Our PUMA Anti-Convention

Lady Boomer NYC as Miss Piggy Puma, courtesy of Gary and Mawm

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“So, how’d it go at the Democratic Convention?”

I get that a lot from my family and friends. They know I had been working the entire year to get Hillary Clinton elected President while “raging against the machine,” and that I was going to Denver to protest. I replied,

“Ummm . . . good. . . . I, I wasn’t really at The Convention.

We were like . . . the Anti-Convention!”

Post-Denver, although still mourning for what could have been, most hardcore, grassroots Hillary supporters have moved on — in one way or another. They know, or are deciding, what they will do with their votes and/or their efforts. Will they work for one campaign or other at the top, or just support down-ticket candidates? They are mulling over whether to: vote nothing on top, vote third party, write in Hillary’s name, stay home, or cast a protest vote for John McCain. For most, that would be their first Republican vote ever, and they do not take it lightly. The only reason they would do it is to protest Barack Obama and Democratic Party leaders who subverted the democratic process and 18 million voters.

But I can’t fully move on yet. This story is roiling around inside me, unwilling to be forgotten. One week plus is old news, past prime, but I keep getting these “little messages.” Last week I ran into my neighborhood Brazilian Café and struck up a conversation with husband and wife owners, Marcello and Juliet. I’d been socked away in my “Puma Den” for the last six months, making rich stove top espressos at home on the cheap.

Marcello asked, “I heaven’t seen you for a while. Where have you bean? What have you been doing?”

I hesitated protectively, having lived undercover using my handle for so long that I had to consciously produce my real name in my head before saying it. “Actually, I’ve been doing a lot of writing most of the year, political writing. Do you know what blogs are? I have a blog and contribute to other sites and efforts.”

They continued the conversation as they scurried about their business, “Oh really, and who were you supporting for President?”

My personal self gulped inside my political self having been so underground and divided, “Actually, I was supporting Hillary Clinton, working to get her elected. I still support her and believe she would make the best President.”

They both jumped to attention and gravitated back to the counter to face me, “Really? We’re for her too!”

(See why I can’t stop?) “That’s great,” I cooed, as I came clean, telling them about my blog and links to others, our efforts prior to and during Denver, and our work to ensure a roll call, a floor vote, and a record of the truth about this election.

They pointed out to me, “It’s just like 2000, Gore and Bush!”

“Right!” I answered, “and now from our own. It seems so much worse that way. Did you know that Democrats have a weird gene that makes them eat their own?”

They laughed. We talked about the delegates. They had seen the same things that Puma and Just Say No Deal Coalition members have been uncovering, observing, highlighting, and shouting about all year long: the subversion, bullying, and undemocratic processes. They could not believe when they saw the vote halted and delegates switched. “We voted. We went in and pulled the lever. Why should we even bother?”

“I KNOW. How do they do it in Brazil?”

“We vote. It gets recorded. Somebody gets elected. That’s it.”

Hillary Delegates Being Switched To Obama

The video above was published on YouTube on April 3, 2008 by a Texas Hillary Clinton delegate who decided to document the harassment she was receiving from the Obama campaign. The one below was published on May 18, 2008 by the same delegate, as she continued to be pressured. She was placed on their delegate roster, after repeatedly informing them that she is a Clinton delegate.

Ok…so I called the Obama campaign. Sure enough they had me in there as an Obama delegate. . . . He was acting like it was just all a big mistake, but once I stopped acting like a confused person and started laying into him, his excuse was, “I’ve heard you guys are doing the same thing. I’m not listening to you anymore. Click.”

So he knows what he’s doing and it’s deliberate and it’s on tape.

As I mentioned in “Raise Your Hand If You Think Florida’s Over”, a member of Obama’s staff is hammering Hillary’s Florida supporters, including Sen. Bill Nelson, who filed suit against the DNC to count all of his state’s votes cast, and Jon Ausman, Member FLorida DNC. It seems the Obama campaign is threatening to unseat Hillary delegates and replace them with their own. Can they just do that?

The nature of Obama’s campaign strong arm tactics, as seen in these two examples, is consistent with this “incident-report-summary-redacted” from El Paso, TX, which seems to document similar shenanigans. And remember the reprehensible treatment Obama supporters dealt to anti-war, progressive maverick, popular Houston U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), a loyal Clinton supporter.

From No Quarter on voter intimidation —

Comment by Evelyn | 2008-05-30 08:37:54:

. . . I was at the Texas Caucus and the Obama supporter’s took the Packets as early as 6:30 AM which they were told not to do, They never let go and then when time came to vote they took over the precinct by some of them pushing the people that were supposed to run it across the room to chairs. They called in incorrect totals for Obama instead of correct ones. He actually had 4 delegates and they called in 19 delegates.

