In a final plea to undeclared Democratic superdelegates, Sen. Hillary Clinton points to her lead in the popular vote, some recent polling showing her strength against John McCain, and surveys showing that voters believe she is ready to serve as commander in chief.
In a letter, sent Tuesday, and in an extensive memo, sent today, Clinton frames the choice for superdelegates as one between a candidate who has won more delegates in caucuses and a candidate who has won more delegates in primaries and has won the popular vote.
In the letter, which can be found on the Atlantic webpage from 2008, lays out Clinton's argument that she is the stronger candidate against John McCain, and that she hopes that the super delegates will recognize that fact and support her.
However towards the end of the letter Hillary Clinton makes this promise:
Finally, I am in this race because I believe staying in this race will help unite the Democratic Party. I believe that if Senator Obama and I both make our case – and all Democrats have the chance to make their voices heard – everyone will be more likely to rally around the nominee.
In the end, I am committed to unifying this party. What Senator Obama and I share is so much greater than our differences; and no matter who wins this nomination, I will do everything I can to bring us together and move us forward.
This is in stark contrast with what we are publicly hearing from the Sanders' campaign, though there is information that behind the scenes Sanders is assuring the DNC that he will play nice.
At this point I am just worried that by the time Sanders calls for unity his followers will have already "Berned the place down."
After all Hillary Clinton supporters in 2008 were the party faithful, they were not interested in overhauling the DNC they just wanted to elect the best candidate.
However Sanders is calling for a revolution.
Revolutions do not respect the rules, nor do they want to maintain decorum, revolutions want to destroy what exists and replace it with something better.
Clinton supporters in 2008 liked what they had, and they wanted it to survive, not just the 2008 elections, but every election to come.
(H/T to Addicting Info)
She didn't quit that race until after June 7th.
ReplyDeleteI have not heard Sanders say he would not support Hillary, in fact just the opposite.
*Bernie!
Delete@4:37
Yup.
*Bernie!
Delete@4:37
When she did concede,she supported Obama wholeheartedly. I know she is going to be the nominee this year,so does Bernie. He is going to concede after California and make America even prouder of him than it already is by backing Clinton 100%.
What does John McCain have to do with it? She's not running against him. Is it a typo or am I confused?
ReplyDeleteBecause they're buddies and have been for quite some time. All political theater, musical chairs as we played in our childhood, and we end up paying for it.
DeleteThe letter is from 2008, when the Democrats were running against Republican John McCain.
DeleteAnd it looks like 5:02 is at least one conspiracy theory over the limit.
5:02= Another looney that posts on this blog.
DeleteWell Gryphen, weed isn't good for everyone. In fact, with many mental health diagnoses it can actually cause their paranoia to grow.
DeleteNot a looney tune at all; just disgruntled at the process and no matter how we vote we're effed. If you call that crazy, Gryph, then more power to you. One of your most staunch supporters; so be it.
DeleteSigh I miss Emily Litella and her "nevermind" quips when SNL was it's best. RIP Gilda!!
DeleteTrue that, 5:26 PM, OP here watching my husband go through MM every day trying to hang on.
DeleteOh, thanks. I see 2008 in the headline now.
DeleteNot the clearest post. Or else I'm not getting enough sleep with all this great AK weather and no darkness.
Thanks for clarifying.
ps I guess it could be a lot worse. I could be a conspiracy theorist. (smile.)
Anonymous5:02 PM,
DeleteAre you really that much of an idiot.
? Scary to think you can vote.
@5:17 ~ We're all mentally ill; it's just to what degree...
DeleteThis includes YOU.
@5:26 ~ ... guess you never heard of CBD oil which is legal in all 50 states and even legal for children in some states.
DeleteFor all you non-weed imbibers out there, believe me when i say that all weed is not the same. Marijuana is cultivated with careful thought to the THC/CBD levels with THC controlling the high and CBD in charge of the munchies.
@Anonymous 8:12 AM
Delete'''@5:17 ~ We're all mentally ill; it's just to what degree...
This includes YOU.'''
*********************
Speak for yourself, NOT the rest of us.
We are NOT all mentally ill, just you and that other poster you are defending.
@Anonymous 5:39 PM
Delete'''Not a looney tune at all'''
***********************
Yep, 5:02 PM/you? IS a loony tunes.
Has your dsughter come to her senses yet?
ReplyDelete*Bernie!
ReplyDeleteAnd also in 2008 she said:
“We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California.”
And when is she gonna call out this sexist statement?
“there are probably more ugly women in America than attractive women.”
