Clinton Camp Privately Assures Superdels: We Won't Embarrass You

During his recent Meet the Press appearance, Clinton spokesman Terry McAuliffe claimed the campaign has "16.6 million very passionate supporters." But at least a few among that group are more accurately described as nervous, prompting the Clinton campaign to reach out with reassuring phone calls over the weekend.

According to an account of one such conversation relayed to The Huffington Post by a Clinton cohort, campaign staff are now asking key supporters and superdelegates not to desert Clinton during the next two weeks of campaigning, when Sen. Barack Obama officially clinches the majority of pledged delegates. In exchange for this loyalty, the Clinton campaign is suggesting it will be mindful of the awkward position in which some of its backers now find themselves.

"People are saying, 'I don't want to be associated with the campaign staying on too long or tearing down Obama,'" the Clinton supporter told the Huffington Post. In response to these concerns, the supporter said, the Clinton camp's weekend phone calls included a pledge that "Sen. Clinton won't do anything in the next two weeks that's embarrassing, or makes things difficult [for you]."

Harsh criticism from some Democratic quarters in response to Sen. Clinton's May 7 USA Today interview -- in which she attempted to make hay out of the fact that "Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again" -- may have prompted last weekend's assurances to nervous backers. Since that mini-scandal, her campaign certainly appears to be avoiding any appearance of deriding Sen. Obama's candidacy, with Clinton herself rising to defend Obama against President Bush's veiled criticisms in Israel last week.

Comments

[hugs4u]

Today she really went over the top of embarrassing not only the Super Delegates, the party but the whole country. for talking about Bobby Kennedy being killed and that is why she is staying in the race.

[Cedman]

I am watching Herricaine Hillary in Florida set the Democratic party on fire. She is not going to embarrass the Party; she is going to destroy it. It is clear she plans to go to the convention with her mignons shouting sexism and disenfranchisement. If Barack looses in November she could care less.

[NoSpinTruthZone]

I know I could care less.

[MrKINOKO]

Thanks SpinzTheTruth....I have just donated another $100 to Obama in your honor. Keep up the good work !!

OBAMA 2008/2012.

[OtayPanky]

Those Hillary supporters - Geraldine Ferraro and all the others - who help McCain either passively by not voting for Obama, or actively by voting for McCain - have a right to do whatever they want - even if their reasons are petty and venal (as Ferraro's surely are).

If this lack of support (even in the face of Hillary's request that they affirm the party's choice) costs Obama the election, these COATHANGER DEMOCRATS can buy all the coathangers they want for themselves, their wives, their girlfriends, and their daughters, after McCain's Supreme Court has overturned Roe v Wade.

[PhyllisBurke]

this is so obviously not an obama supporter. it's a right wing nutcase trying to alienate the women. DON'T BUY INTO THIS.

[M.S. Bellows, Jr. - Huffpost Blogger]

But it's true: McCain's announced he wants to appoint judges who will reverse Griswold v CT (1965) and allow states to criminalize abortion, gay sex, oral sex, and contraceptive use by married couples again. It's boilerplate law -- before penumbral rights were articulated by Douglas in '65, various states made all those things illegal. Men were in jail for having gone down on their wives, who later filed charges against them in divorce proceedings. And Connecticut banned condoms. 1965.

[SouthFloridaDem]

I do expect some superdelegates to back Clinton, those being the ones from states/districts that she won if they made some sort of promise to back whoever won, or if they think they could be hurt politically for not backing her. However, I honestly don't expect any to back her if she didn't win their state/district, nor do I expect any to switch from Obama. I do foresee a lot more superdels endorsing Obama even though Clinton won their state/district (WV's Sen. Byrd, for example). There's simply little reason to back Clinton at this point and every reason in the world to back Obama and get this thing over with as soon as possible.

[peorgietirebiter]

Superdelegates To Clinton Camp: Too Late.

