IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.— That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Keyword: superdelegates
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Well-meaning, often first-time voters gush that it has been exciting that at last they could choose either a black or a woman... race and gender have emerged as credentials of their own... The undemocratic processes of the Democratic party, normally confined to urban political machines like Chicago's, have been enhanced this year by the party's manipulations in Florida and Michigan, and in the cynical system of superdelegates... The Democratic nominee has stated that the Iraq war already has been lost. Despite this falsehood, Mr. Obama declares that it is the president who has misled our country. Although he has the...
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How Many Rights Are Democrats Willing to Forfeit? by Frank Salvato With the announcement that Hillary Clinton is abandoning her quest for the Oval Office the Democrat National Committee (DNC) - and specifically the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee - has effectively selected the candidate for their party. I say selected because, by construct, the decision making process was taken away from the party faithful and placed in the hands of an elitist class of party insiders. These party insiders - superdelegates and the DNC Executive Committee - have literally usurped the will of the people by marginalizing the popular...
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Some of Clinton's closest supporters - the nearly two dozen House Democrats from her home state of New York - switched their endorsements to Obama Thursday.
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LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm isn't switching her support quite yet to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. Granholm and Lieutenant Governor John Cherry both endorsed New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton last October. They're among seven Michigan Democratic superdelegates who backed Clinton. Fifteen support Obama, with one more expected to endorse Friday. Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said Thursday that, while the governor has made it clear she'll support the Democratic nominee, she won't make a formal statement supporting Obama until after Clinton announces a decision on her campaign. Clinton plans to hold an event in Washington...
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According to the media, Barack Obama has won the Democratic Presidential nomination (Obama Clinches Nomination; First Black Candidate to Lead a Major Party Ticket). That's only true if you count the so-called superdelegates. Neither Barack Obama (1750) nor Hillary Clinton (1624.5) has won enough elected delegates from the popular vote in the actual primaries and caucuses to hit the delegate number needed (2118) to seal the nomination. That brings us to the one important thing that the major media (but not AT) aren't sharing with the public right now. Obama's nomination is secured only by the promised votes of the...
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With the final primary concluded barely hours before, top Democratic Party leaders in Washington early this morning ratcheted up the pressure to force all remaining uncommitted superdelegates to make their choice of candidate known by Friday -- and thus end the now hopeless, onetime front-running campaign of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. The joint statement was obviously pre-planned and timed for issue shortly after Clinton refused to concede the presidential nomination victory to Barack Obama, who's gained sufficient delegates to clinch the party's nomination. Howard Dean, right, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader...
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With the final primary concluded barely hours before, top Democratic Party leaders in Washington early this morning ratcheted up the pressure to force all remaining uncommitted superdelegates to make their choice of candidate known by Friday The joint statement was obviously pre-planned and timed for issue shortly after Clinton refused to concede the presidential nomination's victory to Barack Obama, who's gained sufficient delegates to clinch the party's nomination. Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, chairman of the Democratic Governors Assn., issued the brief...
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Uncommitted Senate superdelegates say they are unlikely to weigh in with endorsements for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) until Wednesday at the earliest. The remaining superdelegates in the Senate say they are holding out in the final hours of the Democratic presidential primary mostly to see what their other colleague, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), chooses to do, and how she decides to move forward in the next 24 hours. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) who has not yet endorsed either Obama or Clinton, urged the 17 other uncommitted superdelegates in his chamber to “keep their decision in their pocket” for...
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As the Democratic nomination marathon neared a potential finish line, key senators said the results of Tuesday’s South Dakota and Montana primaries will have a domino effect on uncommitted superdelegates – quite possibly clinching the nomination for Barack Obama. “We want this locked up sooner rather than later,” said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who has remained undeclared. “Let’s have the nominee and let’s move on. That’s the common thread among the uncommitted superdelegates. … I will be ready after tomorrow night.” With only 31 total pledged delegates at stake in the two states, Obama cannot win enough in the final...
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Rapid City, S.D. (AP) -- As Barack Obama turns to concentrate on his general election challenge, his rival Hillary Rodham Clinton is mounting a last ditch campaign to stay relevant in what is left of the Democratic presidential contest. The former first lady enters this week with an insurgent strategy not only to win over undecided superdelegates but to peel away Obama's support from those party leaders and elected officials who already have committed to back him for the nomination. "One thing about superdelegates is that they can change their minds," she told reporters aboard her campaign plane Sunday night....
