Clinton Donors Object to Pelosi Comment

UPDATE: It doesn't sound like the letter had much effect on Pelosi's attitude towards the nomination. From her press office:

Speaker Pelosi is confident that superdelegates will choose between Sens. Clinton or Obama -- our two strong candidates -- before the convention in August," Daly said. "That choice will be based on many considerations, including respecting the decisions of millions of Americans who have voted in primaries and participated in caucuses. The speaker believes it would do great harm to the Democratic Party if superdelegates are perceived to overturn the will of the voters. This has been her position throughout this primary season, regardless of who was ahead at any particular point in delegates or votes.

UPDATE: The Center for Responsive Politics has calculated the financial heft that the donors involved, and it is substantial. From the press release:

The 20 Democratic bigwigs who wrote to Nancy Pelosi re: superdelegates yesterday have contributed nearly $24 million to Democratic candidates and committees over the last 10 years, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics has calculated. They've given Hillary Clinton's Senate and presidential campaigns about $315,000, or nearly $554,000, if you include contributions to her leadership PAC. By comparison, Barack Obama has collected $34,700 from them for his Senate and presidential campaigns, plus $17,500 to his leadership PAC. And there's no telling how much this group has helped raise for Democrats over the years.

WASHINGTON — Twenty top Democratic donors who are supporting Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for saying superdelegates should support the presidential candidate with the most pledged delegates.

No matter what the outcome of the 10 remaining contests, it will be nearly impossible for Clinton to overcome Barack Obama's lead in pledged delegates because they are awarded proportionally based on the outcome.

So it will be up to the nearly 800 superdelegates _ party activists and elected officials who aren't bound by any vote _ to put one of them over the mark of 2,024 delegates needed to win the nomination. Obama has 1,406 pledged delegates to Clinton's 1,249, according to The Associated Press count.

Pelosi, who has not endorsed either candidate as chair of the Democratic National Convention, said during a March 16 appearance on ABC's "This Week" that it would be harmful to the party if superdelegates don't support the pledged delegate winner.

In their letter, Clinton's supporters said superdelegates "must look to not one criterion but to the full panoply of factors that will help them assess who will be the party's strongest nominee in the general election."

The letter also noted the donors "have been strong supporters" of the House Democrats' fundraising apparatus.

"We therefore urge you to clarify your position on superdelegates and reflect in your comments a more open view to the optional independent actions of each of the delegates at the national convention in August," they said.

Pelosi stands by her comment, said her spokesman, Brendan Daly.

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"The speaker believes it would do great harm to the Democratic Party if superdelegates are perceived to overturn the will of the voters," he said. "This has been her position throughout this primary season, regardless of who was ahead at any particular point in delegates or votes."

Obama spokesman Bill Burton called the letter "inappropriate."

"We hope the Clinton campaign will reject the insinuation contained in it," he said. "Regardless of the outcome of the nomination fight, Senator Obama will continue to urge his supporters to assist Speaker Pelosi in her efforts to maintain and build a working majority in the House of Representatives."

In response, Clinton spokesman Phil Singer said: "Few have done more to build the Democratic Party than Bill and Hillary Clinton. The last thing they need is a lecture from the Obama campaign."

The letter was first reported by The Washington Post and the political blog Talking Points Memo.

___

On the Net:

http://www.house.gov/pelosi

Comments

[MyThought]

If Pelosi knew her place and new anything about statesmanship - she'd be keeping her mouth shut. Gee, she wouldn't want to keep her status as the highest ranking female would she?

She keeps this nonsense up, she (Pelosi) will give the possibilities of women in high status a bad name.

What a selfish nutbar.

[AnninCA]

She should just endorse him so the reason for her remarks are made clear. She's abusing her position.

[2008andbeyond]

"Knew her place." What place is that?

You refer to women in highstatus and call her a nut bar. Sounds like you're a bigot who has zero coherent thought.

[ChiGuy]

Pelosi didn't have a dog in this fight until Hillary and Company ignored her suggestion that the negative campaigning be dialed-back.
Pelosi remained completely neutral on the candidates.

Having been ignored by the Hillary camp, now Nancy is stepping up as the de facto public face of the Democratic voters and saying exactly what should be said about the super delegates.