[keriheb]

Sometimes a parent has to come to terms with the reality that their child is a drug addict or an alcoholic.

People keep droning on and on about healing the rift between the two camps and all the while HRC and her supporters keep running a race they cannot win except in the hope of destroying Obama and the party. Yet they keep on and on to help HRC achieve her goals.

What is her goal? Her goal is to "knee cap" Obama so she can run in 2012!

Lets stop the Reagan dribble of trickle down economics. Lets stop the dribble that war equates peace.

Lets stop the dribble that the two camps are going to heal.

Forget healing and wasting time with HRC and her camp. THERE IS NO HEALING.

Declare victory - let them hrumph and spit and claw and cry sexism but no racism.

HRC and her camp have a jaundiced eye and nothing is going to give them clear vision. They are blinded by their vision.

Either way the party is going to be split. So lets get it over and prepare for the election without HRC and her supports. In this event people can scramble for new voters and win or loose but win or loose without the indignity of kissing HRC pants.

[JackND]

Good post. Losing without HRC supporters is preferable to winning with them.

[Amminadab]

Fine, you don't want our votes.

Good luck with that.

[NoSpinTruthZone]

You're not getting our votes... we're voting for McCain..

Good luck with that...

[M.S. Bellows, Jr. - Huffpost Blogger]

No it's not. But Obama can only go so far -- some people just are too far out to reach.

[skalu]

As a black woman, I understand how Clinton supporters are still hanging on. It is hard to wait for hundreds of years for someone in your race/ gender to finally be in a position to win the highest position in the country. The thing is that this is more than just about race or gender. This race is also about character and skill. If we judge Hillary by how she has managed her campaign, we would see that she is 20 to 31 million in debt. How can that help us relieve the 8 trillion dollar deficit? She has lied to the public. How can that ensure the trust of the people? She is clearly denying the obvious( her ability to win) while trying to convince others that it is not so. How is that different from Bush insisting there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? How does this help when diplomacy is needed? She has exploited the race card to her advantage insisting white voters will not vote for Barack? How is that going to give confidence to other race black, red, brown, and yellow that she will support them?

[WFV]

I would think that the Thirty One Million Dollars of Campaign Debt would embarass any superdelegate.

There has been much discussion about concessions Obama might need to make to earn superdels' votes and put him over the top. There has been no discussion about what Hillary would need to do to earn those same votes. If I were a superdelegate, I would be very concerned about enabling a candidate with this type of debt. What does it say about her ability to lead the country?

[EinChicago]

"According to an account of one such conversation relayed to The Huffington Post by a Clinton cohort, "

That kind of sums up why this story is not to be believed. The Huff Po has forfeited any and all shred of credibility on matters related to Obama or Clinton and basically become a 527 for Obama. One day it may claw back some credibility, but not for a long time.

[Harrygton]

How quickly we forget who was the one person hailed by everyone for that last 4 years as the "Inevitable Democratic Candidate" foe 2008!!! All these Die hard Clinton followers arguing how the media caused her to fail, please give me a break! She had everything she needed, including the old Democratic Establishment. She lost because she is dishonest with the public and we've found out now that she's dishonest with herself!!! If she was a man(instead of a woman) you wouldn't give him a second thought after the Bosnia story! The truth is that she mismanage her campaign to the tune of $20M, hired underhanded people and is tied and beholden to powerful interests here and abroad. She is divisive and has a chip on her shoulder with a need to outdo the knuckledraggers that think that the USA has the right to police the World and Bomb it into submission if necessary!

You say that you will not support Obama in November... well that's fine, this is a free country but know that you are no different than the Bush supporters who voted for him in 2004 even though they knew in their heart that the guy was dishonest... they participated in the myth... and so are you!

