My Brother the Superdelegate and Why I Don't Trust Him to Pick the Next President

[Barack_America]

My Brother the Superdelegate and Why I Don't Trust Him to Pick the Next President

by Ari Emanuel

My brother Rahm Emanuel is a superdelegate. I love my brother, and I trust my brother. But I gave up letting my brother dictate my life since he determined whether he got the top or bottom bunk in our bedroom back in Chicago.

So, as much as I love and respect him, I don't trust him and his fellow superdelegates to decide for me and the American people who should be the Democratic nominee -- and, therefore, most likely the next president of the United States.

I want voters to make that decision. The superdelegates, my brother included, have not been elected by anybody to name the nominee. They've either been appointed by the Party or, as in my brother's case, have automatically inherited the role simply because they are elected officials. This isn't the place to debate the entire history of superdelegates. Suffice it to say, however, they were created by the Party machine decades ago for the express purpose of giving Party insiders the ability to thwart the popular will.

After what Democrats went through in Florida in 2000, we should be the first to reject any such funny business. We should be as opposed to superdelegates changing the course of an election as we were to the Supreme Court appointing George W. Bush president.

The right thing for my brother, and all the other superdelegates to do, is to support the decision of the voters. Whichever candidate has won the most delegates going into the national convention should be granted the endorsement of the superdelegates. Period. And we should put pressure on them to agree to do so now -- before the jockeying, lobbying, and infighting get really ugly, as they inevitably will.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ari-emanuel/my-brother-the-superdeleg_b_85924.html">More

[ursi]

1. Damn!

[Proud2BAmurkin]

2. what an asshole nt

calling out your bro?

[ingac70]

4. even Rahm's own brother...

knows DLCers can't be trusted.

[Ichingcarpenter]

10. Rahm is an egotistical DLC party hack

This divide between brothers is a metaphor for what is
happening to the party.

It is a good thing.

[southern_dem]

8. How do you know

his brother doesn't agree with him? Rahm hasn't endorsed anyone to this point.

[gateley]

3. Boy, is Rahm going to be pissed when he reads this! nt

[Medusa]

18. Could be a not-so-disguised way to get the message out

by way of his brother? Or not. Either way, it's a great editorial.

[WCGreen]

5. Actually, this reform were created to open the process up and still

give a voice to the leadership of the party...

It was designed after the 1968 fiasco and spearheaded by McGovern...

You see, if the elected officials ran for delegates they would win most of the seats up for grabs just because of their name and the power of the office...

This allowed more party regulars to run for delegate, win and attend the convention...

So it was a good reform back in the old days of 1972, but I don't think they saw this kind of problem arising...

They figured if most of the states held primaries and caucuses, one candidate would stand out...

I guess they were wrong about that one...

[goldcanyonaz]

6. What a freaking putz.

[fujiyama]

7. Haha this is great

and he's absolutely right.

[gateley]

9. Here's Wiki on Ari:

Ariel "Ari" Emanuel is a prominent talent agent and founder of the Endeavor Agency in Beverly Hills, California. He represents Larry David, Michael Moore, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Mark Wahlberg, among others. His stature in the industry has prompted various homages and parodies over the years, including *Bob Odenkirk's character Stevie Grant on The Larry Sanders Show<1> and the character Ari Gold, played by Jeremy Piven, on the HBO television show Entourage<2>

Background

Raised in suburban Wilmette, Illinois, outside Chicago, Emanuel is the brother of U.S. Congressman Rahm Emanuel, and NIH bioethicist Ezekiel J. Emanuel; his father, the Jerusalem-born Dr. Benjamin M. Emanuel is a pediatrician, who was active in the pre-independence Israeli underground<3> on behalf of the Irgun,<4> a Zionist paramilitary organization. His mother, Martha Emanuel (née Smulevitz), was a civil rights activist, and the one-time owner of a Chicago-area rock and roll club.<4> He is a graduate of New Trier West High School and of Macalester College in St Paul, Minnesota.
Public Advocacy

