Quid Pro Vote
Well, for a couple of candidates who are both saying they stand for change, it looks a lot like the same, slimy way of doing business. Both Barack "Messiah" Obama and Hillary "Her Inevitableness" Clinton are supplying a lot of campaign cash to the superdelegate voters they are courting. In other words, they are cheerfully buying votes - no matter how much lipstick they put on that particular pig. Oh, and the Messiah is the biggest buyer.
WASHINGTON — Campaign committees controlled by Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton have donated at least $890,000 to the campaigns of superdelegates, according to a report by a group that tracks money in politics.
Obama donated the largest amount, about $694,000, to those campaigns in the past three years, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Clinton donated $195,500.
Both campaigns are furiously lobbying for support among the Democratic Party’s nearly 800 superdelegates, who will be free to support whomever they choose at the convention, regardless of the outcome of the primaries. Superdelegates include all Democratic members of Congress, Democratic governors and other party officials.
If the candidates continue to split delegates in the primaries, superdelegates could decide the nominee. It takes 2,025 delegates to win the nomination.
“People put a lot of trust in their elected officials to represent them,” said Massie Ritsch, spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics. “It would be particularly unpalatable if money seemed to be a factor in who ultimately got the nomination.”
On Thursday, the delegate count stood at 1,276 for Obama and 1,220 for Clinton after the Democratic National Committee released an updated list of superdelegates that dropped supporters of both candidates.
Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, an Obama supporter, is no longer a superdelegate because she left her position with National Conference of Democratic Mayors. Rep. Tom Lantos of California, who died Monday, also was removed from the list. He had endorsed Clinton.
Spokesmen for Obama and Clinton said donations were not used to gain endorsements from superdelegates.
Just look at the figures. Supporters and undecided get the big bucks; superdelegates who support the opposition get short shrift. Nope, no vote buying there. Just building the party up. Sing along now: How much is that nomination in the window?
If you believe the explanations and denials from the candidates, I have some lovely real estate in Florida you'd be interested in. So much for change.
Other Links to this Post
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Plumb Bob Blog » How Democrats Avoid Corruption — Thursday, 14 February , 2008 @ 8:30 pm
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Sister Toldjah — Thursday, 14 February , 2008 @ 10:22 pm
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Blue Crab Boulevard » Super Sale On Super Delegates — Friday, 15 February , 2008 @ 8:25 am
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Public Secrets: from the files of the Irishspy — Friday, 15 February , 2008 @ 10:43 pm
By Maggie, Thursday, 14 February , 2008 @ 8:48 pm
Gaius, have a look at this:
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YWRhNDg3YmRmYWU1ZGYxNDM0YjAyYjZlNWU4NTdjZTc=
Thursday, February 14, 2008
The Turning Worm [James S. Robbins]
What is ironic about the gyrations of the Clinton team in trying to argue against the will of the voters in the Democratic nomination process is that Hillary was part of the McGovern team back in 1972, and it was the McGovern Commission that wrote the rules that created the contemporary primary-based nomination system. I’m sure some research into that period could turn up all kinds of interesting documents with her name on it denouncing the influence of the smoke filled rooms that now will determine her fate, and the cronyism that is now being elevated as some sort of virtue.