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First we should know that “Superdelegates” is media short-hand for “Unpledged Party Leaders and Elected Official Delegates” who are anointed by March 1, 2008. Then there are the unpledged Add-On Delegates. These Delegates amount to something on the order of 20% of the total Delegates to the convention. Based on the remaining number of “Pledged” delegates to be elected in Montana and South Dakota, there almost no chance that a candidate will enter the convention with the nomination in hand based on “Pledged” delegates. "Pledged" basically means that they must vote for whom they are pledged on the first ballot....
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Don and Carole Fowler are married but are on different sides of this debate. One supports Clinton, the other Obama You might call them a political power couple. Don Fowler is a former Democratic National Committee chair; his wife, Carol Khare Fowler, is chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party. They are both superdelegates. And both sit on the DNC's now famous Rules and Bylaws Committee, which will meet this Saturday in Washington to decide the fate of the delegates from the punished line-cutting primary states, Florida and Michigan. While they and the 28 other members of the committee...
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Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday she expects uncommitted superdelegates to begin making the choice that will decide her marathon Democratic primary race against Barack Obama soon after the Tuesday's primaries. In a conference call with Montana reporters, Clinton was asked about the effort by top Democratic leaders to push for a quick end to the fight for the presidential nomination after primaries in South Dakota and Montana next week. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said that he, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and party chairman Howard Dean will urge uncommitted delegates to choose sides. Clinton said: "I think that...
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There is something magical about the term, "superdelegate," as if it's a representative with superhuman powers who might fly in at the last minute to save the election. This is not totally far from the truth. Unless, of course, you don't approve of how the political superheroes use their special abilities. (Or, if you are a Republican. Technically, there aren't any superdelegates in the GOP). Democratic hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama emerged from Super Tuesday neck and neck, separated by less than 100 delegates by most counts. This suggests — if the race continues to be similarly tight —...
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(Note: the following is the text of a letter sent by Hillary Clinton yesterday to all Democratic super delegates.) Dear ___________, The stakes in this election are so high: with two wars abroad, our economy in crisis here at home, and so many families struggling across America, the need for new leadership has never been greater. At this point, we do not yet have a nominee - and when the last votes are cast on June 3, neither Senator Obama nor I will have secured the nomination. It will be up to automatic delegates like you to help choose our...
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On the night of the North Carolina and Indiana primaries, I was asked by a British radio station whether, for all intents and purposes, the Democratic race was over. I said I thought it was -- there was no way neither around the math nor the cast-iron direction in which the superdelegates were trending. "The only question," I told my interviewer,"is how Sen. Clinton will go down -- graciously or ugly." Like most everyone else, I thought it would be the former. That at the end of the day (June 3), the two quarrelsome sides would sit around the camp...
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Carter sees superdelegates prompting Clinton to quit 1 hour, 54 minutes ago Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said on Sunday he expects Democratic superdelegates to reveal their choice for presidential nominee soon after the final primary in June and that Hillary Clinton will then have to quit the race. In an interview with Sky News, Carter said he did not think Clinton was achieving anything by staying in the fight. "I think not. But of course she has the perfect right to do so," he said while attending a literary festival in Britain. "I'm a superdelegate ... I think a...
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by Richard Lawrence Poe Saturday, May 17, 2008 ArchivesPermanent Link HILLARY CAN still win the Democratic nomination, provided the superdelegates vote for her. I think they will. Over 60 percent are men, and men cannot resist Hillary. Granted, Hillary is no spring chicken. Her fleshly allure has diminished over time. But Hillary has other ways of bending men to her will. Consider her effect upon journalist David Brock. A ruthless political dirt-digger for the right, Brock nearly toppled the Clinton White House. His Troopergate story in the American Spectator triggered the Paula Jones lawsuit, leading to Bill Clinton's impeachment....
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Uncommitted Democratic superdelegates in Congress overwhelmingly say they won’t necessarily back the presidential candidate who wins the most primary delegates. Instead, electability will be very important in their decision. Of 42 lawmakers interviewed by The Hill, only four said they regarded the primary vote as decisive. The congressional superdelegates’ independence is precisely what Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) is banking on as she trails by about 130 pledged delegates behind rival Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.). It also means the Democratic Caucus is unswayed by its leader, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), who has warned that the party will suffer if superdelegates...
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Outright victories for the Democratic Party are rare in presidential politics. Only Bill Clinton in 1996 won decisively among Democrats since the party opened up its nominating system in 1972. Now, it might be argued, the Democrats have managed to achieve the worst of everything in their current system. A quick history of the nominating system explains why it looks the way it does now. The open system after 1972 produced mostly losing candidates from the left end of the political spectrum. The few winners managed to stay close to the middle of the political spectrum, such as Carter and...