Both raising the gender issue, and dismissing her as a "nutbar" really does your Clinton no good whatsoever.

[CBS]

Your screen name is a "misstatement" I fear. There is no thought involved in your comment. Apparently you believe that not only Pelosi but Obama should as you put it know their place. And of course the subtext of that is that they should both step aside and allow Hillary to be crowned the nominee because, well, it is owed to her. FYI Pelosi worked her way up from local politics, i.e., grass roots in Northern CA and was independent of her husband. In short she has her own political career. Hillary, on the other hand, was elevated by way of being the First Lady (a ceremonial position) and then was hand picked by Moynihan to be his successor as senator from a state she never lived in. So, who is "the selfish nutbar?" Not Pelosi, not Obama. I fear it is your candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, willing and eager to have the Democrats lose this time so that she can run again in 1012.

[Max7073]

Oh, this is rich! " PELOSI will give the possibilities of women in high status a bad name" I think it's a bit late for that, HRC has already closed on that deal.

[SDgirl]

$24 mill, bah, no worries we small Obama donors can pull that off no prob.

[Toonbytes07]

24 million in 20 years. Obama can do that in 20 days! (or less)

[Obamacan]

We can do that in a day. Just $25 ONCE from just HALF of us!

[Bootoomee]

wrong! Our tally for February is $55m. After some calculations, I realised we can raise $24m in 12 days, 15 hours, 42 minutes and 33 seconds.

They are toast.

Or "dinosaurs" as Keith Olberman put it.

Move over oligarchs, the people are ready to take over power.

[babar77]

No kidding.. that's potentially less then a month of fundraising. I would donate to the DNC my small amount to shut these people up.

[PingMama]

We can do that in 15 days and I think Pelosi knows that.

[JForest1313]

Question: Who are these top Democratic donors who are at this point still supporting Hillary Clinton's campaign?

[Ping]

Fundraisers are influence peddlers.

[new logic]

When will the Clintons release their tax records. Always follow the money.

[SlithyTove]

Glad to see the money bags have so much power and influence that such a small number of them can influence DNC deliberations and command media coverage. Where does a regular voter apply for an audience?

To paraphrase a line from the movie Boys in the Band, "Who do you have to f*ck to get [your voice heard]/[a drink] around here?"

[standforpeace]

Good one!

[Benmyoho]

I applaud to whoever put Nancy Pelosi in her place. She can't even say a sqeak to Bush, she goes to the other side of the world to stoke anti-Chinese sentiments. Now, she says that superdelegates are supposed to follow the "will of the people", never mind that the Obama camp is virtually hi-jacking the Democratic Party by way of rigged caucuses. Pelosi should be reminded that superdelegates are there as a cushion to remedy such manipulation, and are supposed to vote their conscience.

[bluegreen]

I wonder if HRC would have graciously ceded the nomination by now, as she once seemed poised to do, were she not "strongly encouraged" to continue running by her good pals, the DP fat cats behind the scenes; there might be a story there.

It must be hard for these wealthy string-pullers to wake up and find that the "little people" have finally put together their pennies.

[conscioushope]

Yes, Bluegreen!

Although I was once for Hillary, I am now saving my PENNIES for OBAMA.....­.........

[PhilosophicalPotato]

Some people can only afford pennies. Besides, I would rather a candidate is only beholden to the people, not the lobbyists. Wouldn't you?

[uglybetty]

If you want to see McCain as pres. keep carping about Hillary ! As I've said before ,repeating your lies about Hillary will not only Not make them True, they also will Guarentee Obama , will Not be Elected !

[PhilosophicalPotato]

What lies are you talking about? He was just making a hypothesis, not a statement that it was true. Your fanatical protectiveness of HRC will just gaurentee HRC won't get elected. Calm down.

[POINT84]

Worse part about people like you is have no concern about the issues the country is facing

[PhilosophicalPotato]

What lies are you talking about? We know there are high dollar contributors backing HRC. That's a fact. Now Bluegreen was just asking a valid question about that, not stating that it was true. Don't be so fanatically defensive of HRC, otherwise you are just guaranteeing that HRC will not be elected.

