Hillary's Popular Vote Notion only 'Popular' with the Punditocracy

It is incomprehensible to me that Mrs. Clinton can seriously be touting the notion, with the support of the punditocracy of CNN and Fox, that she is leading in the popular vote and should therefore be seriously considered as the most electable candidate in the November election. She's including those who voted for her in Florida and Michigan's name recognition ballot saying that to exclude them would be to disenfranchise them. What about the Democrats in Alaska, American Samoa, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, Nebraska, Washington, Hawaii and Wyoming who did not cast ballots because they were playing by the pledged delegates playbook and voted by caucus. What about them? Certainly if the rules are going to be changed and judgment is based on the 'popular' vote those voters in the eleven caucus states and Samoa will be disenfranchised. What about them?

And what about us? What about the American people? Haven't we had enough of Mrs. Clinton's mad antics in her pursuit of the realization of venal personal ambition; her 'say anything, do anything, no matter what' effort to manipulate our all too willing media to gull this country's populace into believing that her wretched illegitimacy is indeed legitimate. How much mendacity do we have to suffer, how much brazenness do we have to swallow before someone, anyone, has the decency, the common sense, to relieve us of this terrible trifle, this pathetic madness?

Comments

[hipocampelofantocame]

Mr. Sutherland: Excellent points and well written blog. Is there nothing that the
DNC can do to gently politically euthanize Mrs. Clinton and remove her from
public life? She lacks basic integrity and honesty. Her ethics are insufficient
for the presidency. hipo

[demliars]

Yes, Hillary does lack integrity and honesty, but so does obama. Hmmm, now that I think about it so does most of the democrat party.

[nonconformist2]

I will concede your point, IF you can produce those weapons of mass destruction in Iraq! What? False and misleading intelligence got your tongue?

[ganana]

Holy crap! I'm new to this site and didn't know Donald S. was a commentator here.

Welcome, me!

And kudos to Donald for his stinging comments -- the piece should have been longer; I felt he was just getting warmed up.

People. Don't let your fear of a Black president allow your brain to dismiss the terrifying prospect of having this woman in the office of President.

http://narcissistic-personality.suite101.com/article.cfm/narcissistic_personality_disorder

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

It will be a great surprise to Sutherland and all the other self-righteous, ubiquitous avatars of PC (on HuffPo) when OBAMA turns into another Thomas Dewey; Obama should be an inevitability, but he's beginning to hollow out.......

[Meah]

Your premise is a huge stretch.

[caldarone]

you wish... don't HATE... just appreciate­...

Your Hillary needs help here a link that express here diagnosis
http://narcissistic-personality.suite101.com/article.cfm/narcissistic_personality_disorder

[caldarone]

I totally aggree with you Donald, Hillary is the most transparent and dissollusional woman on the planet. Her campaign is the most complaining , whining, backbiting, and hypocritcal ever in history, maybe that is why she is losing. I think everyone watching her campaign is learning a valuable lesson in what NOT TO DO.

[Truth789]

You can count the caucuses if you count Florida...­.... Michigan I understand Obama took his name off the ballot (dumb move). Count everybody.­.....inclu­ding Florida and the Caucuses and Obama supporters stop complaining like elementary school kids!

[SickOfSpin]

Truth789--How is it that you reconcile Hillary's disingenuousness when it comes to her insistence that ALL voters be honored, but turns around and discounts ALL voters in the caucus states in order to arrive at her popular vote count? Hillary has refused to accept a compromise for MONTHS--it has been proposed that Florida be seated as voted and Michigan would be that she receive her vote tally and Barack Obama would receive the "uncommitted" votes. And that is clearly not acknowledging the THOUSANDS of voters who wanted to vote for Obama but knew that our delegates would not be counted so just stayed home...he was willing to compromise however. Hillary's proposition? Hillary 100% of the delegates in MI while Obama receives ZERO...you absolutely can't be serious...

It is laughable that she considers this to be a plausible, democratic position. It is indeed exactly as Donald Sutherland sees it--venal personal ambition and NOTHING else.

[Meah]

How about all of the voters who voted "uncommitted" in Michigan. All of the candidates took their name off of the ballot except for Clinton. They were going by the rules. Clinton obviously did not choose to do that in case it might be possible that something terrible might happen.
She would argue for those votes even though her words denounced the votes in the beginning. Hypocrisy at it's best. And bloated ambition beyond all that is sensible.

[carmelcat]

You just have to think like a lawyer... "If it fits, you must acquit." You go with whatever logic might win your case. Winning is everything ... and Obama is no different. See the under-rhanded but legal way he won his seat in the Illinois legislature, and the convenient way he backed into the US Senate . Obama and Axelrod have been plotting Obama's presidential moves for over 10 years. Her "do anything" and "unbridaled ambiition" are matched by his. And since when is that a bad thing?

[zelduh]

Don't put all lawyers in that category. Some of us (actually, lots of us) are ethical!

