A group of prominent, wealthy, and connected donors to Hillary Clinton’s campaign have sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asking her to “clarify” a recent statement she made regarding the party’s “superdelegates.” The signees reminded Pelosi of their support for the party’s House campaign committee, so “therefore” she should “reflect her comments to a more open view.” In other words, “don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”
The statement that Pelosi made that has these backers all worked up was on March 16, when she claimed that, “If the votes of the superdelegates overturn what’s happened in the elections, it would be harmful to the Democratic party.” Harmful would be a major understatement!
Barring a total meltdown by the Obama camp, it is speculated that it would be nearly impossible for Clinton to overcome Obama’s lead in pledged delegates, which of course means the responsibility to elect the Party’s Presidential nominee lies with the superdelegates. Superdelegates, as their name implies, are current or former elected officeholders and party officials, and unlike normal delegates are free to support any candidate for the nomination. In other words, a superdelegate is a delegate “for hire.” Seeing as they are not bound by any voter’s wishes, they can cast their vote for whoever they choose, for whatever reason they choose, and there is not a damn thing anybody can do about it.
Some of the high powered donors that signed the letter to Pelosi are prominent Democrats and were supporters of former President Bill Clinton, and share Hillary’s claim that superdelegates should exercise independent judgment about who would be the best for the party and the country. If you read between the lines, Hillary is telling the superdelegate body to basically “forget what the voter wants, disregard the outcome of the elections, and vote for the hand that has fed you during Bill’s Presidency”. Sounds eerily similar to a certain election in 2000 where the popular vote was disregarded and look what happened with that situation!
Hillary is feeling the pressure, and I’m sure has instructed her minions to go forth and start pulling the strings that she and Bill have maintained since they were in the White House. The whole idea of a “superdelegate” probably looked good on paper when it was instituted in 1984, but in today’s race it could turn out to be the poison pill that destroys the party’s run for the White House.
With record numbers of young Democratic voters showing up to vote and make their voices heard, because they want change, and they want to be a part of it, and this is how the Democratic party is going to reward them by essentially saying that their vote really ended up meaning nothing, because their candidate of choice lost because a few favors were called in. That is a travesty!
If Obama gets the majority of the popular vote, and Hillary wins the nomination because of the superdelegates, the Democratic party will be dead. Its previous supporters will be splintered, there will be no unity, no cohesiveness, the run for the White House will probably be a failed attempt. And that too would be a travesty!
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Tags: 2008 Presidential Candidates by vicezilla
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