Some of them ended up spending not only the night but a couple of days in jail, when my 88 year old Mother showed up, who can hardly walk on her walker, and they took her walker away from her when she said she was there to vote for Hillary. They said you are in the wrong place old woman; this is an Obama precinct, and you need to go across town. When I saw what was happening I called the police. . . .

Too Busy To Endorse: Holdouts On The Hill

June 11, 2008 — Come on, guys, the water’s fine!

Not everyone on the Hill is jumping in to endorse The O One. In his Politico story, Some Hill Dems won’t endorse Obama, Ryan Grim notes they are mostly “centrist Democrats from conservative districts.” Newly elected Mississippi Rep. Travis Childers’ chief of staff, says they’re busy setting up shop, and “the presidential politics just has not been on our mind.”

Rep. Heath Shuler, North Carolina freshman is sticking with HRC:

After Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton carried his district in the North Carolina primary, Shuler said he would cast his superdelegate vote for her at the Democratic convention.

Other Dems who have not endorsed the presumptive nominee include Rep. Dan Boren-OK, Rep. Tim Mahoney-FL, Rep. Jim Marshall-GA, and Rep. Charlie Melancon-LA.

Did Hillary Lose? Not So Fast: Taking Stock

End of An Era?

The bullet train that was the Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign has come to a sudden stop, and many of us are still reeling from the impact. I began this post ten days ago, but had to “suspend” it until now, due to an acceleration of flying information to either disseminate or set straight — similar to the last three months, but faster. I was fortunate to attend the last of Hillary’s campaign events, and finally here we are.

Some of my friends and family, both Obama and Hillary voters, don’t seem to understand why I can’t readily jump on board the Obama train or would consider casting a protest vote. They are horrified, as am I, at the thought of the results of four more years of Republican rule. Like Gloria Steinem, one of my ardent feminist friends is now throwing her support to Sen. Obama. After all, they say, he won. Albeit things were a bit scuzzy, it’s time to move on — Supreme Court, Roe v. Wade, The War, and won’t it be great to have a black President? Other supporters say, please, we must listen to Hillary, it will look bad for her otherwise, and could hinder her ability to accomplish her programs. If we claim to support her, we’ll take the wisdom of her request and respect it. Some say yes VP, others say, no way, it’s beneath her; let him find his way out. Others buzz: You never know; perhaps he’ll self-destruct before the Convention, and the Party will beg Hillary to come save it.

Many Clinton supporters, men and women, of all races and ages, insist that they will never, ever, ever vote for Obama due to his disrespectful, misogynistic, race-baiting treatment of Hillary and Bill — and by extension all of us — his lightweight resume, questionable associates and tactics, his wavering, shallow policies, reported caucus state irregularities by surrogates, his stand against full Florida and Michigan voting rights, his hijacking MI delegates, plus taking those that weren’t actually his; last but not least, his potentially dangerous position toward Israel, and associations with anti-Semitic, racist preachers and factions. That’s just the short list.

Jubilant In Puerto Rico

Ten days ago, on Sunday, June 1, 2008, Hillary had just won the Puerto Rico primary by a landslide. The Puerto Ricans were jubilant, and honored her with the respect that they clearly understood she deserved. The previous day, the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee had their much anticipated vote in which they decided to: restore Florida to one-half vote per delegate; award 55 Michigan delegates to Obama, who had tactically removed his name from the ballot before the primary; and give four Clinton delegates to him as well, rather than reflect the 73 percent of that state’s vote, which Clinton had actually won.

It’s not easy to abandon a candidate who is clearly the strongest to win for the Democrats in November, but more than that, to abandon the one who won. People I met in person at campaign events or online, had become activated and motivated beyond their wildest intentions. As Hillary has acknowledged with gratitude, they gave months and years of their time, volunteering, serving internships, overworking as underpaid staffers. They traveled on buses to multiple states, blogged, emailed, created websites, made phone calls, raised and donated money, registered voters, stood on street corners waving signs, attended caucuses, and protested. People cast their votes for Hillary Clinton because her strength, courage, compassion, competence, and policies resonated with them.

DNC RBC Meeting and Aftermath

They say a day is like a year in politics. Surely, it feels that way these days. After returning from the DNC RBC Rally late Saturday, May 31, I watched the replay and aftermath commentary on CPAN’s Washington Journal the following morning, happily avoiding the Sunday “political” shows.

