Southern Dem warns party to avert disaster

[ckramer]

Source: yn

Democrats are increasingly nervous about their party’s protracted nomination fight, and some prominent figures are publicly warning that the party needs to act fast to avoid disaster.

Chief among these voices is Phil Bredesen, the two-term governor of Tennessee who is uncommitted to either Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) or Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

In an interview this week with Politico, Bredesen said flatly that if the contentious slog continues until the Democrats’ late-August convention in Denver, the party would have a vastly diminished chance of recapturing the White House.

“They have a much steeper, rockier hill to climb if it goes to the convention,” the governor said over a dinner of rockfish and red wine. “You’re going to spend this whole summer — and lots of money and time and effort — trying to convince people that whoever isn’t eventually nominated, isn’t electable.

Bredesen also joined House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in warning that superdelegates should not overturn the outcome from primaries and caucuses.

If Obama were denied the nomination by Democratic insiders after winning the party’s popular vote, Bredesen said, “There would be hell to pay in the party for a long time to come.”

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080326/pl_politico/9217

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[zonmoy]

1. party is making hillary stay in to make sure that they take the dive

to get mccain in.

[Supersedeas]

15. makes you wonder

[patrice]

2. Stop the Troll War! nt

[Thepricebreaker]

13. Shhhh... don't tell the truth..

[ckramer]

3. Hillary please quit

if you don't want another 8 years of Republican rule.

[Glorfindel]

4. The 8 years of Repuke rule might be tolerable...BUT

the half-century of a packed, radical conservative, Repuke Supreme Court is the tragedy we need to avert at any cost.

[psychmommy]

5. here we go.

the pressure is going to start mounting. come on dem leaders apply the pressure. this fight is over, let's begin the real fight. mccain is doing all types of weird f____ ups. we should be decimating him by now.

[davidinalameda]

6. Bredesen needs to endorse Obama NOW

as does Pelosi and Gore and the rest of the party leadership

he has earned it

[Divine Discontent]

7. Gore, Edwards, Pelosi, and several other prominent types like that Gov.

need to back Obama on the same day to just make it so obvious it's time for her to stop this charade.

I hope they do it on Monday - at least 3 prominent people - we need this over now.

[anamandujano]

8. Gore would not join a group attempting to short circuit the process.

Remember "every vote should be counted."

[hifalutin]

9. But not if

you live in Forida or Michigan.

[saigon68]

12. Too bad in 2000 Gore didn't win either Tenn or Ark

[Divine Discontent]

19. ana

that does not pertain to the nominating process, that pertains to a state's votes cast in any given election - in the nominating process there comes a point when you're hurting your party and playing such dirty politics that you are laughable to most people involved, and you don't go on as if each state's votes really count - when in this case, they do not really count - Obama has won mathetmatically, the polls do not show her even remotely beating him large enough to circumvent his getting the nomination - and she's not going to persuade the supers to go against the people's votes and choose her - that's why Richardson backed Obama, and more will follow this week.

Sorry, and I do mean that, but the Clintons have become laughable. I recall some of the Obama supporters camp demanding Edwards get out a few weeks before he did, and he still had a shot depending on what happened on Feb 5th, Hillary does not have a legitimate shot anymore - that time came and went when Obama reeled off 10 wins in a row. She is causing a mess and highly damaging her reputation for any future run. In fact, I think this is IT for her, thus the gutter politics. Just my opinion, I respect you have yours.

[youngharry]

10. Bredesen is DLC

Bredesen is DLC and they are the ones keeping Hilary in this race. They want Dean out so they can control the Party with their Corporatist office-holders. Hilary is the DLC Queen Lady, there to serve the Corporations, not the American people.

[WTyler]

11. Even more damning

The DLC are Clinton's people through and through. The fact that a DLC Dem from a state that borders Arkansas is talking like that shows how much support Hillary has lost within the party.

[rmgarrette64]

16. How has he 'earned' it?

He hasn't won the nomination yet. Neither candidate will have won the nomination until after the superdelegates vote. Neither of them has earned it until or unless they win.

I'd also argue that Obama is showing himself to be fairly weak in states he'll need to win in the general (Florida, Pennsylvania, for instance.) With the brouhaha around Rev. Wright, he's facing his first big media scandal, and handling it badly. Do you really think he won't face any more during the general election? That's just not how things work.

Clinton carries her own weaknesses, to be sure. That's why we have primaries. And this one will go to the end.

R. Garrett

[davidinalameda]

17. he's ahead in votes and in delegates

there is NO way that Hill can come back and win the nomination short of Obama being caught with his pants down, literally and figuratively

if she cares anything about the party and the direction of this country, she'll drop out and endorse Obama without any hesitation and go out and work for his election

but I don't think that she and Bill care about anything but their own ambition so I think they'll be more than happy to hang the party out to dry and do their damnedest to subject this country of 4 more years of failed republican policies

[amandabeech]

18. Some folks need to stay neutral.

No one who favors either candidate will be able to do much at the end.

The Clintons will not back down easily, if at all.

Ganging up on them publicly will only make them hang on longer. You cannot bully them.

[roseBudd]

14. “There would be hell to pay in the party for a long time to come.” kiss the new democrats goodbye

the ones that won't be dieing before the next several election cycles

[mbperrin]

20. He's wrong. The rules say all the primaries vote. That's known

and agreed to by everyone in the party. After that, the convention selects the best candidate. Simple rules. Those who want to impose a solution by force probably also bragged about the trains running on time, right?

Democracy is messy. And by the way, if you think these two candidates have slung anything yet, wait til the GE. Willie Horton, little girls killed by atom bombs, and even worse. Better toughen up now. No stomach for a fight? Quit. That's a rule, too.