not the race/race-baiting issue; and on the other we have Eric's speculation that really it was that, because Payne is black, he was "alienated" by Hillary's recent remarks
So, yeah, I think that's fair game for criticism.
And I think Eric can take it.
May 9, 2008 11:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
I stand up and cheer for you, reader. And given some time, I'm convinced your heart will follow your head in support for Obama.
May 9, 2008 10:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hillary's "white voters" argument is emblematic of what went wrong with her campaign. I don't believe Hillary is a racist, not for a second, but I do believe that she is willing to play one on television if it helps her win the nomination. Hillary's lack of a strong moral compass has turned a lot of people off. That is really why she lost.
May 9, 2008 9:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
IDIOTIC WAVE!!!!
May 9, 2008 9:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
THIS
May 9, 2008 9:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
IS
May 9, 2008 9:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
EXCELLENT
May 9, 2008 9:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
NEWS
May 9, 2008 9:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
FOR
May 9, 2008 9:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
HILLARY!!!!
May 9, 2008 9:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
HILLARY!!!
May 9, 2008 9:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
HILLARY!!!!!
May 9, 2008 9:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hillary!
May 9, 2008 9:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
damnit, i meant HILLARY!!!!
May 9, 2008 9:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
IS
May 9, 2008 9:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
TOAST!
May 9, 2008 9:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
WITH
May 9, 2008 12:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
THIS
May 9, 2008 9:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
FOR
May 9, 2008 10:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
NEWS
May 9, 2008 10:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 9, 2008 10:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
EXCELLENT
May 9, 2008 10:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's even funnier when it's out of order!
May 9, 2008 10:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
!!!HILLMENTUM™!!!!
May 9, 2008 12:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Eric seems to be playing right into (playing up?) the racial divisions....is the defining characteristic of this man that he is "African American"? I guess the implication is that NO WONDER he switched his support to Obama.
OK if you want to make the point you did at the end of the post that Hillary may have submarined the rest of her black support, and I believe she has. But, it just rubbed me weird that Payne had the qualifier and Fazio did not.
May 9, 2008 9:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
John Edwards Slipped on Morning Joe. He Voted for Obama:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/5/9/74236/08435/130/512432
Then said he will endorse who he voted for soon.
May 9, 2008 9:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Good stuff. I can't imagine him endorsing Hillary given how much of his base went for Obama.
May 9, 2008 9:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
My reliable source for delegate count:
http://demconwatch.blogspot.com/
Obama is 6.5 supers away, according to demconwatch. I like how they're trickling...drip...drip...drip...rather than a grand gala.
-END IS NEAR
May 9, 2008 9:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Does anyone here think that the revelation that McCain did not vote for Bush in 2000 only helps him?
May 9, 2008 9:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
I hadn't heard that. I don't think it matters much. In fact, I think it makes him even more of a hypocrite. He doesn't vote for him, but now embraces all of his policies. Hmmmmmmmmm?
May 9, 2008 10:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's on the front page. Huffington reported it and now Bradley Whitford and Schiff (From West Wing) are confirming the report that McCain told them all that in 2001.
May 9, 2008 10:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/05/09/west_wing_actors_confirm_accou.html
May 9, 2008 10:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
No it doesn't help him it makes him an flip-flopper (liar, hypocrite) the worse insult in GOP politics, remember, flip-flopper=weak(Kerry) , steadfast=strong (Bush)
May 9, 2008 10:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
I was just thinking that anything that can distance himself from Bush is a positive.
May 9, 2008 10:30 AM | Reply | Permalink