Penn, Wolfson on Superdelegate Leakage
Responding to Jon Corzine's comments today indicating that he would consider switching his support to Barack Obama from Hillary Clinton if the Illinois Senator were to win the popular vote, Mark Penn said in today's Clinton conference call, "All superdelegates are going to look at this race, they are going to look at the popular vote including Michigan and Florida."
Penn's comment serves as an illustration of the increasingly selective metrics the Clinton campaign is trying to sell to superdelegates. (Popular vote, but only if the questionable results from Florida and Michigan are counted; big states rather than total states; projected electoral college votes rather than elected delegates.)
Howard Wolfson was also asked to respond to the comments of another important super delegate, Jimmy Carter, who seemed to suggest in an interview in Nigeria that he was leaning towards Obama.
"Obviously he is free to make whatever decision he feels is appropriate," said Wolfson, who had only flattering things to say about the former president. "I'm sure that people will be interested in the choice that he makes."
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
I don't see how the popular vote is a selective metric. and yes, popular vote includes Michigan and Florida. I believe Dean said Florida and Michigan's delegates were not to be seated at the convention, not that the votes never occurred. The people still voted stripped delegates or not.
You know, if they want to count FL, as an Obama supporter I could almost understand that. But MI is a no brainah. Split it 50/50 and get on with it. If McCain picks a VP who makes up for his lack of charisma and economic knowledge, the dems will have to make up too much ground.
As far as I'm concerned if MI and FL were not worth fighting for by the Clintonistas in December prior to the primaries, they shouldn't count now. Unless you're losing in the popular vote, states won, delgates won (Obama won TX and NV in delegates), and the money race. If a candidate can't manage their campaign finances, how the hell are they going to run the country?
While I wish that there were some fair way to represent FL and MI delegates, the fact is that when people went to the polls in those states they knew that their votes on the presidential primary would not count. There is, unfortunately, no way to adjust fairly for how this impacted the actual voting. In Michigan, Obama was not even on the ballot. In Florida, there was an important matter about housing taxes (or something like that) being voted on that apparently caused a disproportionate representation by homeowners to choose to go to the polls that day. The number of people who voted for HC vs who voted for BO on that day cannot, therefore, be used as an accurate representation of the will of the people in those states.
Other factors that cannot be ignored: 1) Republicans and Independents who might have voted for a Democrat in the Michigan primary likely voted for a Republican because they knew their Democrat vote would not count. 2) Neither HC nor BO actually campaigned in MI or FL. At that point in time, HC was a household name and BO was not. BO has shown in every state contest he has campaigned in that he does far better once people get to know him. There is no way to know how those states would have voted had they been exposed to campaigns by both HC and BO.
While I wish that there were some fair way to represent FL and MI delegates, the fact is that when people went to the polls in those states they knew that their votes on the presidential primary would not count. There is, unfortunately, no way to adjust fairly for how this impacted the actual voting. In Michigan, Obama was not even on the ballot. In Florida, there was an important matter about housing taxes (or something like that) being voted on that apparently caused a disproportionate representation by homeowners to choose to go to the polls that day. The number of people who voted for HC vs who voted for BO on that day cannot, therefore, be used as an accurate representation of the will of the people in those states.
Other factors that cannot be ignored: 1) Republicans and Independents who might have voted for a Democrat in the Michigan primary likely voted for a Republican because they knew their Democrat vote would not count. 2) Neither HC nor BO actually campaigned in MI or FL. At that point in time, HC was a household name and BO was not. BO has shown in every state contest he has campaigned in that he does far better once people get to know him. There is no way to know how those states would have voted had they been exposed to campaigns by both HC and BO.
If Michigan and Florida had contested primaries, Obama would come away with the most delegates. But it ain't gonna happen. Hillary helped insure that when she signed a pledge, on her honor (read the text of the pledge), not to contest those states. Pledges and honor mean things. The only way she could take delegates from those states would be to throw her word and her honor out the window.
Is there something in the air Americans breathe that makes them brainless at the election time? Bush the dolt was elected, twice, now it's Obama's turn? Did you read his idiotic books? Do you need a child to tell you that this king has no cloth?
Obama is not interested in any issues or any causes, black or white. He will use anyone to advance himself, and he will sell you out, you American morons, the first chance he'll get. He stayed at every point in his life only as long as he needed to. Muslim by heart, christian by convenience, democrat by expediency, he is more dangerous than Bush. You don't want to find this the hard way, do you?
I am increasingly concerned about the confusion in this Democratic campaign between: a) Machiavellian tactics (used to justify spin and outright lies because, allegedly, "that is just the nature of politics"); and b) basic ethics.
1) Clinton spin says that the Michigan and Florida votes must count lest the voters be "disenfranchised." Nonsense. Adherence to basic ethics would acknowledge that Obama wasn't even on the ballot in Michigan; and, in Florida, it was the state legislature and a republican governor who disenfranchised the Florida voters, not the democratic party. It is a lack of ethics that permits Hillary to disavow her agreement to support the party decision.
2) Clinton spin dismisses the ethical significance, not only of the agreement she signed about Florida and Michigan, but also of outright lies about Bosnia, the woman who died in Ohio and, just yesterday, whether it was she or Obama who spoke against the war in Iraq first. Not to mention the Clinton camp failure to release 2007 tax returns, as promised, before the Pennsylvania primary. Does making a statement that they have an extension justify breaking their word?
Bottom line: After eight years of Bush/Cheney, do we want four to eight more years of decoding presidential pronouncements for truth? Is this the M.O. we want our children to learn as an example of how to conduct oneself in the world?
It is not John McCain who represents another Bush term -- although his fundamental flaw of wishful thinking could have catastrophic results. Rather, it is Billary who will give us a third Bush term, in terms of requiring us all to exhaust ourselves by fact checking because we cannot believe anything they say.
FL and MI must be counted and I'm sure they would have already have been counted if, Obama would have won. Otherwise, we are going to have yet another presidential candidate who can really turn the tide in America eliminated by the bias to Obama over Clinton by the MSM with FOX included, but less so unbelievably, and the DNC and RNC's fear of a strong woman candidate. Dare I remind the DNC, we have Bush II because of disenfranchising of FL. Also, does the DNC realize the fact is Obama can't beat McCain in the fall? Another consideration I think the DNC should think about is the RNC led by Karl Rove is doing everything possible to get BO nominated because they have, from the beginning, known their nominee would beat anyone but Hillary. Wake up DNC, before we lose again in November.
Your excuse to disenfranchise 2.5 million Democrats is disgusting. Hillary has the popular vote and they were certified by the states and will count. obama took his name off the ballot in MI to pander and ran a campaign to vote uncommitted, obama campaigned in FL running over a 1 million dollar national ads on MSNBC and CNN which everyone in FL saw, while Hillary and Edwards were the only ones to honor their committment.