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Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Friday afternoon seized the superdelegate lead from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), giving him command of every aspect of his party’s presidential nomination race. That constitutes a key milestone in the race and a shocking reversal of fortune for Clinton. Obama once was behind by more than 100 superdelegates. But according to at least two counts, more superdelegates are now in his camp. Politico’s tally now shows him ahead of her by 270 superdelegates to 268.5, with 208.5 uncommitted. (Superdelegates from U.S. territories count as one-half.) ABC News shows him ahead by two. Clinton’s longtime...
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WASHINGTON - Barack Obama all but erased Hillary Rodham Clinton's once-imposing lead among national convention superdelegates on Friday and won fresh labor backing as elements of the Democratic Party began coalescing around the Illinois senator for the fall campaign.... The developments left the former first lady with 271.5 superdelegates, to 271 for Obama. Little more than four months ago, on the eve of the primary season, she held a lead of 169-63....
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It's obvious that I've been favoring Barack in the Democratic primary, but I find the calls for Hillary to drop out of the race somewhat puzzling. As I understand it, pro-Obama pundits and pols believe Hillary should withdraw because: *Even if she wins all the remaining primaries, she will not have enough pledged delegates to win the nomination. *Even if some compromise is worked out with the Michigan and Florida delegations, she will still trail Obama in the popular vote. *Her staying in the race will only further tarnish Obama, to the benefit of John McCain, thus costing the Democrats...
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DNC Superdelegate Puts His Vote Up For Sale Steven Ybarra Wants $20 Million For His Vote SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CBS13) ― In this tight battle for the Democratic nomination we've heard a lot about the candidates courting superdelegates. But, one superdelegate is courting the candidates. He says he'll sell his vote for a price. A very high price: $20 million. Steven Ybarra of Sacramento says that eight-figure price is peanuts for the presidency.
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Barack Obama's march toward the Democratic presidential nomination picked up support from four more superdelegates Wednesday, pushing him ever closer to victory over Hillary Rodham Clinton - even as their primary marathon staggered on. She added two superdelegates herself in what has become the last big contest as their race winds toward a finish. There are just 217 delegates to be chosen in the final six primaries, and neither candidate can win enough of them to claim final victory. Meanwhile, 265 additional delegates - the party elders and other "superdelegates" - have yet to be claimed, and...
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The drawn out Democratic presidential race is producing "negative dividends in terms of strife within the party," said a key Senate supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton's White House bid. A day after the Indiana and North Carolina primaries bolstered Sen. Barack Obama's candidacy, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California and a superdelegate, said she wants to talk to Clinton to "see what her view is on the rest of the race. What the strategy is." Feinstein, who described herself as "very loyal" to Clinton, said "the question comes whether she can get the delegates that she needs and I'd like to know...
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There is a high-level meeting of 49 superdelegates going on behind closed doors right now.It's the weekly party policy luncheon in the US Senate. And while there are a number of important legislative topics on the agenda (the war supplemental, a gas prices control bill, the farm bill and more) you can bet that last night's returns from Indiana and North Carolina are being discussed as senators queue up in the buffet line. Going into the lunch, reporters asked senators for their assessments. On his way to lunch, Sen. Teddy Kennedy, D-Mass, one of Sen. Barack Obama's, D-Ill., high...
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Obama supporters Sen.John Kerry, D-Mass., and Gov. Janet Napolitano, D-Ariz., argue that the superdelegates now have a responsibility to move the nominating process forward. “Obama has shown he can win across the board and now its time for superdelegates to bring this to a close,” Napolitano said. Obama is expected to meet with undecided superdelegates tomorrow in Washington. Kerry said that it is the responsibility of the superdelegates to ensure that the Democratic Party will be unified at the convention in August, and suggested that Obama could have won the Indiana primary last night if it was not for the...
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Barack Obama pocketed the support of at least four Democratic convention superdelegates on Wednesday, building on the momentum from a convincing North Carolina primary victory. Rival Hillary Rodham Clinton vowed to remain in the race "until there's a nominee." The former first lady declined to say whether that meant through the roll call of the states at the Democratic National Convention this summer. Clinton also disclosed that she had loaned her campaign an additional $6.4 million in recent weeks, evidence that her once front-runner campaign was in deep trouble. She told reporters the loans were a sign of her commitment...