[Ohioliberal]

As an Obama supporter - I don't understand Clinton supporters frankly, First she is a pathological liar, a "tell me what you WANT to hear" politician (explains why she is soo popular with the less educated). Obama is a "I'll tell you what you NEED to hear" politician. Obama will sweep November because he's that good and McCain's that bad. However, Hillary supporters - Go ahead and vote McCain, vote against your own self interests - that's the penalty for being "less educated" I guess. One last thing, these "sexist" charges levied at Obama - funny no one can bring up one legitimate example of such a charge?

[finlandstation]

oh lib
i guess we can use you and your comments as an example of the so-called "educated elite" that is so representative of obama's support. in the future, could you please refrain from using so many cliches and stock comments. i'm sure being someone are as intellectually advanced as you can be more creative and less dimwitted.

but thanks for giving us the green light to go ahead and vote for mccain. many of us will. as far as our "self-interests" go, it is better to have obama lose and rebuild the party for 2012. as democrats, the future is building a party with loyal supporters without his post-modern, make it up as you go kind of supporters, who likely , in four years, will be older, and will think differently then they do now. we need a party whose base in committed to a set of ideas and values not to a personality.

[Fathoms]

finsta
This way lies insanity . . .
Our present course is morally and intellectually bankrupt.
The notion of waiting for 2012 is a joke. Four more years of Constitutional deconstruction will have sealed our fate. A Heinleinian dystopia assured. Obama's going to have enough difficulty rescuing the Nation without substandard analysis such as yours.

[savagetiger]

I CALL YOUR BLUFF. Go ahead, vote for McCain - lose Roe v. Wade and pro-choice, lose more soilders, and bomb Iran.

You won't be voting for McCain - if you do plan on it, go ahead, I'm tired of hearing about it and it no longer elicits any emotional response out of me.

I'm certain Obama can win without your support.

[loria]

What party do you think there is going to be there to rebuild in 2012? The time is now. I am fine with the party that Obama is building. Come on, it is a larger, broader coalition than has ever been seen before and we haven't even started working for the general. Please don't throw away 2008 because you want to make a point. Would you like to undo the last eight years. I would. That alone should be lesson enough for those of you Democrats that would like to sit this one out or vote for McCain in hopes that 2012 will be waiting for Hillary. We can't afford to wait just so that people can make a point. The planet needs help, we need to heal our relations with the world, the economy is in shambles. We need to end the war in Iraq and find bin Laden (remember him). Does anyone really think that we need to wait another four years to address these issues. If you think McCain is your man to do it, you are wrong. If you think Hillary is the one to do it, you are wrong, not because she wouldn't have been a good president, but because she didn't win the nomination.

[isisdawnra]

finlandstation and ohioliberal ! a perfect example of how and why our party is split !!

when Edwards dropped out, I was open minded equally for both Obama and Hillary.
Because these candidates seem to be relatively on the same page.
I can reduce my critique into two words.
Obama: Gracious
hilly: Hateful
In my opinion she has spit the Democratic party and done more damage than any Republican could.

[MrKINOKO]

Your convoluted post is highly contradictory. If you truly wanted to "rebuild the party", you would vote Obama. HRC has no platform, and neither does McCain...other than ridiculous gas tax rebates, and 100 year wars on multiple fronts. I'm on to you...I know who you are, finlandsta­tion.....w­e who want true change are watching you closely.

[finlandstation]

obama can claim victory all he wants, but until he is officially nominated he hasn't won a thing. in fact, last night, to lose by 35% at this stage in the campaign, hailed by the media as the inevitable nominee, is nothing else but a total repudiation. here we go again, we make the same suicidal mistake every four years, and nominate an unelectable candidate. only this time around, the loss will be historic, dwarfing even mcgovern's.
the one possible way out, is through a floor fight at the convention similar to the one ted kennedy waged in 1980. only this time, hillary has far more support among democratic voters. she also has a much stronger argument that she is the only candidate who can beat the republican nominee this fall.
all that is needed is just one of her delegates to place her name on the nomination ballot. let the fight begin. come september, obama's negatives will be far higher than now and thus, it will be much easier for delegates to switch their allegiance.