(And we even support Obama!)

[Oridaman]

Oh please! He didn't "back into the Senate" like you say, his opponent got caught in a sex scandal and his Republican opponent was a nut job who kicked his own daughter out of his house.

[Truth789]

Can Obama supporters stop whining and grow up? Why are you trying to push Clinton out? Afraid? The media was so biased against her......I never heard once that Educated people were voting for Hillary...­..like most of the people I know. Florida she won hands down. Michigan he wasn't on the ballot so fine. But disenfranchising them is terrible and if Obama loses the nomination and the presidency you have only to blame but yourselves.

[TheQuis]

Uh, Truth789, wasn't it Senator Clinton and her people that asserted that Obama's coalition consisted of "Egg heads and African Americans?" She asserted that her coalition consisted of "hardworking Americans, white Americans" so please stop blaming the media for her message.

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

I suppose you're one of the white american non college educated individuals that is so strongly supporting her? That IS her fan base as she claims right..... white, uneducated americans who just... don't know better?

[FogCityJohn]

If disenfranchising them is so "terrible" can you explain why EVERY SINGLE ONE of Clinton's supporters on the DNC, including Harold Ickes, voted to deprive Michigan and Florida of their delegates? And can you also explain why Patti Solis-Doyle issued a statement saying that Clinton would honor the DNC's chosen sanction? If you have a factual response to these questions, I'd love to hear it.

And Obama supporters are hardly afraid. We have just exhausted our tolerance for Clinton's mendacity and hypocrisy.

[Girardo]

LISTEN UP, HILLARY, BABY.....I­'M SICK & TIRED OF REPEATING MYSELF....­.

I don't care what you agreed to, or did not agree to....

I am a Michigan Voter....a­nd I want a say in who the Dem's nominee will be......

......whet­her you like it or not.

[RedKnuckles]

You're absolutely right. Let's push her out next Wednesday. Did you read Donald's post, short as it was? What he said was that in Michigan and Florida, there was NO campaigning. That is a key point. Why do you think all the candidates campaign? Why not just have a name recognition single day primary vote? Hopefully you can see through your flawed logic enough to realize that we have a campaign season to expose the candidates to the voters in primaries, debates, and appearances so that as Americans, we may be better informed not just on the policy positions of the candidates, but of their character as well. Hold your breath and let the party decide how to treat the states that broke the rules.

[ngannon]

Biased- check out the latest review from harvard. i don't have it in front of me but they actually counted positive remarks about each candidate- and the media, during a given time period, actually made slightly more positive comments about Hillary that Barrack. After Hillary started accusing the media of bias that changed- Barrack had less positive comments by far. I guess that her complaints did what she wanted them to do- however the media soon realizes when they have been manipulated and the pendulum swings back.

[whatsmyname]

SUTHERLAND WAS ONE OF THEE COOLEST PEOPLE IN THE 60'S AND 70'S WHEN A GOOD VOICE AGAINST GOVERNMENT BULL-SHI--IT WAS REALLY NEEDED. HE WAS THERE AS NOW WITH "SHMARTS" STILL COOL, DUDE. THANKS FROM ALL OF US........­........fr­om the old corral

[StJohn]

For those of you who have lost or perhaps never had an ability to reason, I suggest you take
a deep breath. I can see where Hillary on a personal level is most likely a decent person.
Remember when people thought George W was the man to go out and have a beer with?
Are you happy with the consequences of what negligence in reasoning produced?
Our Nation and our global communities are not in need of leaders who may be nice people
but whose personal ambition is a distortion of the reality we live in. There is nothing wrong
with having ambition and tenacity. There is however a point at which the ecology in her
campaign - that which takes into account that which is for the Highest Good of ALL
Concerned, is thrown under the bus. Eating is good. Overeating is abusive and can have dire consequences.

As a participant observer, I see Hillary as an individual with an all encompassing,
unquenchable thirst for Power as her main thrust along with the ability to Sting profusely
herself and others. Reason dictates that this is all about HER and NOT ABOUT THE PEOPLE.

We need Progressive Leaders. We are in a New Energetic of time.
We can step forward and create the a new world. Indeed, energy follows thought.
The willingness to do will give us the ability to do. This will be our Legacy to the future.

[marijam]

Ok.. I've thought about this column all day. While I can't agree with vilifying a fellow Democrat, I certainly do want to be part of a political revolution in this country. I've been waiting a very, very long time for this day to come. I'm ready for a whole new generation of leaders. Let's continue the energy and the demand for change and purge the party of anyone who has been in office for more than two terms. Those who are deserving, give them cabinet posts or ambassadorships. Its time for Robert Byrd to retire. Its time for Ted Kennedy to retire. They've had their day, give someone else a chance for a change. Its like that guest pastor at Obama's church said, "old white men".

[wrabbitt]

Very eloquently put. My feelings exactly.

