Hillary Clinton: Pledged Delegates Can Switch Candidates

In an interview with Newsweek, Hillary Clinton raised the specter of pledged delegates, nominated by voters, switching their votes at the Democratic Convention.

How can you win the nomination when the math looks so bleak for you?

It doesn't look bleak at all. I have a very close race with Senator Obama. There are elected delegates, caucus delegates and superdelegates, all for different reasons, and they're all equal in their ability to cast their vote for whomever they choose. Even elected and caucus delegates are not required to stay with whomever they are pledged to. This is a very carefully constructed process that goes back years, and we're going to follow the process.

It was only a few weeks ago that the Clinton camp was accused of seeking the vote of pledged delegates. A Politico article in mid February suggested the camp was thinking about the strategy down as the convention drew closer:

"I swear it is not happening now, but as we get closer to the convention, if it is a stalemate, everybody will be going after everybody's delegates," a senior Clinton official told me Monday afternoon. "All the rules will be going out the window."

That article prompted the unequivocal response from the campaign:

We have not, are not and will not pursue the pledged delegates of Barack Obama. It's now time for the Obama campaign to be clear about their intentions.

UPDATE: Ben Smith is reporting that the Clinton's statements do not represent a change in stance on pledged delegates, according to a campaign aide.

Comments

[robXdion]

Yeah, Hillarious, keep spinning that crap and you will go down in flames come November along with the delegates and party leaders that supported you.

Dems pull this crap and Obama should run as a 3rd party candidates and win with 38%.

[HeironymousJosch]

That would be awesome!

[m4rk0]

Nothing like shitting on the voters. Go Hillary!

[angelbravo]

These are the Democrats wait till you see the Republicans that hate hilllary

[SkipHarv]

can you cit ONE example where Sen. Obama has? Because Hillary has quite alot this primary season, the states she lost because they aren't bigg enough, not thanking her supporters in those same states,calling anyone that voted for Sen. Obama deluded and so on... Hillary is the one who is m

[WHATISTHIS]

Here are some facts about the Democratic race for a nominee...

1. When HRC was running for the senate in NY she an Wolfson made Lazio's tax returns a key issue.
2. She knows very well that Obama had not contacted the Canadian goverment but pushed the false report anyway.
. In MI and FL, she signed the agreement that they would honor the DNC rules and she stated publicaly that she agreed that honoring the early state primary calendar was a good thing. She left her name on the ballot anyway where the others horored their pledge.
4. Obama has won twice as many states with over 150 more pledged delegates. The large state small state argument doesn't hold up. Obama actually won Texas in that he got more delegates. along with the fact that he won TX,GA, VA, WI, MN along with other states that will prove pivotal to changing the color of swing states. Hillary won NY by a slimmer margin that Barack won IL.
5. He has won 15 of the past 17 states. In the two states that she won, OH and RI, she netted 4-6 pledged delegates. Than will be wiped out after this Tuesday when Obama wins in a landslide.
6. Obama average margin of victory in the 17 he just won was a staggering 29 percentage points!
7. After Tuesday's win in MS, HRC would have to win every other state by an average of almost 70%. The only reason that this race is bein spun to sound close is because it suits the media to keep it going. If Obama were down by this amount, the drumbeat would be loud to drop out.
8. The Democratic party super delegates are not going to reverse the will of the people, it just won't happen, This possiblity is being conjured up for public consumption by th media.
9. The republicans want to face HRC. She as what we in the biz call a "long tail"
10. If HRC's argument for being president is experience, that will be usurped if she were to run against McCain. He will use her own words against her.
11. If she happens to use Rezco against Obama, there are a thousand Rezco's in her past. In fact others that were indicted with Rezco were Clinton donors. That picture of the Clintons standing with Rezco makes for an embarrassing story to have to tell so they are prodding the press to look in to it but will not be bringing it up themselves. If they push it, Obama's campaign will bring up Mr. Hsu. With Hsu, there is no ambiguity.
12. Hillary already has 48% negatives baked in to the cake and if she is the nominee, you will see massive turn out on the republican side to try to thwart her presidency. That means not only a potential White House loss but many house races for democrates in vulnerable districts could be lost as well.
With Obama, you get all of the people that would vote for for a traditional dem plus first time voters, more independents and disgruntled repubs. Turn out for the dems if Obama is the candidate will set records that may never be broken.
13. Once elected, Obama would attract a larger majority of voters thus a better chance of getting important legislation through congress. Repubs who might allign with a Clinton president would jeapordize their next election. It cannot be overstated as to how much they dispise the Clintons. Don't be fooled by their silence today. If she becomes the nominee, the line "unleash hell" from the movie The Gladiator comes to mind.

My credentials for these conclusions are that I am a marketing consultant with 30 years of figuring out who the winners are going to be. There are some times you have to admit that your competition has a better story to tell. In this case, Obama is Coke and Clinton is Pepsi.

Wishing you the best no matter who you have chosen.
-Mike


thanks to WHATCHAMEAN

[estreya]

Very informative post. Thank you.

[loria]

Great post. Thanks for putting the facts out there.

[Chacha]

Excellent summary. It is so clear that Obama is the best choice for the Democratic party. He is going to bring more Democrats to the Congress with him, and he will work with the opposition to get things done. I fuly agree that if the roles were reversed, and Obama is in Hillary's place, there will be clamor for him to drop out -- starting with Bill Clinton!