Mitchell Caesar, of Florida, Superdelegate and DNC Executive Board Member, felt bad that Florida didn’t get 100% of their vote. He asked that people have patience and likened the ruling to “a family fight, and we’ll come together in the end” — to which a caller responded sardonically,

“You had eight years.”

Martha Fuller Clark, Obama for President, NH co-chair, declared stunningly that voters should be grateful, because after all:

“We could have elected to not count 100 percent of the vote.”

Soooo? You’re saying then, it WAS arbitrary, and not about the rulz?

Karl Rove’s no nonsense assessment was:

“They took their finger and shoved it in her eye. On Saturday, he took 55 delegates not his and four of hers. He’s not a confident individual.”

By Monday, June 2, I was still wondering: What was Hillary going to do about the rights she’d reserved during the RBC Meeting via Harold Ickes to take her vote challenge to the DNC Credentials Committee? We were waiting to hear, but nothing emerged — only the perceptible, expectant drum beat of delegates marching in tandem over to Obama’s side. Were they being pressured? How? By whom? Their constituents? The Party?

Delegates and Supers

Then after an unexpectedly juicy South Dakota 10-point win on final Dem primary day — a day when a Trojan horse AP story declared that Hillary was dropping out, and Superdelegates pushed Obama’s lead to the new magic number of 2118 — he was declared the winner. Then the big shocker: Hillary did not make the speech she was expected to make. She, like me, wasn’t ready and made the speech she needed to make. I thought it was great, considering she’d just been cheated out of becoming POTUS, and nearly yanked off the stage by the salivating DNC.

Riverdaughter commented at The Confluence:

Hmmm, now we know why the RBC did what they did. She had over 100 delegates from Florida and 73 from Michigan. If he got zero from Michigan and both states had been able to seat with full strength, she could have added over 86 delegates and he would have lost 59. Hmm, that brings her total to 1725 and Obama’s to 1707. Day-um! I wouldn’t concede either.

I still thought about the vote challenge, but on Wednesday, June 4, the day after Hillary was criticized for her remarks at Baruch College, with the world, including Barack’s native Kenyan village, proclaiming him the winner, what could she do? Unseat him? Ummm, excuse me, but we have this challenge. There would have been riots in the streets. Sure, they had to let 18 million of us down, but heck, how could the snowball have been rolled back uphill? I specifically blame the DNC for this. That day, Charles Rangel and the NY Congressional delegation came out for Obama, after chastising Clinton for not honoring the theft nominee and for taking too long to concede. Like many of their colleagues, in the end, they couldn’t stand the pressure. It’s as if none of the 18 million voters even existed or had weight.

Campaign manager, Terry McAuliffe announced that Hillary would have an event for her supporters at the end of the week and make her speech then. So people calmed down a little bit, but he’d been saying the same thing all week.

Who cares. At least there finally was a winner.

So, how did the votes actually add up?

Obama won. The MSM, DNC, and Obama campaign reported it.

Did he?

Who Really Won?

Who really won the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primaries? Are caucuses fair? Do you understand what happened with all these numbers?

Texas Darlin’ at No Quarter says, “It’s a Tie! (Popular v. Pledged Delegates)” — The final tally:

Congratulations to both Democratic frontrunners!

Hillary Clinton has won the popular vote by over 300,000 votes. Barack Obama has won 130 more pledged delegates.

Here are the final totals:

POPULAR VOTE (all primaries and caucuses)
Hillary Clinton: 17,785,009
Barack Obama: 17,479,990

PLEDGED DELEGATES
Barack Obama: 1766.5
Hillary Clinton: 1639.5

Hillary won the most popular votes in presidential primary history. She won them for the Democrats, and instead of celebrating her, they tossed her out on her fanny. Striking, no?

Hillary’s supporters understand what their candidate has asked of them in suspending her campaign and requesting that 18 million of us join to elect Barack Obama POTUS. Hillary is a politician. She’s cut out for the battle, and can turn around and schmooze with adversaries like it’s old times. Me, not so much. I’m troubled, like many people, by the apparent DNC internal decision to crown Barack Obama the nominee, passing over the more substantial, qualified candidate, who’s BTW a woman.

So? Now, I’m supposed to roll over, kiss, and makeup like a good girl? Sorry, not so fast, I’m not that easy.

Are Caucuses Fair?

On June 3, 2008, Huffington Post political editor Thomas Edsall posted, “Obama’s Debt To Harold Ickes,” in which he explains:

If the caucus states were eliminated, Obama would not be the one on the verge of declaring victory.