Ed Rendell
Oh wait, he's just renting a room in her asshole until November, when she'll give him a cabinet position.
When is Bernie going to publicly apologize for his multiple misogynistic writings ? BTW, I read them when he wrote them, there are multiple ones out there.
DeleteSmopes said that's not true, in a Bernie Brothere's kind of way. s/
Deletehttp://www.snopes.com/bernie-sanders-essay/
NPR is on it, they know how I feel as a woman reading his essay, I'm too stupid to come to my own opinions/conclusions.
Where are the old buzzard's tax returns?
Delete*Bernie!
Delete@6:20
Same place as Hillary's missing emails and Gold-Sachs transcripts.
Anonymous6:39 PM
DeleteShe already showed her tax returns. Now his turn - he has no right to ask for anything else and neither do you.
@Anonymous 4:51 PM
DeleteYou people are like children. Arguing all the time on this blog.
I can see your point about the majority of vote if your talking about the general election.
ReplyDeleteBut this is about the primary election to decide the candidate for the general election, so I see it differently, multiple candiates have an effect on this matter.
So in the primary other people's votes don't count? Just your wishes?
DeleteYou and i are diametrically opposed...
DeleteThe general election is where multiple candidates can impact the outcome whilst the primaries are free for all.
Something you leave out about 2008 and Clinton's supporters: the PUMAs. Party. Unity. My. Ass. Remember that bit?
ReplyDeleteHere in 2016, Clinton's social media messaging is being coordinated by David Brock, the same guy who slut-shamed Anita Hill. They've admitted the super PAC spent at least a million dollars to seed the internet with pro-Hillary comments.
A few days ago, they put out the 'Bernie supporters are violent/Bernie's destroying the Party' meme and it took off like wildfire. Hillary supporters and the media lapped it up, and here we are.
Just like an urban legend, countless anecdotes appeared about 'someone I know' who was SUCH a big Bernie supporter (even donated/worked the phones..) but is now DONE/DISGUSTED. Suddenly. On the same day. Hmmmm.....
For the record, there was NO 'violence' in Vegas. Zero. The Party made Sanders delegates feel disenfranchised, and they were upset. They 'rushed the stage' and...did nothing.
There was booing, and (gulp!) some people used swear words. Who could imagine...passions running high at a political convention??!! Oh me, oh my, say it ain't so, Joe!
Why did they rush the stage? If they had an issue the thing to do is call out a point of order, but then for that to succeed there actually has to be an issue.
DeleteThe Chair ignored motions on the floor, and unilaterally declared the convention over.
DeleteEven for a troll you're boring.
Delete*Bernie!
Delete@6:20
The truth is "boring"?
Anything you have to say is null and void.
Read the mission statement of this blog up at the top left.
Anonymous6:43 PM,
DeleteYou are an ignorant moron who can't be bothered with with any facts that contradict your views.
If Bernie Wins California, Should Hillary Step Down?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/les-leopold/if-bernie-wins-california_b_10051886.html
Hillary progressives stick with their starting assumption that Bernie can’t win. It’s as if they believe all the polls are part of a grand conspiracy to make Hillary look bad.
Blame it on Bernie?
The most pernicious rationalization of Hillary’s weak poll numbers puts the blame on Bernie. He’s attacking her too hard. He’s waging a destructive campaign even though he has no chance of winning. He’s writing the playbook for the Trump campaign. He’s ramping up unrealistic expectations among his young supporters. He’s not willing to denounce their vociferous demonstrations and nasty comments. He’s the new Ralph Nader throwing the election to Trump.
It’s easy to understand why the Clinton campaign would put out these talking points in an effort to wrap up the race. But Hillary supporters who buy into this fiction are making a self-defeating argument. Is she really so fragile that she can’t handle a principled debate about policy positions, campaign financing, Wall Street and her own prior actions and stands on critical issues? If she can’t hold up against Bernie’s relatively mild attacks, how could she possibly stand-up to Trump’s unprincipled assaults? That’s a virtual admission that she’s an extremely vulnerable candidate.
But none of this is necessary to explain Hillary’s high unfavorables. Simply put, she is identified with the past just when the electorate wants to break with it. Most Americans don’t want to go back to another Clinton drama. She is not well liked because she too often seems to shift her positions, and that makes her seem insincere and lacking in integrity. Independents and young people seem especially put off by that affect.
This leaves progressive Hillary supporters with a crucial decision. Do they stick with Hillary if she loses California, even if that portends a debilitating loss to Trump in the fall? Or will they demand that Hillary step down in favor of Bernie, the more popular candidate?
