Tag: 2008 (page 14)

Here's the link to Lobby Superdelegates.

Pick your state, tell them you are a constituent and make your case for your favorite candidate.

Superdelegates can make up their minds or change their minds anytime up until the convention. So long as Hillary stays in the race, there is no victor. As of tonight and tomorrow, this is a two person race.

Obama leads in pledged delegates, but doesn't have the magic number. Hillary leads in the popular vote. More people have voted for her than Obama.

With neither candidate winning both the pledged delegate total and the popular vote, the question is, who is more electable in November and who can better lead our country?

Don't be shy, this may be your last chance.

The Rocky Mountain News reports:

Sen. Ken Salazar joined a small group of fellow undecided Democratic superdelegates on Capitol Hill today, but said they reached no agreement on whether to endorse a presidential candidate as a group.

The gathering created a major stir amid published reports that up to 15 previously uncommitted senators were on the verge of giving a united endorsement to Democratic front-runner Sen. Barack Obama.

Salazar said he could make the case for either candidate. Others at the meeting included: Sens. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa; Ben Cardin, D-Md.; and Tom Carper, D-Del. [More...]

Watch for yourselves. What's your take?

Despite the media predictions she will suspend her campaign Wednesday, is she saying she will stay in longer? Or is she just trying to make sure the people in MT and SD have a reason to go out and vote and she has an opportunity to meet with superdelegates when the voting has ended? [More...]

This is an update to this morning's post about Peniel Cronin's latest report on the caucus vs. primary results in the Democratic presidential nomination race.

I sent her some questions I received from readers. She answers that her notes and figures are correct. However, to make it easier for readers to discern the difference in what she is saying, she has modified some of the wording in the footnotes.

The revised report is here. (The original report is here.)She adds: [More...]

Hot off the press and only available at TalkLeft: Peniel Cronin's revised Caucus v. Primary report with numbers updated to today, showing how the caucuses, compared to primaries, have unfairly disenfranchised voters. (Background and original report here.)

I want this report to get as much exposure as possible. Thus, this post will stay at the top of TalkLeft for several hours. New posts will be below it.

Some Findings:

• 35.6 million people have voted
• The 37 primary states account for 97% of the vote.
• The 13 caucus states account for 3% of the vote.

Bottom line: Clinton’s lead is from 34.5 million voters (97%) in Primaries. Obama’s lead is from 1.1 million voters (3%) in caucuses. [More...]

The Washington Post agrees it's true.

"17 million Americans have voted for Hillary Clinton...more than for any primary candidate in history" -- a statement that is entirely true.

Bill Burton, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, said that "both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have gotten more votes than any presidential campaign in primary history" but added: "We are, however, ahead in the popular vote now and will be ahead when all of the votes are counted Tuesday."

More....

Now that the DNC has recognized the Florida and Michigan primaries by agreeing to seat all of their delegates, the party has to recognize the popular votes in those states. The elections are no longer "illegitimate." Flawed, perhaps, but illegitimate, no.

The way I see it, the DNC cannot change the numbers of votes cast the way it did delegates. These were certified state elections with firm vote totals. Barack Obama removed himself voluntarily from the ballot. Hillary has to be allotted her votes, and he has to accept the consequences of his action, which is that he gets none of the popular vote in Michigan.

As a result, by any count, Hillary Clinton now leads in the popular vote. From Real Clear Politics:

CNN and others are breathlessly reporting Obama is resigning from Trinity Church.

[Comments closed.]

Hillary is not conceding seating Florida and Michigan by any stretch of the imagination. She is fighting as hard as ever. Here is the letter her campaign sent out today.

• The Rules and Bylaws Committee has the authority to seat all of the delegates from Florida and Michigan with full votes.
• Actual election results must control the allocation of Michigan's delegates.
• Although they oppose any 50% solution, seating all the delegates with 1/2 vote is less harmful than seating 50% of the delegates and giving those 50% a full vote.

The campaign asks the committee to rule promptly rather than waiting for the Credentials committee to act.

Comments closed

Via Suburban Guerilla and Reuters:

During a fund-raiser in Denver, Obama — a former constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago Law School — was asked what he hoped to accomplish during his first 100 days in office.

“I would call my attorney general in and review every single executive order issued by George Bush and overturn those laws or executive decisions that I feel violate the constitution,” said Obama.

He'll overturn laws? What about the separation of powers? How can a President overturn a law passed by Congress?

Presidents issue exective orders. It's Congress that passes and repeals laws. Our courts decide the constitutionality of laws passed by Congress.

[More...]

CNN is doing a big segment tonight on how Barack Obama won his first state senate seat by booting Alice Palmer from the ballot. (Article here.)Palmer now supports Hillary Clinton.

Shorter version: How did Obama win his first Senate seat? By challenging his opponents' right to be on the ballot and succeeding, so he could run unopposed.

I wrote about this in detail in April when Palmer campaigned for Hillary in Indiana. Here's the back story, from the Chicago Tribune: [More...]

The Washington Post analyzes Barack Obama's campaign from an issues standpoint and finds he breaks little new ground.

When Obama changed his mind and decided to run for president after only two years in the Senate, however, he effectively dismissed the importance of policy proposals, declaring in one speech in early 2007, "We've had plenty of plans, Democrats," and in another: "Every four years, somebody trots out a white paper, they post it on the Web." He cast his "new kind of politics" in terms of his ability to transcend divisions and his unique biography and offered few differences on issues from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and the other Democratic presidential candidates.

His "new politics" mostly refers to tone and leadership style. I found this statement by a campaign aide quite telling:

Obama aides, however, say their approach will work because most voters are looking not for a new vision for expanding health care but rather for a reformed political system such as the one Obama calls for, one that would solve problems rather than resort to bickering.

I think a new vision for expanding health care is exactly what Democrats are looking for.