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Hillary's odds of overtaking Obama among elected delegates is not much better than those of the milk-wagon nag's winning the Preakness. But is it "mathematically impossible" for Clinton to win the nomination? No way. Many superdelegates remain undeclared. And even those who have come out for Obama are not bound. If another shoe of the Rev. Wright variety were to drop, it's far from inconceivable that the supers would move to Hillary. But perhaps in a sign of how much the MSM wants Hillary out and their guy in, Norah O'Donnell has had the chutzpah to proclaim to Hillary honcho...
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Developing story on Drudge. No details as of yet. Superdelegates do not want to meet with Clinton today.
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Remember all the moaning and groaning during the 2000 presidential election when the Democrats accused the Republicans of stealing the election? Remember how lawyers for Al Gore attempted to disenfranchise Floridian U.S. servicemen and women overseas by asking the courts to toss out their absentee ballots? Well, Democratic “superdelegates” could disfranchise half of their own voters this election year. This summer, almost 800 so-called superdelegates will occupy smoke-filled rooms of cigar bars in Denver as they mull over their choice for the Democrat presidential nominee. Never mind that Barack Obama will in all likelihood have won the majority of votes...
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Hillary Rodham Clinton, stung last week by the defection of a prominent superdelegate, could lose the backing of more of these Democratic Party leaders and elected officials if she fails to make significant gains in the remaining month of presidential nominating contests, several California superdelegates said this weekend. Two of the five superdelegates aligned with Clinton who spoke at the annual California Democratic Convention here said they would reconsider their support if rival Barack Obama maintained his lead in elected delegates and the popular vote after the last contests on June 3. While hardly reflecting a groundswell, the superdelegates' comments...
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Nagin Picked As Superdelegate Hasn't said if he will support Obama or Clinton Saturday, May 3, 2008 New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has been elected a superdelegate to the Democratic Party's presidential nominating convention. The state party's central committee picked Nagin over four other candidates, including Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu, who unsuccessfully challenged Nagin for mayor in 2006. Nagin won 83 votes in voting Saturday, Jerry McKernan of Baton Rouge had 50 and Landrieu had 28. Nagin is one of 11 Louisiana superdelegates who will go to the convention and do not need to pledge their support to a candidate...
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On the eve of two crucial primary election contests, Hillary Clinton is pinning her hopes of winning the Democratic presidential nomination on a collapse in the white vote for Barack Obama. “White flight” from Obama, who was hailed as the first post-racial presidential candidate, has been gathering force since Clinton’s nine-point victory in last month’s Pennsylvania primary. Her allies will be looking at voting patterns in Indiana and North Carolina on Tuesday, the two largest remaining states to go to the polls, for any signs that Obama’s proven weakness among white working-class voters may turn into a rout. Clinton is...
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-- snip --Here's a rule I would like every political reporter, campaign official, TV talking head, and politician in the United States to follow. Go ahead and say, if you like, that Hillary Clinton retains a serious chance of winning the Democratic nomination. If you say this, however, you must describe a set of circumstances whereby this could happen. Try not to make it sound like a fairy tale...
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Maryland Democratic Party Vice Chairman Lauren Glover is fielding calls from Sen. Barack Obama. Jim Leaman, executive director of the Virginia AFL-CIO, is being inundated with personal letters and e-mails from supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. And D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. just wants be left alone. Pressure is mounting on the 67 Democratic superdelegates from the District, Maryland and Virginia to choose between Obama and Clinton in the most heated presidential nomination fight in a generation. With neither Clinton nor Obama likely to win enough pledged delegates to secure the nomination, the 793 superdelegates nationwide will have...
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Polls show voters drift to Clinton ahead of next primaries By STEVEN R. HURST – 1 hour ago WASHINGTON (AP) — Polls showed voters drifting toward Hillary Rodham Clinton before crucial Democratic primary votes next week, but the all-important party superdelegates — whose backing is now essential for the nomination — were falling increasingly in line behind Barack Obama. Despite the momentum building behind Clinton after her win in Pennsylvania, it still appeared mathematically impossible for her to overcome Obama's delegate lead for the party nomination. In the past two months, Obama has whittled Clinton's superdelegate lead by half, a...
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Despite the recent show of strength by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., the odds against_her_winning the Democratic presidential nomination are as imposing as ever—and probably worse. There was a time when one of the stronger arguments in favor of nominating Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., was that he was more electable than Clinton. The thinking at the time was that Clinton was so polarizing, she could get close to winning a general election but would have difficulty getting over the top. Now, about the only plausible argument that Obama is more electable is to claim that Clinton’s backers would probably get_over...
