Pledged Delegate Flap
The Clinton campaign denied Tuesday it would make any effort to coax pledged Barack Obama delegates to switch to Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention.
“We have not, are not and will not pursue the pledged delegates of Barack Obama. We think Sen. Obama’s campaign owes you all a clear answer as to whether they will pursue our pledged delegates.”
The Clinton camp is sensitive to this topic because it wants to avoid any appearance of pursuing a win-at-all-costs strategy, something the Obama camp has accused it of as debate has intensified over the role superdelegates should play in the pitched nomination fight.
Clinton’s camp argues the 795 superdelegates should support the candidate they believe would be the best nominee, not necessarily the candidate who has won the most contests, votes or pledged delegates. The Obama camp believes just the opposite and has said Clinton can’t hope to narrow the 136-delegate lead it says it has amassed in pledged delegates.
Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton told FOX News, “Of course we won’t do that.”
Burton said the real question is why the Clinton camp “didn’t deny” they had a pledged delegate strategy.
The Politico.com reported Tuesday that an unnamed senior Clinton official said the campaign would try to persuade pledged delegates committed to Obama to switch to Clinton. Under party rules, pledged delegates - despite their title - can change their allegiance even before the first balllot is cast.
Generally, pledged delegates stick with the candidate they are pledged to as results are tallied in primaries and caucuses.
Any attempt to fight over pledged delegates could generate micro-political wars on the convention floor and introduce a degree of chaos not seen in party conventions in a generation.
Harold Ickes represents everything about Washington D.C. that needs changing. How he can call himself a “Democrat” is amazing, when he clearly is an oligarch, i.e., a man in favor of rule by the select few. Our mainly two-party system allows the power of the people to be usurped by such elitists, who think they know better than the electorate. That can happen because only the convention-chosen candidate of one of the two major parties has much chance to win the general presidential election.
One can always find an excuse to override the popular will “for their own good”. Democracy is supposed to be the rule of the majority of the people, not the rule of a small, privileged group who “know better”.
Notice the spin here: The Clinton camp has not, is not and will not pitch Obama’s “pledged” delegates. You can bet they are hot after all not pledged to Obama, and they are working on a back-room deal to their favor involving Michigan and Florida.
Who is Larry Sinclair? Is this true? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQIZSPQ2ilc
Off topic, but…
Thought you guys and gals might like this: NY Times: Sex Outside of Marriage is Wrong
Enjoy
Before this is over you can be assured of one thing…. the Clintons will deploy every dirty trick in their arsenal to erode and undermine Barack Obama’s momentum. If that doesn’t work they will attempt to buy off super delegates with whatever means works for them. The most ruthless couple in the history of American politics.
if this story and lawsuit is true from larry sinclair (video on youtube) about having sex and using powdered and crack cocaine with obama. i don’t think the clinton campaign would have much trouble pulling some delegates from him. a reporter was talking about it on cincinnati 700 wlw radio during the bill cunningham show.
Obama campaign are acting like they have this all rapped up.But lets remember.Hillary and Bill Clinton have been dragged thru the mud during this campaign and look at them .They are still fighting and that shows us that during bad times with your marriage or your business or your faith that we can over come anything.They stand for working familys that have problems,That need a job,That need health insurance and that need money in there pocket.And obama supporters have proven to be me me me people who dont even get it as far as these values are concerned,They are uneducated people that think they are smarter if they vote for obama and not even thinking of what are country needs. They are mindless little rats folowing the pied piper down the road to destruction.
The Democratic Presidential nominee has not even been chosen and Barack Obama an Attorney and Senator pledged to uphold the Constitution has already succeeded in stifling the Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Speech. He has the audacity to call Hillary a whiner when the truth is that his campaign with the inexhaustible help of the media misrepresented Bill Clintons words when he referred to Obama’s plan for Iraq as a “fairytale” Bill was not referring to a Black man’s bid for the Presidency when he said this and Obama’s campaign knew this and allowed it. They play the race card when it suits them and I think it’s shameful and pathetic. The Obama campaign is now whining about the use of Barack Hussein Obama’s middle name apparently they believe in Freedom of Speech or Freedom of the Press only when it is politically advantageous to Barack Hussein Obama.
Obama’s claim to be a uniter not a divider is utterly and completely false I have never seen a more divided race. I for one vow to vote for McCain if Obama gets the nomination.
If either of them do anything to steal pledged candidates from the other they deserve to be abandoned by the public whose vote they seek! Earn it on your own or go home!
Nice job - keep up the good reporting.