Yeah, we'll see about that.
DeleteShe's going to step down despite the fact that she's has millions more votes and hundreds more pledged delegates than Sanders? Despite the fact that minorities overwhelmingly supported her? Despite the fact that she's won the "woman" vote in nearly every single primary/caucus? Should she ignore all those voters because of some premature general election polling? She's the more popular candidate by far in her own party's primary. That's what matters.
Delete[this is entirely academic because Sanders won't win in California and even if he does, it won't be by any wide margin, certainly not nearly enough to suggest that it would negate everything preceding it]
O/T:
ReplyDeleteThat is a great picture of Clinton up top! I don't hate her, I just don't believe her or want to vote for her as President. Other than that, she's badass awesome.
You don't believe her but she's badass awesome?
Delete...just sayin'
5:14 Thanks for the reminder.
DeleteI wanted to add that I think that is one of her best photos I've seen of late.
ll those Bernie Bros are doing is turning Bernie voters towards Hillary, please proceed Bros.
ReplyDeleteThat's all I have seen from former Sanders supporters. They are disgusted by the vileness and nastiness Sanders has fostered (yes fostered and nurtured by his lame denials of responsibility) in his camp. His former supporters did NOT sign up for that aspect which he seems to cherish so much.
DeleteBern it down indeed. Who do they think they are, they'll have a rude awakening as to how the world really works when they wake up some day. Let's hope it isn't with a trump presidency and the undoing of all the good that is America.
She showed her true character with that letter, Obama and Hillary were getting pretty close to being downright nasty toward the end. She read the writing on the wall and did exactly what she said she'd do in that letter. She looked at the big picture and conceded the race with class.
ReplyDeleteThat's how it's done.
SO true Gryphen.
ReplyDeleteRep. Wasserman Schultz “has played games with the party’s voter database, been accused of restricting the number of Democratic candidate debates and scheduling them at odd days and times to favor Hillary Clinton, and recently told CNN’s Jake Tapper that superdelegates — strongly establishment and pro-Clinton — are necessary at the party’s convention so deserving incumbent officials and party leaders don’t have to run for delegate slots ‘against grassroots activists.’ Let that sink in, but hold your nose against the aroma of entitlement.”
ReplyDeleteNow Wasserman Schultz has waded into the controversy over what happened or didn’t happen last weekend when Sanders supporters loudly and vehemently objected to the rules at the Nevada State Democratic Convention. In truth, some behaved badly at the event and others made trollish, violent and obscene threats to Democratic state chair Roberta Lange via phone, email and social media. There’s no excuse for such aggressive, creepy conduct, and Sanders was quick and direct in apologizing for the behavior of the rowdies and bullies.
But there is a double standard at play here. Why, pray tell, shouldn’t the peaceful majority of Sanders people be angry at the slow-motion, largely invisible rigging of the political process by Wasserman Schultz and the Clinton machine — all for the benefit of Secretary Clinton?
Wasserman Schultz claims the party rules over which she has presided (and manipulated) are “eminently fair.” She told CNN on Wednesday morning, “It is critical that we as candidates, we as Democratic Party leaders, everyone involved needs to make sure that we can take all the steps that we need to, to ensure that the process is not only run smoothly but that the response from the supporters of both candidates is appropriate and civil.”
The Nation‘s Joan Walsh, a Clinton supporter critical of the Sanders campaign, concurs: “Once again, Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz escalated a conflict that she should have worked to defuse,” she writes. “... Wasserman Schultz is not helping her friend Hillary Clinton with her attacks on Sanders. Just the appearance of fairness can go a long way in assuaging worries about fairness. Wasserman Schultz’s defiant rebuke to the Sanders camp has made it worse.”
Unless Wasserman-Schultz steps down now or Hillary Clinton has her removed, Philadelphia will be dominated by someone who represents everything that has gone wrong with the Democratic Party and Washington. At the convention’s opening session, Debbie Wasserman Schultz will be bringing the gavel down squarely on progressive hopes of returning the party to its legacy as champion of working people and the dispossessed.
Time for her to go.
Time for you to go.
DeleteIf you're going to cut and paste, at least cite your sources.
DeleteDebbie Wasserman Schultz embodies the tactics that have eroded the ability of Democrats to once again be the party of the working class. As Democratic National Committee chair she has opened the floodgates for Big Money, brought lobbyists into the inner circle and oiled all the moving parts of the revolving door that twirls between government service and cushy jobs in the world of corporate influence.”
