DEMOCRATS DELIVER!

CITIZENS LIKE A GOOD FIGHT, DEMOCRATS DELIVER!
_________________________
GOOD MORNING FLINT!
BY Terry Bankert 4/09/08
You are invited to join me at Face Book http://www.facebook.com/people/Terry_Bankert/645845362 _________________________
Full Article at http://goodmorningflint.blogspot.com/
And summary at Flint Talk http://flinttalk.com/viewtopic.php?p=27159#27159 __________________________

SUPER DELEGATES CAN STOP THE BATTLE
In a nation with roughly 200 million citizens of voting age, the presidential nomination of one of the two major political parties may be decided by about 800 party bigwigs.[p] Democratic Party is driving voters away[l]

COMMON DEMOCRATS LIKE A GOOD FIGHT
Eager to stop intraparty fighting, dozens of local Democratic Party leaders are urging Virginia's superdelegates to unite around Barack Obama for president. [u] Delegate Race: Obama, Clinton Headed for a Floor Battle?[f] Last Friday, the executive committee of the Michigan Democratic Party made it official: the state will not hold another primary. In this announcement, it joined Florida, which had abandoned plans for a do-over primary in mid-March. Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has maintained that Florida and Michigan had two choices after the states were stripped of their delegations for moving up their primaries; the states could hold new primaries (at their own expense) or could petition the credentials committee. The committee is charged with the task of deciding which delegations get seated, which includes resolving any disputes. This usually doesn’t attract much attention, but this year may be a different story.[f]

LEADERS DO NOT LIKE A GOOD FIGHT IT COULD COST THEM THEIR LEADERSHIP Superdelegates were created in 1982 by a special committee of the Democratic Party to avoid disastrous electoral defeats when the party gurus deemed the wrong man had been nominated.[s]

DO NOT BE FOOLED THE DEMOCRATS WILL COME OUT OF THEIR CONVENTION TO KICK SOME MCCAIN BUTT
Completely upset with President Bush’s arrogance and bungling during the past eight years, many people feel a dramatic change is necessary. However, when considering switching allegiance to the Democratic Party, people become upset by the Democratic National Committee and the leading candidates’ suicide attempt by prolonging the nomination process and disenfranchising the Democrats in Michigan and Florida for supposedly breaking the archaic Democratic Party rules.[s]

WHEN OBAMA WINS PENN., IT WILL BE ALL OVER AND OUR CONVENTION A LOVE FEST. Hillary Clinton's terrible week got worse on Tuesday, with her once-formidable lead in her fire-wall state of Pennsylvania going up in smoke. [DN] Her poll plunge comes after her tax returns revealed she and her hubby, Bill, raked in $109 million in the past seven years - raising eyebrows in her blue-collar base - and top adviser Mark Penn's demotion for helping Colombia negotiate a free trade deal she opposes. [DN] Clinton's double-digit lead in the Keystone State has been slashed to 6 points, 50% to 44%, according to a Quinnipiac University survey. [DN] "With two weeks to go, Sen. Barack Obama is knocking on the door of a major political upset," Quinnipiac's Clay Richards said of the April 22 contest. [DN]

FROM SHOE -IN TO FAILING COME BACK KID! ...VP..ANYBODY
Clinton has pinned her comeback to a strong showing in Pennsylvania.If Obama makes it a tossup, it could doom her chances of swaying uncommitted Democratic superdelegates - her only route left to the nomination. [DN]

AFTER 8 YEARS OF BUSH DEMOCRATS OUTRAGE EASILY, ITS MCCAIN WE ARE NOW AFTER.
Unless Michigan and Florida delegates are included, Grossman fears that some Democrats will feel “outraged by a lack of fairness.”[p]

INFORMAL PETITION..PLEASE STOP..HILLARY!
The petition was intended to push the state's uncommitted delegates into forsaking Hillary Clinton in her nomination battle with Obama.[u]

LOCAL LEADERS NO MORE INFIGHTING
It was signed by 36 local party chairmen, some of them from Virginia's largest localities, and five congressional district party chairs. Most of the signers, but not all, endorsed Obama, said Arlington Chairman Peter Rousselot, one of the architects of the petition.[u] ITS NOT WORKING There was no evidence Tuesday that the tactic was working, even on a super-delegate who endorsed Clinton but has wavered for weeks.[u] Jennifer McClellan, a member of the House of Delegates, said she won't make up her mind until all of the Democratic state conventions and caucuses are over.[u]