[hoodrat]

No one has to carp dear, The Billary show does well enough on it's own. I can't believe folks want four more years of the jokes forwarded since Carter - but be my guest.

[2008andbeyond]

What part of this was a lie: "It must be hard for these wealthy string-pullers to wake up and find that the "little people" have finally put together their pennies."

Do you even know what a lie is anymore? And your threat about carping on Hill, she has damaged herself more than any politician, Dem or Repub, could do. Take your displaced anger to the source: Hillary. If your vote is lost in the process, so be it. You seem to be missing out on the movement so I'll let you in on a secret: Obama supporters aren't the old vision Dems who shake in fear of what the GOP might do or say. There is no fear, just hope and the American people. Together, it won't be stopped.

The Internet makes spreading truth and expsoing lies much easier.

[PrdAmerican]

When you hear Bill Clinton say, "You must vote for her, WE MUST WIN THIS THING" as he wags that finger in your face you have to wonder....­we have not seen those tax returns, nor have we seen the list of library donors. My biggest question is, what have the Clinton's promised to others with the ASSUMPTION that she would be the democratic nominee and eventual winner of the presidency. People do not just hand you $10 million dollars out of the goodness of their heart, as the Saudis did for his Library, and not expect "something". Could it be that the Clinton's are scared that they won't be able to live up to their "promises"? And that some of those, to whom promises were made, are also very nervous? It will be very interesting indeed to see those Clinton records.

[AnninCA]

Cede? Why?

Had he not blocked MI and FL, you'd be looking at such a small difference in popular vote that his entire "coronate me now" theory would collapse like the lie it is.

[Bagger]

The only people that blocked anything were the DNC. Hillar agreed to this blocking. You are a hypocrite. Stop blaming others for your misgivings. Pathetic.

[onepartysystem]

"Few have done more to build the Democratic Party than Bill and Hillary Clinton. The last thing they need is a lecture from the Obama campaign."

Bill and Hillary. Yeah. And Hank Aaron and I combined to hit 755 home runs.

(Bill and Hillary) - Bill =

[Macready]

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for saying superdelegates should support the presidential candidate with the most pledged delegates" Pelosi is right about this . .. the clintons really are getting nasty . .. they know she can't win . .. except by non-acceptable means . ..

good riddance hillary

[thegirlnextdoor]

Absolutely. Democracy has taken such a beating in recent years in the USA. This is a chance for the Democratic Party to take a dubious party fat cat situation and turn it around to support the democratic choice. hey can support the person who actually has won the primaries and who already has most of the delegates.
Is Clinton asking that the will of the people be over turned?

[coolkraft]

right on Macready and being on Pelosi's bad side is not the place to be Billary

[PhilosophicalPotato]

Wow this is so transparent. I mean, they are holding their funding over the head of Pelosi and trying to use it as leverage. With every passing day, I'm getting more and more convinced that if HRC can, she will usurp the will of the voters to get the nomination. And she's the one who's preaching about disenfranchising the voters? If the super delegates do what Clinton wants, then nothing will do better to accomplish that in my opinion.

[vipersdad]

I would say that let all of us "plain 'ol non-Super Democrats" make a $25 donation to the DCCC. Bet that sends a message that the momentum is shifting from large donors to mass participation.

[JackieW]

In an interview with FOXnews, Clinton said, barring a resolution on Florida and Michigan, the fight goes to convention. "You know, you can always go to the convention. That’s what credential fights are for,” she said. “Let’s have the Democratic party go on record against seating the Michigan and Florida delegations three months before the general election"

She DOES want to destroy the Democratic Party.

[mrJJ]

C&P

http://www.americablog.com/2008/03/30-of-hillary-donors-who-threatened.html

At least 30% of Hillary donors who threatened Pelosi slept in the Lincoln Bedroom during Bill's presidency

