Blue Crab Boulevard

Clinton Campaign: Screw Democracy

It does not surprise me that Harold Ickes believes this to be the case, but it frankly stuns me that he would say it so baldly. He has openly stated that he believes the superdelegates will decide the nominee and that their choice will be Hillary Clinton. What is truly ironic here is that Ickes is the one who set up this whole scenario back in 1988 when he negotiated the current proportional allocation rules.

A top Hillary Clinton adviser on Saturday boldly predicted his candidate would lock down the nomination before the August convention by definitively winning over party insiders and officials known as superdelegates, claiming the number of state elections won by rival Barack Obama would be “irrelevant” to their decision.

The claims no doubt will escalate the war of words between the campaigns, as Obama continues to argue superdelegates should vote the way of their districts. But the special class of delegates, which make up about 20 percent of the total delegate haul, are not bound to vote the way of their states and districts, as pledged delegates are.

Obama leads handily in the pledged delegate count and has won more states but trails Clinton in superdelegates, making them potential and controversial deadlock-breakers if the race ends up a dead heat come convention time.

Harold Ickes, a 40-year party operative charged with winning over superdelegates for the Clinton campaign, made no apologies on Saturday for the campaign’s convention strategy.

“We’re going to win this nomination,” Ickes said, adding that they would do so soon after the last contest on June 7 in Puerto Rico. “You’re not going to see this go to the convention floor.”

Ickes predicted Clinton and Obama would run “neck and neck” in the remaining states and that there would be a “minuscule amount of difference” between the two in pledged delegates.

But he said superdelegates would determine the outcome and side in larger numbers for Clinton, as they “have a sense of what it takes to get elected.”

Even though averages of head-to-head polls on RealClearPolitics.com show Obama beating presumptive GOP nominee John McCain in a general election and Clinton losing, the Clinton camp is stressing the electability argument.

Ickes said superdelegates must “exercise their best judgment” about who can win the White House.

Oh man. Is this going to get ugly. If the scenario plays out the way Ickes thinks it will, there will be real, devastating and lasting harm to the Democratic party. Like I said, I'm stunned he is saying this as openly as he is.

Politics | Gaius Saturday, 16 February , 2008

By DavidL, Saturday, 16 February , 2008 @ 5:27 pm

Going to get ugly? It has been ugly. It is only going to get uglier. The Clintons feel they are entitled to political power.
By Anthony (Los Angeles), Saturday, 16 February , 2008 @ 8:44 pm

It’s popcorn time.
By Maggie, Saturday, 16 February , 2008 @ 9:51 pm

Anthony (L.A.) -
I’m past the popcorn phase … This is getting like the 20-30 minutes of trailers and commercials before the feature film at the theater for 8-10 bucks a pop …
By JC, Saturday, 16 February , 2008 @ 10:49 pm

Why was the Superdelegate system installed in the first place??
Answer: Look no further than the secret mantra of the Dems–the people are idiots, they couldn’t possible no what is best for them.
Disgusting!
By Ken Bingham, Saturday, 16 February , 2008 @ 11:23 pm

Oh well in that case why have primaries and caucus’ at all? For that matter why not let them decide for us who gets elected since they are obviously superior in judgment than us plebes. This is exactly how these elitist democrats view people. People are not capable of making correct decisions so we need an all encompassing government to make all of our decisions for us. I am so glad we have superior people like Ted Kennedy, Nancy Peloci, and the smartest woman in the world Hillary Clinton to look out for us. It will surely make me sleep better at night.Nice blog. I added you to my blogroll
By Sam Wah, Sunday, 17 February , 2008 @ 12:34 am

Hi, boys and girls. Today’s word is "schadenfreude". Can you say "shah-den-froy-duh"? I thought you could. It means "the joy you feel at someone else’s pain, or problem, or difficulty". Golly, I think it’s a word you might be hearing a lot in the next ten months. I’m Mr. Rogers, and I approved this message.