As of June 2, according to RealClearPolitics, Obama had a 157 delegate vote lead over Clinton, 2072 to 1915.

In the 14 states that picked some or all of their delegates through caucus systems this year, Obama won 400 delegates to Clinton’s 193, a 207 delegate advantage that more than accounts for his overall delegate lead.

An analysis (pdf) published on TalkLeft found that total Democratic voter participation in the caucus states amounted to 1.1 million people, compared to the 32.4 million voters in Democratic primaries, a ratio of 30 to one. Caucus participants made up 3.2 percent of the total of 33.5 million primary voters and caucus goers combined.

In contrast to the relatively close results in most primary states, Obama won many of the caucus states by huge margins, often substantially exceeding 60 percent. As a consequence, he piled up large numbers of delegates in the relatively low turnout contests.

The TalkLeft analysis noted that Clinton won 11 more delegates than Obama in the New Jersey primary, which she won by 112,128 votes, while Obama won 12 more delegates than Clinton in the Idaho caucuses which he won by 13,225 votes. Similarly, Clinton netted 12 delegates by winning the Pennsylvania primary by 214,115 votes, while Obama came out ahead by 14 delegates by winning the Kansas caucuses by 17,710 votes.

Wow. Gives you pause, no?

Were Deals Made?

Plukasiak discusses The RBC Violation of DNC “Sunshine Rules” in a guest post at The Confluence. Here’s an excerpt:

Barack Obama and his supporters on the committee engineered a deal in secret to disenfranchise constituency groups that have consistently supported Democrats – and who have consistently supported Hillary Clinton during this primary season. These key constituencies were treated as “half citizens” in Florida and Michigan solely to benefit Obama.

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And there can be no question that it was the intent of Barack Obama to provide different treatment to different voters. In Michigan, Obama had his representative demand that the delegates in Michigan be provided with full voting power, (while completely ignoring their votes, and demanding a 50-50 split) while demanding that Floridians – a state with large number of Jewish voters, Latino/Hispanic voters, and older voters –– were to be given only half-representation. Obama’s position was so internally inconsistent that it can only be seen as an effort to disenfranchise those constituencies that have consistently supported Hillary Clinton, and provided her with a considerable margin in Florida among both delegates and the popular vote.

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And “the rules” is no excuse. If “the rules” compel you to treat some Americans as being unequal to all other Americans, then there is something wrong with the rules. Anyone with an ounce of human dignity would recognize this, and take the easy and appropriate step of resigning from the RBC rather than enforce a provision of the rules that is an insult to human dignity.

Who Made Them?

Tom In Paine wrote yesterday, June 10, in his post After Math that this was the first time in history the Democratic contender with the most votes lost the nomination. This is due to the failed Democratic apportionment system which gives nearly equal delegates to primary losers as winners, and which in the end produced no clearcut winner.

So super delegates are asked to do something you hate to see a Democratic elected official do — exercise their political judgment and pick the candidate they think has the best chance to win in the fall.

Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Howard Dean insisted it had to be done now even though the convention was 2 months away. And why? Because Pelosi, Reid, Dean and the Obama wing of the party are trying to sell a candidate with a resume and a list of accomplishments that you can read faster than a value meal menu and they didn’t think Obama could stand up to 2 more months of Hillary Clinton. Given the way Clinton finished and Obama limped to the finish line they might have been right.

But what did super delegates do when they exercised their political judgment? They looked at the popular vote and decided to choose the candidate the majority of voters in the Democratic Party voted against. They looked at the delegate count and saw that, not counting the 55 disputed Michigan delegates, Obama ended with a delegate lead of 77 out of over 4000 even though the democratic apportionment system awarded Obama over 700 delegates in states where he lost by landslide margins. They saw that Clinton was the winner of the 13 biggest and most populous states in the country, won every big state in the northeast, took the industrial midwest, the entire southwest from Oklahoma to Nevada, Kentucky, W.Va, Tennessee, Florida, Michigan, and California by landslide margins and decided they wanted the loser. And now they’ve got him and half the Democratic Party is ready to defect.

Women’s Dilemma

Finally, commenter anne, sums it up:

Me, right now, I’m just watching, seeing what goes down. Like I said. Slow down, I’m not so easy.