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RUSH: You superdelegates in the Democrat Party, you're worried about denying Obama the nomination because you fear that your black voters will abandon you permanently? Come, come! Review your history with me once again. You Democrats have already done far worse to black voters than yanking the nomination away from Barack Obama. Have no fear, superdelegates. Be confident. Blacks will stay with you. So will Jesse Jackson, so will Al Sharpton
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Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) sharp denunciation of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright this week has superdelegates moving in his direction. While the reverend’s controversial remarks and his widely panned appearance at the National Press Club caused many pundits to wonder if superdelegates would be frozen into indecision, those who moved into Obama’s column this week cited the Illinois senator’s reaction as one of their reasons for backing him. Former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Joe Andrew was perhaps the biggest jewel of the week for Obama. Until Thursday, Andrew had supported Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.). He was appointed DNC chairman...
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Hillary Rodham Clinton was jolted Thursday by the defection of one of her longtime superdelegate supporters, a former national party chairman who urged fellow Democrats to "reject the old negative politics" and unify behind Barack Obama. "A vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote to continue" a long, self-destructive Democratic campaign, Joe Andrew added in a letter designed to have an impact on the turbulent race nationally as well as in his home state of Indiana, site of a primary next week. "A vote to continue this process is a vote that assists John McCain," Andrew wrote. (Mr. Andrew agrees...
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The Democratic Party is not democratic. It has devised a system of nominating a presidential candidate that is elitist and will result in patronage. It is abundantly clear that the party that claims to trace its roots to Thomas Jefferson is deluding itself and the American public. We have witnessed a three-month period of hard-fought primaries or caucuses in which the people in 42 states and four territories have voted to select the delegates who presumably will nominate the Democratic presidential candidate. But it is all a ruse. Democracy has gone out the window because of the elitist policy of...
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Excerpt - WASHINGTON (AP) — A leader of the Democratic Party under Bill Clinton has switched his allegiance to Barack Obama and is encouraging fellow Democrats to "heal the rift in our party" and unite behind the Illinois senator. Joe Andrew, who was Democratic National Committee chairman from 1999-2001, planned a news conference Thursday in his hometown of Indianapolis to urge other Hoosiers to support Obama in Tuesday's primary, perhaps the most important contest left in the White House race. He also has written a lengthy letter explaining his decision that he plans to send to other superdelegates. "I am...
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Barack Obama is closing in on Democratic presidential rival Hillary Rodham Clinton's advantage among superdelegates, building on his lead in the primary race even as he faces troubled times. Party leaders are encouraging superdelegates to pick a side by late June to prevent the fight from going to the national convention in August, and it seems some are listening as the race enters its final five weeks of voting. Chelsea Clinton got a superdelegate for her mom while campaigning in Puerto Rico on Wednesday, just as Obama press secretary Bill Burton sent out a statement announcing the support of Rep....
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YOUTUBE SING ALONG --- the Superdelates will sc*** Obama for Hillary
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Capitol Hill insiders say the battle for congressional superdelegates is over, and one Senate supporter of Barack Obama is hinting strongly that he has prevailed over Hillary Rodham Clinton. While more than 80 Democrats in the House and Senate have yet to state their preferences in the race for the Democratic nomination, sources said Tuesday that most of them have already made up their minds and have told the campaigns where they stand. “The majority of superdelegates I’ve talked to are committed, but it is a matter of timing,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). “They’re just preferring to make their...
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An apparent rejection of her black rival would also do more to harm Hillary Clinton than help her campaign. A candidacy against the background of angry youth or even burning barricades would be of little value. Thus, it is not Obama himself who now offers the strongest argument for his nomination, but the history of his ancestors. In fact, with his history standing at his side, Obama hardly needs to try any longer. This history peers into the present, sadly and silently, from a time we commonly call the past. And yet this is a past that America cannot seem...
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While Hillary Clinton snagged the biggest-name backer of the day, Barack Obama has reportedly added two more superdelegates to his fold. Richard Machaceck, a Democratic National Committee member from Iowa, has declared for Obama after the Illinois senator won 16 of the 29 national convention delegates at stake in congressional district conventions over the weekend, the Des Moines Register is reporting. And the Associated Press says US Representative Ben Chandler of Kentucky, grandson of a former two-time governor of the Bluegrass state, is supporting Obama as well. Clinton is hoping that the endorsement of North Carolina Governor Mike Easley might...
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