SUPER DELEGATES BAD IDEA, WRONG HEADED ATTEMPT TO SOLVE THE OLD PROBLEMS IN A NEW DAY
So, lapsing into the classic Maginot Line defense -- confronting the lessons of the most recent lost wars -- it was decided that a group of party stalwarts, comprising elected officials and activists now numbering 795, should have a heavy hand to influence the nomination decision.[s] As Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) continue to vie for the Democratic Party nomination, they must battle for the hearts and minds of super-powerful super-delegates. These current elected officials, former high-ranking elected officials and party leaders will cast the deciding votes at the Democratic National Convention in August unless one candidate finishes the primary season with the 2,025 delegates needed for the nomination by dominating in the final ten primaries and caucuses.[p]

CAN THE SUPER DELEGATES OVER RIDE THE POPULAR VOTE
They were not purposed to override the popular will, as expressed through the primaries and caucuses, but to monitor them and make corrections if necessary and possible [s] Super-delegates, however, are also still very much divided, with 220 supporting Obama, 257 supporting Clinton and the rest undecided, according to The New York Times.[p] Some super-delegates are divided not only over whom to support but also on the criteria and time frame for making the decision. Likewise, super-delegates question their superpower and the appropriateness of their role as party officials in choosing the nominee.[p]

CLINTON DELEGATES MAY ABANDON HILLARY
"It's not clear to me because people aren't finished voting," said McClellan, of Richmond. In an interview Tuesday, she at times referred to herself as uncommitted. Finally, she described herself as a Clinton delegate who reserves the right to change her mind.[u]

SUPER-DELEGATES DO NOT HAVE TO BE SUPER LEADERS
She also opposes any formal process for forcing super-delegates to decide the nomination before the August convention.[u]

LOTS OF ATTENTION, 12 STEP PROGRAM NEEDED AFTER THE CONVENTION
Already, she has received "well over 100 calls" from Clinton and Obama, from their celebrity spouses, and from proxies within both campaigns in recent months. The Clintons beseech her to stay put; Obama exhorts her to switch.[u]

WHY DOES THE PARTY OF THE COMMON CITIZEN HAVE ELITE SUPER DELEGATES
The candidate the Democrats choose to take on Republican nominee-apparent John McCain will be selected by about 3,500 delegates to the party's national convention in August. More than three-fourths are pledged delegates, obliged to support a specific candidate based on the outcome of state primaries or caucuses. About 800 are super-delegates — elected officials or party insiders free to support any Democratic candidate at the convention.[u]

AND THE WINNER WILL BE......NOT KNOWN... UNTIL THE SMOKED FILLED ROOM CLEARS...AND SUPER DELEGATES ARE RETURNED TO MERE MORTALS Since neither Clinton nor Obama can win the 2,025 votes necessary to secure the nomination solely from pledged delegates, super-delegates will determine the outcome.[u]

OBAMA HAS THE POPULAR VOTE, HILLARY THE UN-POPULAR VOTE
While Obama is the front-runner, with leads in both elected delegates and the popular vote, and is raising dramatically more money, Clinton retains a slight edge among declared super-delegates. At least some 330 remain uncommitted. Super-delegates are empowered to make personal decisions and it is easier for them to change their minds, unlike elected delegates who are mostly restricted in doing so. For Clinton, swaying the super-delegates remains her only hope of overcoming the Obama momentum.[S]

JUST WHO ARE THESE SUPER DELEGATES
The issue that could bring the super-delegates to supersede the collective will of the primary voters is the elect ability of the front-runner.[S]

A HILLARY BREECH....FLOOD TO FOLLOW
Across the nation, candidates are ardently pursuing uncommitted super-delegates and, in some cases, urging committed ones to switch. Virginia is the first state in which local chairmen petitioned super-delegates to switch to Obama, according to Clinton's campaign.[u] Five of Virginia's 16 super-delegates never have endorsed any candidate. A sixth, state chairman C. Richard Cranwell, was a John Edwards super-delegate who became uncommitted after Edwards left the race.[u] Cranwell remained uncommitted on Tuesday, but saw no harm in the petition. "Everybody's got a right to a point of view," Cranwell said. The rough-and-tumble would only toughen the eventual nominee to take on McCain, he said.[u]