DeleteAnd that ain’t all. As a member of Congress, particularly egregious has been her support of the payday loan business, defying new regulations from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that would rein in an industry that soaks desperate borrowers. As President Obama said, “While payday loans might seem like easy money, folks often end up trapped in a cycle of debt.”
So why has Wasserman Schultz been so opposed to the CFPB’s proposed rules? Maybe it has something to do with the $2.5 million or so the payday loan industry has donated to Florida politicians from both parties since 2009. That’s according to a new report by the liberal group Allied Progress. More than $50,000 of that cash has gone to Rep. Wasserman Schultz.
You're free to leave at any time 6:18. Take Debbie with you.
Wasserman Schultz is the Wayne La Pierre of the DNC.
DeleteSanders was not quick and direct in apologizing! Boy, you guys can't even admit when he's being an ass hole.
Deleteot
ReplyDeleteFor todays laugh: BSMP LLC
“provide lobbying, public relations, and political consulting services.”
Are you kidding me???? hahahahahahaha
Delete*Bernie!
ReplyDeleteAwrighty then,let's DO this.
2008?
Oh FUCK YES,let's go there!
"Here are some flashbacks to that tense period in 2008:
May 8: After narrowly beating Obama in Indiana, Clinton says, "Senator Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again." This was an argument that superdelegates should support her because her black opponent wouldn't be able to win white voters in November.
May 9: Sixteen pro-Clinton House members send a letter to superdelegates touting Clinton's "ability to connect with voters we must deliver in the fall, including blue collar Democrats who can sway this election as they have in the past."
Mid-May: Bill Clinton frantically tries to convince superdelegates to switch their allegiances. According to Game Change, "Clinton's message, sometimes implicitly, sometimes explicitly, was that the country wasn't ready to elect an African American president."
May 23: Hillary Clinton tells the Sioux Falls Argus Leader that she's staying in the race because anything can happen. "We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California," she says. She pledges to fight until the convention and challenges Obama to more debates. Obama supporters howl at Clinton's fear tactic.
May 31: The Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee meets to settle the fate of the Michigan and Florida delegates. It decides to cut both states' delegations in half—a death blow to Clinton's chances. Angry Clinton supporters outside the meeting tell the Huffington Post's Sam Stein that an ex-Senate majority leader (Tom Daschle) had "rigged" the South Dakota primary, that Obama was in the pocket of a billionaire megadonor (George Soros), and that his base of supporters was little more than an "anti-woman cult."
Early June: Rumors circulate of a secret video, known as the "whitey tape," in which Michelle Obama supposedly shares a stage with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and denounces white people. According to Game Change, the Clinton campaign clung to the video as its last best hope: "[Top Clinton aide Sidney] Blumenthal was obsessed with the 'whitey tape,' and so were the Clintons, who not only believed that it existed but felt that there was a chance it might emerge in time to save Hillary. 'They've got a tape, they've got a tape,' she told her aides excitedly."
There was no tape, and Clinton dropped out of the race on June 4, shortly after the last Democratic primary. On June 27, she and Obama held their first joint appearance together, in Unity, New Hampshire.
Sanders may yet pursue a different course. (His aides are talking about trying to transform the Democratic Party and its rules.) But for now, his decision to stay in the race and keep the pressure on the front-runner is not extraordinary. It's déjà vu."
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/05/lets-put-hillary-clinton-and-bernie-sanders-feud-perspective
Fuck you very much!
For being accused up thread of being a looney tune and getting my husband through his health issues six years strong, now with MM, yes, fuck you very much.
DeleteI can see why you don't have a life.
DeleteCorrect, I do not, and apologies to everyone that I went off.
DeleteYou've got some serious issues. Your life is not Clinton's fault.
DeleteOT This is really off topic, and I supposed that Silence is Golden. But what has happened to Sarah Palin? Her last post on facebook was May 12. Bristol hasn't posted anything on her instagram for 5 days, when she was selling her health shake. What's happened to them?
ReplyDeleteSo the Palin Obsessed always protend that if the Palins disapeared off social medaia, that you'd stop obsessing over them.
DeleteAnd now you can't live without them?
You Palin Obsessed are real goofballs you know that?!
I've said it before. Hillary is the only one running who is qualified to be POTUS. And I am sad that we have become a nation of emotional, paranoid, haters who exhibit very little critical thinking and even less curiosity for the truth. There's damn little journalism and GD few who listen to, watch it or read it.