It looks like some gifts just keep on giving. At least 6 of the 20 big Dem donors who are now threatening to exort Nancy Pelosi on behalf of Hillary slept in the Lincoln Bedroom while Bill and Hillary were in the White House. (We only have the list of who slept in the bedroom during four years, i.e., half, of the Clinton presidency. Some reporters need to ask the Clinton campaign if anyone else on this list slept in the Lincoln Bedroom.) You'll recall that some 831 or so special friends of the Clintons got to stay in the Lincoln Bedroom during four years of the Clinton presidency (that's about 4 a week, every week, for 4 years). You would think that this is the kind of bad publicity that Hillary's little band of extortionists wouldn't want. Well they're going to get it. Here's the list of big Dem donors who are now threatening the party if Pelosi doesn't cave to their demands and help Hillary - the ones in bold are Lincoln Bedroom guests, per CNN (CNN only has the list for 4 years):

snip *(exceeds posting limits)*


Stoller also notes that nearly half of the group donated to Lieberman's Senate campaign.

http://openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=4803

[PlantGod72]

Hey, Nancy, I know you've been with the Dalai Lama recently, and are still probably glowing just a bit from the encounter.­........bu­t you need to tell these "ClintonSu­perDonors" to go F*%K themselves!

They're convinced that they can buy their way into the WH with the Clintons; you can prove them wrong.

JUST SAY NO!

[uglybetty]

Boy !!!
That sounds Democratic .
Straight from Obama Camp ??

[popozuda]

Sour grapes!

Face it, she's done. Join us at Camp Obama. We love you.

[Bagger]

You can hang out with the 20. I'll be over here with the millions.

[netgecko99]

It's perfectly democratic to oppose the idea that people with money count more than people without as much of it.

Seems to me like the voices of almost two MILLION people who donated money for Obama to be President should count more than the 20 people who donated lots of money.

[morticia]

I just SMELL Bill all over this...
hang in there Nancy, do what`s right, you are a beacon of light when it comes to women of the DParty.

[zizi]

Ironically, the working class voters in PA, KY, WV and elsewhere will not see the class dimensions of this contest. Instead the innuendo, recently heightened by the Wright flap, being spread to this class of voters is that their interests align them with the Clintons, mostly supported by the fatcats rather than Obama whose campaign reflects the power of the little guy. Yet Clinton is perceived as the candidate of the "downscale" voters while Obama is seen as the candidate of latte-sipping upsclae voters. Speaking of strange logic!

[AnninCA]

That's the truth, too. Hillary is the candidate of the people. Obama is the candidate of the fat cats.

And that is the reason for the divide.

The people are, apparently, going to be cheated by the Washington elite who would disenfranchise voters and not say a word to make sure they have a president in their pocket.

[StandingStill]

AnninCa,

You gotta take your Meds at the same time...eve­ry day. Otherwise this will continue..­.the delusions will continue, AnninCa unless you pop your pills. But we still love you...no matter what: :)

[new logic]

the mob is Rome

[PhilosophicalPotato]

The mob is us. If you don't like that then feel free to head on over to Burma. There' you don't have to think for yourself, and even if you did, you don't get to voice it anyway. Does that sound better to you?

[nebraska66]

Who exactly are these powerful Democratic individuals? We need names...so they can get the media and internet exposure they so dutifully deserve.

We shouldn't tolerate the harassing of the person who's third in line for the Presidency of The United States of America.

[CCverve]

"Who exactly are these powerful Democratic individuals? We need names...so they can get the media and internet exposure they so dutifully deserve."

Co-sign 100%...Fur­ther, what lobbyist interest groups are they representing ?

[PeaceChristBwithU]

Here are the signers of the letter:

Maureen White and Steve Rattner (she's head of DNC finance, he of Quadrangle Group, LLC)

Mark Aronchick (rich lawyer)

Susie Tompkins Buell (made a mint in naturals, now has foundation to get women into leadership)

Clarence Avant
Sim Farar
Robert L. Johnson
Chris Korge
Marc and Cathy Lasry
Jay Snyder
Stanley Shuman
Hassan Nemazee
Alan and Susie Patricof
JF Pritzker
Amy Rao
Harin Saban
Bernard Schwartz

and the apparent ring leader of this debacle, Lady Lynn de Rothschild (don't be intimated - she's from Jersey)

[POINT84]

The list of names was on the first post when it came out. Its on nytimes.com I think

[Agentprovokatur]

Here's a link to the letter:

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/03/in_letter_a_dozen_top_clinton.php

Here is a link to info on those who signed it:

http://agonist.org/schecter/

[morticia]

thanks for the info.