[GAvoter]

The contributions made by Sen. Kennedy are too numerous to go in to, and his leadership has been present even in the worst of times. If you disagree with his policies, by all means, replace him. But do not do so based on nothing more than he has been there a long time. He has accomplished more things to advance our nation than that sentiment acknowledges.

[BubbaC33]

Teddy was largely responsible for the defeat of Jimmy Carter in 1980 which led to the Reagan administration and it's imposition of debt on this nation.

[jtown]

Great post! The clintons are just disgusting, and there is nothing else to be said about it!

[marijam]

I think it would end quicker if you'd quit dissing her and her followers. She does have half the votes cast. Not all of those who support her are racist or bad people because they supported her. When you bad mouth the Clintons, that just makes their supporters dig in their heels even more.

[ObamaEdwards]

In most cases it isn't bad-mouthing for its own sake, or from hatred, but a moral indignation based on the behavior we have observed. Many of us already voted for the Clinton Partnership--TWICE. A lot of people keep forgetting that. The Clintons say they are a team, and they are. They were a team in the 1990s, when they betrayed all of the ideals for which we elected "them." Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me a THIRD time? Many of us are simply taken aback by the gall of a candidate who would soldier on at this point, and try to market herself to what she thinks we believe, when the point is: We already know what she's made of. The Clintons had eight years to show us what they could do. And boy, did they turn out to be Republicans!

[SharonB]

I had enough of Ms. Clintons "mad antics" long ago.

I do not mind her staying in the race. What I cannot abide is both hers and her husband's amazing spin all the time.
Her signing off on Fla. and Mich. primaries and now that she is deserate for those votes, she wants to go against the very rules she put her signature on.
Her claims of sniper fire, Irish peace talks, healthcare success (HELLO????).
Crying one minute, screaming her head off the next.
Swilling beer and whiskey and then claiming to love guns.
But, Bill Clinton stood up last week and actually complained that the press had been disrespectful to his wife, I actually cringed with embarasment for him... his little tryst with Monica sure was an elephant in that room after that statement. No matter what anyone else says about her or does to her, NOTHING was as disrespectful to a spouse than what he did. Nothing.

[dortmunder]

She's probably bipolar.

[MontyCello]

Donald, love ya but you forgot Iowa, (the first caucus)
that's OK, evidently Hillary did too

[AbrakadaBarak]

Thanks Mr. Sutherland for your intelligent summation. Just finisher reading your post, and, believe it or not, including all the comments, 13 pages so far, from the bottom up, It's an honor. You're one of my favorite actors, God bless you for putting some sense into Billary Clintons madness. Thanks!

[bloodyhands]

Thanks Donald, This woman is saying and doing anything she can, including lie, bold face to everyone who will listen. Remind you of someone, some party? I can't help but be reminded of that p.o.s. Bush in the 2000 election. What does she have up her sleeve? How is she going to try to steel the nomination? Just another repug.

[slinkymom]

Mr. Sutherland - excellent column. BTW - I just loved you in Kelly's Heroes and couldn't wait until my sons were old enough to enjoy it themselves!

"Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change? " - OddBall

Some pretty good advice for the Hillary camp to follow!

I have to say that your use of logic is commendable. Sadly, as we see too often, the media and Clinton camp do not have the word "logic" in their playbook. How does a person become so adept at ignoring what they said and did mere months ago, such as agreeing to the DNC rules regarding FL and MI? How do we trust her as president if she is so willing to do a complete 180 without batting an eye or explaining herself?

I am a woman and while I would love to have a woman president and I think it is way past time that we had a woman in charge in this country, I do not feel Hillary has the experience or character for the job. Not unless she was planning on being an extension of the politics as usual - which she seem to be doing just now.

Besides, is the job of POTUS now becoming a family dynasty. Do we need another Clinton or Bush in the White House?

[CamSalis]

Good lord. Where do these people come from? "Venal ambition'? Well, since Sutherland is referring to a presidential campaign he must also be dissing McCain and Obama. "Mad antics"? Sounds a lot like misogyny considering things that have been said by men in this campaign. Huff Po would get better blogs if they weren't so star struck. Mr. Sutherland, stick to your day job. You're no good at political analysis.

[southwell4]

I totally agree, that wasn't political analysis, that was a hatchet job, and not a very well reasoned one either. Hillary has WAY more experience and ability than Obama, there is absolutely NO excuse for the pathetic name calling. I have never seen such misogyny as I have with this female candidate for president. We just can't handle the thought of an 'uppity' intelligent woman as the Commander in Chief. Other countries manage to host women candidates without a whole lot of fuss and wowie zowie some are even ELECTED ...imagine that!

We all need to grow up and forget about the male female thing and realize we are all on basically the SAME SIDE and we need to pick the best possible person for the job and stop trashing our own people!!! Jeeese, get a grip.

[Bettysdad]

Those other countries you allude to have leaders and candidates that happen to be women. You want women leaders and candidates. Those are two completely different things.