MR. DECISIVE HAS NO POSITION! WELL THERE THAT WEBB FOR VP THING.
Sen. Jim Webb, through his office, also refused to take sides Tuesday.[u] Rousselot and Fairfax County Chairman Scott Surovell sent the petition to the super-delegates. Both are former Edwards backers, but neither is a super-delegate.[u]

PETITION TO NO WHERE
The petition contends that it's important for the party to unify sooner instead of later and shift its focus to McCain. With Obama and Clinton fighting each other through the convention, it asserts, Democrats will squander tens of millions of dollars and present the unappealing image of a party run by insiders.[u]

NOW HERE IS A LEADER
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday she favors a reduction in the number of super-delegates — and their oversized influence — in choosing the Democratic Party's nominee.[A] Asked how she would make the process more democratic, Pelosi recommended cutting the number of super-delegates.[S] A deal to allow delegates from Florida and Michigan to participate at the Democratic National Convention is unlikely before summer, party chairman Howard Dean said yesterday.[b]

NATIONAL CONVENTION CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE WILL DECIDE WHO IS THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, INDIRECTLY
The credentials committee has 186 members. Twenty-five are appointed by Howard Dean and the rest are divided up proportionally by state. For example, if a state gets four committee members and Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton split the primary vote in that state, the candidates get to appoint two members apiece. Each state has members on the committee, even Florida and Michigan. However, those committee members will not be able to vote on the issue of seating their state delegations.[f] Credentials Committee-the common democrats super delegates![trb] Elected to chair the Credentials Committee are Alexis Herman, James Roosevelt, Jr. and Eliseo Roques-Arroyo. Alexis Herman served as U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1997 to 2001. She served as DNC Chief of Staff for Chairman Ron Brown and later was named CEO of the 1992 Democratic National Convention. Since 2005, she has served as a Co-Chair of the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee and also served as a Co-Chair of the Commission on Presidential Nomination Timing and Scheduling. James Roosevelt, Jr. is President and CEO of Tufts Health Plan, a Massachusetts based Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) and was formerly Associate Commissioner for Retirement Policy of the Social Security Administration in the Clinton Administration. He is the chief legal counsel for the Massachusetts Democratic Party and Co-Chair of the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee. Eliseo Roques-Arroyo, a native of Puerto Rico, served as Executive Assistant to Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Senate Minority Leader Miguel Hernandez-Agosto and to Puerto Rico Delegate to Congress Antonio J. Colorado. He is a former Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Puerto Rico and presently a member of the DNC. [d]

FIRST VOLLEY.....
The Credentials Committee is charged with coordinating issues around the selection of delegates and alternates to the Convention and will likely meet in the summer. The committee will issue a report that is the first official item of business at the Convention. [d]

BO PERMEATES THE COMMITTEE
Right now, Barack Obama has the lead in pledged delegates, so he will have more committee members. However, there is still a chance that the question of the Florida and Michigan delegates could reach the floor of the convention. If 20% of the credentials committee signs a minority resolution, it then goes to the entire convention for a vote. As my colleague Paul M. Murdock discussed earlier today, Hillary Clinton’s prospects in the remaining primary contests are looking dimmer and dimmer, and this could be her last hope at winning the nomination.[f]

Posted here by
Terry Bankert 4/9/08..
. http://attorneybankert.com/
Join my political party of preference, http://www.michigandems.com/join.html

— WHERE DID THIS STUFF COME FROM----
[u] USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-04-08-obama-superdelegates_N.htm
[S] Seattlepi.news http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/358203_superonline09.html
[A] AP http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gGMneW6aX-wcvIOjZoXN7jPj9C-QD8VTTMJO0 [L] Las Vegas Sun http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/apr/08/democratic-party-driving-voters-away/
[b] Boston.com http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/04/07/dean_expects_to_seat_fla_mich_delegates/ [TRB] Comments of Terry Bankert and Cap headlines http://attorneybankert.com/
[P] The Daily Princtonian http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2008/04/08/20783/
[F] Forbes.com http://blogs.forbes.com/trailwatch/2008/04/delegate-race-o.html
[D] Democratic National Convention http://www.demconvention.com/dnc-elects-standing-committee-leadership-for-2008-democratic-national-convention-2/
[dn] NY Daily News http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/04/09/2008-04-09_hillary_clintons_big_pa_lead_takes_spill.html


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