[Ohioliberal]

Floor fight won't happen - First the reality check on your fav Clinton.

A...She has the highest negatives of any known politician today - bar none!
B...Her nomination is looked upon as the salvation of this year's Republican Party - she is the one person that would mobilize, energize and have the republicans crawling out of their graves to vote against her this November (and by the way taking down every Democrat down ticket also)
C...Since she is untrustworthy (pathological liar) the Hill & Bill show as fatigued the Democratic base to a point that a break from her (and the past) is motivation enough for Democrats
D...If it is preceived that she stole the nomination from Obama - Trust me the young, the educated and african-americans will make sure that the Democratic party will have hell to pay this election cycle - there is not enough hillbillys that can vote her into office.

[loria]

Do you know how many times Obama has beaten Hillary by 25 to 50%? 15+ times. Hillary did it last night, in WV, and Arkansas. Just because she did it last, doesn't mean that she is the one who can rack up huge margins. That would be Obama. Over and over again, all over the country, not just in Appalachia. Oh, and, Obama didn't claim victory, he is waiting for Hillary to concede. He will hit the the number of delegates needed within a few weeks and he will go from the nominee of the voters (which he is now that he has a majority of pledged delegates) to the nominee of the party (when he hits 2025). By the way, how is Hillary going to fund that fight on the floor? Her campaign has no money. She is in debt and isn't paying her bills (she added another 9.5 million in vendor bills, last month alone). How is Hillary the best nominee when she couldn't win the nomination and left her campaign in debt and in shambles.

If you are Democrat, which I don't see how you could be, when you are talking about a landslide defeat next fall with one of the strongest candidates we have ever seen. You don't know what will happen next fall unless you have a better crystal ball than anyone else.

[keriheb]

You mean well but you are wasting your time. We need to begin to work on new collations without HRC and her supporters.

HRC is playing chicken with the party.

We need to be for real. Obama does not need the big party contributors. He can get his money from the people. We can remake this country without HRC and her supports.

When they see a new political scene they will come running or go to the Repugs which is where they belong anyway. Talk about a fascist party, consider this vision neocons with the fascist arm of the feminist. They belong together. Then the closet republicans can team up with the neocon fems and do a MI5 video for their next campaign.

At the same time Obama needs to bring on women big time, bring in Latinos big time, put their issues to the fore and make this a peoples party, but all of the people not just one entitled group.

[isisdawnra]

after all the mud slinging hilly has done she should be in china by now.

Hilly leave gracefully ,,,,,HaH!...not ONE graceful bone in her body.

vp ,,,,,? HAH!...... after all the slander toward obama ...I don't think so!

Time for her to GO take care of her debt.

[MrKINOKO]

He's not a Donkey or an Elephant, he's "None of the Above"...or CCP.

[Ramonito]

The writing on the wall is clear: OBAMA CANNOT WIN IN NOVEMBER!! It's time for him to drop his bid for the Democratic Party nomination and gracefully bow out for the good of the party and for the nation. He must do an honorable act to spare the American people from another 4 or 8 years of ruinous and regressive Repuglican administration.

It is clear that Obama cannot cross the racial divide in American society and voters have clearly seen through the mirage of publicity and media charade that he is inexperienced and unfit to lead this country. He can't blame nobody but his own shortcomings and questionable past and present associations for his predicament and downfall. His political campaign is more about maligning and dissing the Clintons and not about winning the highest office, and for this, he has failed miserably. Good riddance on your way out to political oblivion!

[dlswriter]

Change!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!

[tess08]

well, Hamonito with the racial divide your stuck in, it's no wonder Obama can't reach you.

[ccrnjr]

That means Al Gore and John Kerry couldn't cross the racial divide either. Neither could Dukakis, Daddy Bush, and Bob Dole.

[DutchOven]

The Democratic Party is going to take a look around the morning after the November defeat and really regret this whole Obama thing. Most of those "newly registered Democrats" will never be heard from again. They just signed up at some on-campus event that required no effort on their behalf.

