You're All Superdelegates Now

Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, wrote a strong letter urging superdelegates to commit to one of the Democratic candidates in order to allow the party time to heal, regroup, and gear up for the general election. I say to the primary voters in Pennsylvania, Indiana and North Carolina: You're all superdelegates now. For the good of the party and the country, you need to think strategically about how to cast your votes. This primary season will not go on forever and, ultimately, either Hillary or Obama supporters are going to be disappointed. We should be prepared for that, and the voters in these important primaries have the chance to step up and make the same tough calculations Dean has urged party elders to do because he assumes that voters won't.

I'm on the record as an Obama supporter. I've given money to his campaign and knocked on doors to talk with others about why I think he is America's best hope for the future. But, what I haven't clarified is that I am terrified of the prospect of a John McCain Presidency. If our country has any prospect of pulling out of what most experts consider to be an economic recession, getting out of Iraq and preventing the Supreme Court from becoming an ideological bastion of the radical right, we need a Democrat in the White House.

Hillary Clinton is a champion for my state in the Senate. She has a distinguished history of public service and is an inspiration to many women, not only in the U.S., but around the world. And, on the issues that matter most to me, she and Obama don't differ that much. In many ways, this is about being the right candidate at the right time. So it worries me when I see polls in which up to 20 percent of Democratic primary voters in Pennsylvania say that if their candidate doesn't win the nomination, they will vote for John McCain. To me, this is evidence that many have lost sight of the true danger to our country and the political enemy deserving of the vitriol that has entered the Democratic primary in recent months. It is the Republicans who have misled the nation at every turn. It is the Bush Administration that has gotten us into a dangerous war without legitimate grounds, engaged in torture and illegal wiretapping, outed a CIA agent, abandoned the people of New Orleans during Katrina, and turned the post 9/11 sympathy of the world into contempt. So, I say to my fellow Democrats, and to Independents and Republicans who care enough to take steps to vote in Democratic primaries, please remember why this election matters so much in the first place. We need to elect a president who will put an end to the policies, the incompetence and the corruption of the Bush Administration.

As individual voters, we each have a precious vote. Candidates vie for them. We exercise our very freedom by casting them. And in doing so, we need to consider all of the relevant factors. So, the question should not be simply "Do I prefer Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton?" but also, "How will it affect the Democrat's chance of electing the nominee if the selection process is left to superdelegates?" and "Who is most likely to rally voters to defeat McCain?" It is a sad legacy of the Clinton years that many in the Republican Party developed a personal enmity for both the former President and his wife. I voted for Bill Clinton twice and, after two terms of George W. Bush, I look back with nostalgia on a time when the greatest failings of our leaders were in their personal lives, and smart, competent people were selected for government posts because of their abilities -- the pre-"Brownie" years. But I am also aware that while there are many Republicans who may not rally around John McCain, there are plenty who will join up to defeat Hillary Clinton. As Democratic voters, we cannot ignore the fact that her political enemies will become liabilities for the Democratic Party if she is its nominee for president, and that the particular disdain that many have for her will be a rallying point for John McCain and the Republicans.

Never has our engagement in the political process mattered more. We the people must re-take control of our government and put it back in the hands of public servants who understand that they are bound by the laws of the land and are ultimately accountable to the country's citizens. And so, I ask those who are going to vote in the upcoming Democratic primaries in Pennsylvania, Indiana and North Carolina to consider themselves not just as individual voters, but as important forces in the upcoming battle against John McCain. You must think of yourselves as superdelegates, making the strategic, if painful choice that will allow the Democratic party to move forward. If I had been an ardent Hillary supporter and was now faced with casting a ballot in one of these important states, I know that I would feel torn. But I think that, at this point, it is reasonable to consider that ordinary voters, rather than superdelegates, should be the ones to intervene in this process. Voters, even those who wish it were not so, can also recognize the mathematical lead that Obama has in terms of delegates and the popular vote, his appeal among voters who would not vote for Clinton, and his lack of powerful and dedicated enemies.

I hope that those who want to see an end to the policies of the Bush Administration can agree that, even if he is not their candidate of choice, Barack Obama advocates essentially the same policies as Hillary Clinton. And at this point, has a better chance of defeating McCain and putting things like providing healthcare, strengthening the economy and ending the war in Iraq on the national agenda. Perhaps some would say it's easy for me as an Obama supporter to make these arguments, but, I think that, if Hillary Clinton were now the best hope for the Democratic Party, I'd be supporting her candidacy. Given that Obama appears to be in that position, I urge voters to consider deciding this so that party elders don't have to, and to help the Democratic Party move on to attack those who have led us into the war in Iraq, a recession, and a dark time for our country on the international stage. In other words, I urge voters in the same way that Howard Dean has urged superdelegates, to take a step back, to recognize that, no matter how heated the Democratic contest has become, the real enemy is John McCain and to vote in a way that is most likely to contribute to his defeat. And, I hope that Hillary supporters will consider it no small consolation prize, if Obama does become the nominee, that a Democrat is poised to take back the White House and champion the issues that unite us.

Comments

[oldlakelady]

This is such an important post. In all the 24-7 media hype for Clinton and the Clinton campaigns push to scare voters into believing that Obama is not strong enough to win against McCain, there has been no other voice reminding us of Clinton's high negatives and the great rallying point she will be for Republicans if she is the nominee. What do people think Operation Chaos is all about? Republicans are not switching party to vote in the primaries because they like Clinton! They know she will be the easiest to beat in November. All this spin about the big states is so deceiving - any democrat will win in New York (polls show both candidates beat McCain), California (right now polls show Obama beating McCain by a larger margin than Clinton) and I believe given a chance to unite the party (despite how Clinton has despeartely tried to damage Obama) that Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania will go Democratic no matter which one is the candidate because there is so much at stake in this election.

[jhamm1]

Between what polls have indicated as one fourth of Obama supporters and one-third of all Clinton supporters who have pledged to vote for McCain if their desired candidate doesn't win, we can effectively consider this election as lost, already.

"Now you see that evil will always triumph because good is dumb."

-Spaceballs (i.e. the Republican Party)

[efranklin]

I couldn't agree with the author more. A vote for Clinton at this point is at the very least a campaign contribution to John McCain. My wife struggled with her ardent support for Clinton way back on Super Tuesday, and even then was able to foresee the rallying effect that Hillary would have on the GOP. As unfair as it is, there's an abundance of Clinton-hatred out there. One need look no further than this website to confirm that. Add all this to the stubborness of the delegate math, and a vote for Clinton doesn't make a whole lot of sense at this stage of the game.