Ari Emanuel gained widespread media attention in July 2006 when he called on Hollywood to blacklist Mel Gibson because of Gibson’s anti-Semitic remarks during his DUI arrest. Emanuel wrote, “People in the entertainment community, whether Jew or gentile, need to demonstrate that they understand how much is at stake in this by professionally shunning Mel Gibson and refusing to work with him, even if it means a sacrifice to their bottom line.”<5> At the time Gibson was represented by rival talent agency ICM. Gavin de Becker responded with a two-page open letter to Emanuel in the Hollywood Reporter.<6>

In 2007 Emanuel publicly backed Chris Albrecht after Albrecht was fired from HBO for a domestic violence arrest, preceded by rumors of three earlier incidents of violence against women.<7> Emanuel wrote, “If Hollywood is going to give Mel Gibson a second chance, and sports fans are going to cheer on stars like Jason Kidd, Latrell Sprewell, and Stephen Jackson who have made similar mistakes, why not Chris Albrecht?”<8> Emanuel later helped Albrecht land his next job at IMG<9>

Ari Emanuel has hosted fundraisers for Democratic candidates, including a $2,300 per plate fundraiser for Barack Obama at his home.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ari_Emanuel

[Barack_America]

11. Ah, that's where I saw his name before...

The fundraiser. Thanks for posting that.

[Ichingcarpenter]

12. Thanks, he seems like the better brother

Chris Albrecht was an asshole.

[grantcart]

25. He had me at "he represents Larry David"

[nonconformist]

13. Obama the uniter

Tearing the Democratic party, and now families, apart.

Does Ari think that Kerry and Kennedy should switch their superdelegate support, too?

[Barack_America]

21. FYI, Obama didn't write this.

:hi:

[Ichingcarpenter]

14. Forgot to nominate in this thread

I think that this important story and I have almost never nominated a thread in GDP

[Barack_America]

17. Wow, then. Thanks!

If only I could claim more than just cutting and pasting this! ;)

[noamnety]

15. That all needed to be said.

Having privileged superdelegates appointed by the establishment whose votes carry more weight than the average citizen isn't helping the election process at all.

[Barack_America]

20. I couldn't agree more. n/t

[Tatiana]

16. OUCH! Must be that Hollywood Limousine Liberal in him! n/t

[sjdnb]

19. Actually, the right thing to do ... for sds and voters

is to research the policies, positions, and backgrounds of each candidate and vote their conscience.

This is not a game ... what you do with your vote determines whether people live or die, are fed or go hungry, m/c kids go to college, etc.

It's about time, the avg American with a vote (94% of us) realize none of the folks with power (about 6% of the pop of the country) want to give an inch or dollar of it up ... as long as they can keep us working longer and harder for less and get away with the manipulation, corruption, and fraud that has served them so well, so far. All of us have been taken for a ride by both parties. Some a little more than others -- but, the outcome is the same. Avg. hard working, honest Americans, work longer and harder, filling the pockets of the powerful, while losing ground for themselves and their families.

Neither party is blameless. It's about time they choose who to serve - the wealthy/their own interests or us. And, if they continue along their current path, it's up to us to throw them out.

[Beregond2]

22. Superdelegates

He is wrong in saying that the purpose was to thwart the will of the voters. Just the opposite in fact. The purpose was to tip the total delegate count toward the candidate who won the popular vote. Whether or not it has worked that way is another question of course. But I find it hard to imagine the superdelegates daring to give the nomination to a candidate that the majority clearly opposed. That would almost certainly guarantee a Republican victory, as the offended voters stayed home.

The whole system needs to be rethought, and I hope that will be the first priority of the winning candidate...but I'll be surprised if it is. Candidates always talk about election reform until they win, then one never hears another word about it.

[Barack_America]

23. God I hope you're right.

I just don't see how I would be able to call myself a "Democrat" if the superdelegates go against the people. That's just so...Republican.

[Truth2Tell]

24. Ya know what Ari?

I don't even trust your brother to tell me what time it is, much less serve in Congress, or God forbid, choose the Democratic nominee. I do trust him to do whatever AIPAC wants though.

[TexasObserver]

26. I don't trust his brother either, on any level.

[Meldread]

27. Ari I don't trust your brother either.

I'm glad we have that in common.

[Barack_America]

28. Lol. What a great response!...n/t

[Kurovski]

29. K&R. (nt)