Hillary's top donors threaten Pelosi: Endorse Hillary's view that elected delegates can abandon Obama or we're pulling our money from the party.That's not going over well!
UPDATE: ABC News' Political Director David Chalian reports that a Democratic operative unaffiliated with either campaign and familiar with the reaction to the letter among Members of Congress says, "Members of Congress - who are superdelegates - make up the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee" or DCCC from which the donors seemed to be threatening to withhold funds.
"Threatening the DCCC is equal to threatening the superdelegates Sen. Hillary Clinton's trying to court. The Clinton donor letter will just push undeclared superdelegates in Congress leaning toward Obama to endorse him sooner. It also reinforces the narrative that she'll destroy the party to win."
linkPelosi
isn't backing down:
"Speaker Pelosi is confident that superdelegates will choose between Senators Clinton or Obama -- our two strong candidates -- before the convention in August. That choice will be based on many considerations, including respecting the decisions of millions of Americans who have voted in primaries and participated in caucuses. The Speaker believes it would do great harm to the Democratic Party if superdelegates are perceived to overturn the will of the voters. This has been her position throughout this primary season, regardless of who was ahead at any particular point in delegates or votes."
by Aaron Bruns
Asked about her options for getting those votes counted, the New York Senator raised the specter of a convention battle — a scenario few Democrats can be excited about. “You can always go to the convention. That’s what credential fights are for,” she said. “Lets have the Democratic party go on record against seating the Michigan and Florida delegations three months before the general election? I don’t think that will happen. I think they will be seated. So that’s where we’re headed if we don’t get this worked out.”
Senator Clinton also addressed two controversies that have hurt both candidates in recent days — her exaggerated account of a trip to Bosnia in 1996, and Sen Obama’s problem with his pastor, Rev Jeremiah Wright.
On the Bosnia tale, Clinton was anxious to move on. “I’m a human being. I made a mistake and owned up to it. But that’s not what people talk to me about,” she said. “People want to talk about the economy and health care and they want to know what are you going to do to fix our country and get it back on track, and help my family and me. And that’s what I’m really engaged in. Because, you know, when you’ve been on a campaign for 14 months, you know, there’s all other kinds of distractions, but at the end of the day this is like a hiring decision.
Who will people hire to get this country moving in the direction it should move in?”And Senator Clinton repeated earlier assertions that she would have left the church has she heard anti-American statements like those uttered by Rev Wright coming out of the mouth of her own pastor “I was asked very point blank yesterday what I would have done had I been in a position where someone was making those kinds of comments, and I said I would have left,” she said. “It’s a very personal decision. You know, you don’t get to pick your family, but you do get to pick the church or synagogue you attend. And I said that I would have left, and that’s how I feel about it.”
more(emphasis added)
The people of the country would like to move in the
opposite direction of lying!
A "credential fights," that too is not going over well!
By Eric Kleefeld - March 27, 2008, 9:13AM
Some cracks are
starting to show in the dedication of Hillary Clinton super-delegates in Washington State, with some fearing that the drawn-out contest would damage the party for the general election.
"I don't think that people want a divisive, explosive convention," said King County Executive Ron Sims, a super-delegate supporting Hillary. "It will radiate defeat."
Another Hillary supporter, Sen. Maria Cantwell,
declared earlier this week that "I definitely don’t want the super-delegates to be the deciding factor," and that the party should eventually come together around the candidate who has won the most delegates and most states.
Florida and MI:
Actual Popular Vote Total
Obama 13,355,239 (+717,276)
Hillary 12,637,963
FL
Obama 576,214
Hillary 870,986
Total votes 1,447,200
Popular Vote (w/FL)
Obama 13,931,453 (+422,504)
Hillary 13,508,949
MI
Clinton 328,151
Uncommitted 237,762
Popular Vote (w/FL and MI)
Obama 13,931,453 (+94,195)
Clinton 13,837,258
Let's say Obama got the uncommitted MI votes
Popular Vote (w/FL and MI)
Obama 14,169,215 (+331,957)
Clinton 13,837,258
In these scenarios Obama is clearly ahead, even with no MI votes going to him.
What would a revote mean? Hillary would not get more than 58% of the MI and 60% of the FL vote as indicated above. In fact, she stands to lose ground.
Posted: Wednesday, March 26, 2008 5:55 PM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC/NJ's Matthew E. Berger
<...>
The Democratic Party insiders say they believe Clinton's direct attacks against Sen. Barack Obama in recent days are hurting the party and its chances in November, and also say it is showing a calculated, desperate-to-win side of Clinton that they dislike.
"In looking at the manner in which the candidates are campaigning, I think it would be best they focused their attention on the presumptive nominee and showed our party which one is better in campaigning against McCain," said Garry Shay, a California superdelegate, who announced his support for Clinton.
Unlike some in the party, these superdelegates said they do not believe Clinton should drop out of the race. They said they are committed to the democratic process, and want to allow the states still remaining to cast their ballots. But they acknowledged Obama is the likely nominee and suggested the personal attacks were only hurting the party and its viability.
<...>
Others said they were frustrated by recent reports that Clinton embellished her description of landing in Bosnia as First Lady, and said it suggested she would do anything to win. "I don't remember what movie I saw two weeks ago; I don't necessarily remember what I had for dinner last night," one superdelegate said. "But I would remember having to duck and run from sniper fire."
The final straw, though, were Clinton's comments Tuesday, when she said the Rev. Jeremiah Wright "would not have been my pastor." Several superdelegates saw it as a direct, personal attack on Obama.
"I think it's very dangerous for any candidate to constantly thrum on what they perceive as sensational criticisms of their opponent," said Debra Kozikowski, an uncommitted superdelegate from Massachusetts. "I would be more likely to respond positively to discussions of issues that effect Americans versus what might be perceived as character flaws."
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