[jpshotwheels]

Thank you, I used to like Pepsi, but now I drink Coke. If the Democratic Party wants to loose, they will with Hillary.

The fact remains that if it wasn't for Obama running, people wouldn't be coming in the millions to vote this year. It wasn't Hillary that got them out there, it was Obama.

[matthew25]

Very well summarized. She really has no case here at all.

[WHATISTHIS]

Here are some facts about the Democratic race for a nominee...

1. When HRC was running for the senate in NY she an Wolfson made Lazio's tax returns a key issue.
2. She knows very well that Obama had not contacted the Canadian goverment but pushed the false report anyway.
. In MI and FL, she signed the agreement that they would honor the DNC rules and she stated publicaly that she agreed that honoring the early state primary calendar was a good thing. She left her name on the ballot anyway where the others horored their pledge.
4. Obama has won twice as many states with over 150 more pledged delegates. The large state small state argument doesn't hold up. Obama actually won Texas in that he got more delegates. along with the fact that he won TX,GA, VA, WI, MN along with other states that will prove pivotal to changing the color of swing states. Hillary won NY by a slimmer margin that Barack won IL.
5. He has won 15 of the past 17 states. In the two states that she won, OH and RI, she netted 4-6 pledged delegates. Than will be wiped out after this Tuesday when Obama wins in a landslide.
6. Obama average margin of victory in the 17 he just won was a staggering 29 percentage points!
7. After Tuesday's win in MS, HRC would have to win every other state by an average of almost 70%. The only reason that this race is bein spun to sound close is because it suits the media to keep it going. If Obama were down by this amount, the drumbeat would be loud to drop out.
8. The Democratic party super delegates are not going to reverse the will of the people, it just won't happen, This possiblity is being conjured up for public consumption by th media.
9. The republicans want to face HRC. She as what we in the biz call a "long tail"
10. If HRC's argument for being president is experience, that will be usurped if she were to run against McCain. He will use her own words against her.
11. If she happens to use Rezco against Obama, there are a thousand Rezco's in her past. In fact others that were indicted with Rezco were Clinton donors. That picture of the Clintons standing with Rezco makes for an embarrassing story to have to tell so they are prodding the press to look in to it but will not be bringing it up themselves. If they push it, Obama's campaign will bring up Mr. Hsu. With Hsu, there is no ambiguity.
12. Hillary already has 48% negatives baked in to the cake and if she is the nominee, you will see massive turn out on the republican side to try to thwart her presidency. That means not only a potential White House loss but many house races for democrates in vulnerable districts could be lost as well.
With Obama, you get all of the people that would vote for for a traditional dem plus first time voters, more independents and disgruntled repubs. Turn out for the dems if Obama is the candidate will set records that may never be broken.
13. Once elected, Obama would attract a larger majority of voters thus a better chance of getting important legislation through congress. Repubs who might allign with a Clinton president would jeapordize their next election. It cannot be overstated as to how much they dispise the Clintons. Don't be fooled by their silence today. If she becomes the nominee, the line "unleash hell" from the movie The Gladiator comes to mind.

My credentials for these conclusions are that I am a marketing consultant with 30 years of figuring out who the winners are going to be. There are some times you have to admit that your competition has a better story to tell. In this case, Obama is Coke and Clinton is Pepsi.

Wishing you the best no matter who you have chosen.
-Mike

[snruB]

Oh, the Clintons are incorrigible

[starboymikey]

Oh, the Clintons are incorrigible
__________­__________­__________­__________

Incorrigible? My cat on a really bad day is incorrigible.

The Clintons have gone quite a way beyond incorrigible.

[InDaZone]

Hillary Clinton is despicable and is going to destroy the Democratic party.

[jankvkleve]

If she were to win the nomination fair and square, I might consider holding my nose and voting for her. If she steals it, however, somehow McCain won't look so bad. Never thought I'd consider voting for a Republican, but I guess that's Hillary's magic.

[AxelDC]

Is there really much difference between Clinton and McCain? At least with McCain, you can nominate Obama in 2012 to defeat him.

[nochickenhawk]

She has already indicated no fair and square. That's enough for me.

[urfree2speak]

It is interesting to note that most of the talking heads casually dismiss the FACT that "fairness" went out the window with this talk of DO OVERS. The fact that the African american community is supporting Sen. Obama is irrelevant, the African American helped to "create" the myth of the clinton invulnerability. It is rational to assume that the same people who have been "staunch" allies of the DEMOCRACTIC PARTY. is looking for "JUSTICE" and "FAIRNESS". When the young people as well as African american see the cynical and negative images of DEMOCRACY at work, it helps to re entrench APATHY. African american are literally "worn out" from the so called "wait your turn" one day ya'll all be there type hype. Now it seems we are at another milestone in the Democractic Party, I for one am aware of the FACT that large numbers of people of all races are taking a "wait and see' attitude. I have no doubt that the DNC has allowed the Clintons to move the goal post. It is beyound sad, BUT one thing I so know is that even a dog gets tired. I am taking a looong hard look at voting as a independant in the Republican Party......Oh and yes I know as I Black person I would be voting against my own intrest....but looking at the "staged events , staged media,staged punditry, one has to be "painfully aware that perhaps the Republican Party would not "fake" to be the party of inclusion...maybe the Republican Party would Run an African American and MEAN IT! Signed a Angry ...digusted Black Man

[jpshotwheels]

Obama won't run again. A Republican will never get my vote, mine will have to go to Nader. Hillary has no magic, just venom.