That's if they even make it that far with these youth. What will happen when BHO actually does secure the nomination in August and has to pivot back to the middle? Will his radical pack be soe energized when he seems so much more moderate? It's like these kids that don't like a band anymore once too many people like them. The "insurgent candidacy" will become a victim of its own success in the post-Denver period.

And after throwing all of us middle-aged moderates under the bus, and making us so "bitter," what can you offer to win us back after this betrayal?

[HannaB]

The Democratic party is already taking a look around and seeing how badly Hillary is tearing it apart! Next election, I bet we'll have more Independents than Democrats and Republicans.

Hillary herself is the prime example of bitterness and it's certainly shining through. Deep down, part of me feels sorry for her. Her strategy just hasn't worked......she tried crying and lying - maybe in 2012 she'll try being honest and more "for the people" instead of personal gain and power!!

[finlandstation]

too late to win many of us back. in fact, if he does get the nomination, the more they get to know him, the greater the number of hillary's supporters will turn away. instead of the 30 to 40 percent who have voted for hillary but say they will not vote for obama will rise not fall, as there will be far more party disunity. this trend will especially be prevalent among women, as they see what could have been in context of obama's failed candidacy.

[eggman]

Karl? Karl Rove, is that you?

[Bon1042]

She's not saying anything to undermine Senator Obama's candidacy anymore? What about "I believe I'm the strongest candidate!" ?? Isn't that a veiled euphemism for as Maureen Dowd said, "Psst, he's black, he's black, he can't win !" She said tonight, "I'm staying in to complete process UNTIL THEIR'S A NOMINEE. She's saying, "until I accumulate enough popular vote (by her math, including Florida and Michigan) to go to that 5/31 mtg along with Harold Ickes and hit the superdelegates and the Democratic leadership over the head until they give it to me." As Howard Fineman, the only way is to overturn and take it away fm Senator Obama and give it to her, and it isn't going to happen." So what is the point of her going on? What does she want?? She wants to be President, if not this 2008, then 2012 because she thinks a President Obama will fall on his face, or if it's McCain, then she'll knock him off in 2012.

[FlyingEagel]

I just wish she would admit that it is over. She is not ahead in the popular vote like she claims. She is not counting the caucus states because their is no hard #'s and is not counting any of the votes in Michigan for Obama . I know that his name was not on the ballot, but to pretend that none of those people would have voted for Obama is misleading. For someone who say's every vote should be counted,she is good at not counting what would help Obama. This is why people like me do not support her. She is not honest.

[RichLiberal]

Hillary is totally honest. It is comments like yours that are dishonest. Hillary says that she has received more votes than Obama, which is true. Even the MSM admits it now. However, it is also true that FL/MI have some questions - however, the vote totals are not one of them. Hillary agreed not to campaign in FL/MI, which she didn't. Obama actually did, but, personally, I think it is only worthy of note to show that he is not clean in Florida, but no matter, he got clobbered there anyway. He also took his name off the ballot in Michigan. Pretty stupid, if you ask me. Why should Hillary not count her votes?

Glad you brought up the caucuses. Texas is a good basis for comparison. Hillary won the popvote 1.4M to 1.3M, then some of the Obama people went and had some caucuses and he had 25K votes to Hillary's 19k. But these were people who already voted, so exactly what does it mean that Obama got more caucus votes in Texas.

Finally, using Texas as a guide, one can only conclude that if theOther caucus states had regularPrimary as well that Hillary probably wouldHave done muchBetter. Probably wouldHave won Iowa. I think the caucus delegates should be reduced by a factor of 10. Then they wouldBe more proportionately representative of actual voters behind them. Also, you might give Hillary a 10 or 20 percent bonus since the caucus states clearly discriminated against Hillary's demographics.

[GingerB]

You blew it with your first sentence. Sniper fire, anyone?