ReplyDeleteGeorgiaPeach
Sanders’ campaign has successfully revealed what had been some previously muted truths about the way many Americans live, and the way they perceive how successful or inept the institutions that are supposed to serve their interests are doing their jobs. Those people are owed something and everybody knows it. Since Clinton is the likely nominee, this is her responsibility. It’s not Sanders’ job to deliver up his followers, as if they were a vanquished army — it’s Clinton’s job to induce their continued participation. And she won’t succeed if she treats their concerns as a dead letter simply because she won more delegates.
ReplyDeleteHer job is to view this primary as an opportunity to see where some of the real fault lines in America are running right now. Sanders and his supporters have played a vital role in this, and when she secures this nomination, it will be her job to repay their generosity.
No revolution ever happened without blood being spilled.
ReplyDeleteBernie's pack of mama's boys are only brave enough to threaten old ladies.
They also like to scream at children.
Delete*Bernie!
Delete"Bernie's pack of mama's boys are only brave enough to threaten old ladies."
Meh,no worries.
According to MAJOR Hillary surrogate Rendell:
"There are probably more ugly women in America than attractive women."
He's a douche bag goon who is the The Chairman of the Philadelphia 2016 Host Committee for this summer’s Democratic National Convention.
Where is Hillary checkin' his punk ass?
When some dipshit no account "Bernie Bro" sends out some dipsy doodle tweet,you Hillaristas lose your shit.
"Sexist"!!!!
Anonymous7:38 PM,
DeletePoor pathetic loser. The whole world is rigged against you. Nothing is ever your fault.
" revolutions want to destroy what exists and replace it with something better."
ReplyDeleteyou say this like it's a bad thing. very interesting.
status quo is over Jesse. the people are rising up.
go Bernie go
*Bernie!
DeletePeggy Klausner6:25 PM
Fuckin'A,Sister!
Anonymous7:12 PM,
DeleteHow old are you anyway?
People who are so cavalier about revolutions have no clue what they are really about.
DeleteLook. I don't think Hillary Clinton is the ultimate candidate for President.
ReplyDeleteBut she is the best we have running right now. Bernie has no chance so let's look at this logically. Everyone is tired, tired of working so hard and feel like they are just spinning their wheels but i am old enough to remember when our Grandparents had one car, never went on vacations to Hawaii and going to Florida was a big deal.
We want it all and feel cheated when we don't get it. Nobody rides for free.We have cell phones and texting and Amazon.Com.We have destination weddings when the odds are that as soon as as they hit hard times they will bailout. We have people out of work as the extreme and the middle class is becoming non existent.
That gives you TRUMP.In any other kind of enviroment he would be seen as a baffoon.
Seems like the republican strategy is working
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rawstory.com/2016/05/busted-trump-loving-comment-trolls-pose-as-sanders-and-clinton-supporters-to-divide-democrats/
A couple of others have quoted parts of the Bill Moyer column regarding the DNC and Wasserman Schultz. It is an excellent article that makes valid points. If any of you would like to read it in its entirety here is the link:
ReplyDeletehttp://billmoyers.com/story/democrats-cant-unite-unless-wasserman-schultz-goes/
When comparing Clinton '08 and Sanders '16, don't overlook the dates involved. Clinton dropped out on June 4, 2008. The convention was on August 25 to August 28, 2008 - giving her more than 12 weeks to unite the party.
ReplyDeleteThis year, the last big primaries are on June 7. The convention is July 25–28. 7 weeks to unite - should Sanders be so inclined.
Why TF would I want to read anything a criminal loser wrote?
ReplyDeleteBernie is supporting a primary to DNC head.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-debbie-wasserman-schultz_us_5740c0cee4b045cc9a713056
This is no longer about ideas. This is about being a sore loser. Vermont Democrats have bent over backwards for Bernie. They never even ran a candidate against him for the Senate. And now he wants to pull a Palin and primary DWS.
And then you have this....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rawstory.com/2016/05/busted-trump-loving-comment-trolls-pose-as-sanders-and-clinton-supporters-to-divide-democrats/
Clinton/Sanders 2016 is the pragmatic answer.
ReplyDeleteClinton/Warren 2016 is a nice thought, but it would be a Republican's dream to disable Warren's efforts to hold the legislatures' collective feet to the fire. She can't publicly do that as the VP.
And Wasserman needs to go do something else to help because she's perceived as a party-buster.
And you should read what Hillary said about Bernie.
ReplyDelete"Sanders has every right to continue his campaign."
Because she has class and is a true leader.
DeleteWe all know that's what she said.
Delete