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Caucuses Fatally Flawed

In his May 16, 2008 article, “Comparing ‘Apples to Apples’ Clinton and Obama Are Much Closer in Pledged Delegates,” Jay S. Jacobs, Nassau County, NY, Democratic Chairman and “Pledged” Delegate for Hillary Clinton, decodes the convoluted Democratic Primary and Caucus system. Although you may think it’s a moot point with how it all turned out, Jacob’s explanation makes clear by the numbers that the caucus system is not a true reflection of the voters. (The article was written from the perspective of three weeks before the race concluded on June 3, 2008 with the last primaries.)

Barack Obama’s estimated 163 “pledged” delegate lead, when fairly analyzed, is not what it appears to be. Out of his delegate lead margin only 12 delegates were earned in primaries while a full 151 delegates, fully 93% of his lead, were earned through caucuses. That is important because of the assumption that “pledged” delegates were elected “democratically,” a premise which is fatally flawed based on the disparity of voter representation between primary-elected and caucus-elected delegates.

So how, actually, were the “pledged” delegates, up to this point, “elected”? According to CNN’s breakdown of overall pledged delegates, Obama has 1608 with a lead of 163, over Clinton’s 1445. In the 33 primaries, Obama has accumulated 1278 delegates to Clinton’s 1266, a margin of 12. Through 17 caucuses held to date, as well as the Texas caucus, Obama has garnered 330 delegates to Clinton’s 179, a margin of 151.

Only 1,086,494 voters participated in all of the caucuses, while 31,161,414 voted in primaries. Obama captured 63% of the caucus-goers but only 49% of all primary voters. Clinton won 36% of all caucus attendees and more than 48% of all primary voters. Immediately, that would suggest that there is either something very seriously different about the voters in caucus states or something seriously wrong in the representation of voters’ interests coming out of the caucus process in those states.

Worse yet is the impact on the delegate count. While 2549 delegates earned in the primaries represent an average of 12,225 voters, in the caucuses each of the 515 delegates elected represents a mere 2,110 votes. Each caucus vote, then, is weighted 5.8 times greater than each primary vote when it comes to allocating delegates.

The obvious conclusion is that there is something very unfair with the caucus process. And, if there were any doubts about the fairness of the system, just look to the one state that divided delegates using both – on the same day – Texas. I was an observer at one of the Texas “precinct conventions.” While mine was relatively well-organized, many others were not. Reports of verbal and physical fights were rampant. Complaints of a lack of checks on participant qualifications are widespread. There is a reason why only 41% of the precincts had reported two weeks after the event.

Once again, the results in Texas speak for themselves. In the primary, over 2.8 million people voted, giving Clinton 51% of the vote and 65 delegates. Obama received 47% of the vote and 61 delegates. However, the results from the caucuses – done on the very same night – yield a very different result. Obama earned 38 delegates from the “precinct conventions” to Clinton’s 29 – yielding him a margin of 9 votes in caucuses that saw a fraction of the voters who participated in the primaries where Clinton’s margin was only 4 delegates. In effect, the winner of the popular vote (Clinton) is the ultimate loser in Texas (sound familiar?).

To further make the point: in Nassau County 109,721 Democrats voted in the New York Primary. That represents 10% of the total of ALL voters who voted in ALL of the 16 caucuses to date – from just my county! If we add the 89,490 Democrats who voted in Suffolk, we can see that although Long Island’s vote was more than 18% of the total of ALL caucuses combined, our 22 delegate delegation will be only 4.4% the size of the total delegates (515) elected in all of the caucuses. Why don’t Long Island’s voters count as much as Wyoming’s?

The result is that Obama’s current delegate lead is almost entirely based on the less-democratically run caucuses which turn-out proves exclude many voters and which grants attendees disproportionately greater voter power than that granted to primary voters, exaggerating delegate allocations. For those that argue that Super Delegates must follow “the will of the people”, let’s at least be fair and compare “apples to apples” by discounting the value of delegates chosen in the caucuses giving them the same per-vote weight earned by delegates in the primaries. That democratic adjustment alone would reduce Obama’s caucus delegate lead from 151 to 26, reducing his overall lead from 163 to just 38 – certainly within reach of being overtaken by Clinton in upcoming primaries, even without Florida and Michigan.

* Reprinted with permission of the author. Previously published in Newsday.

Deja AP All Over Again: Delegates NOT Released (UPDATE)

Several versions of rumors have been circulating about the conference calls which occurred last night, June 9. 2008 between Hillary Clinton, Harold Ickes and her delegates. Both TexasDarlin on No Quarter and commenter and elected delegate captsfufp at The Confluence, who was on the call, have posted ear-witness reports that Hillary has not released her delegates. captsfufp writes:

Ickes spoke about how the delegates would still be coordinated by the campaign (that may be the only part of the campaign that’ll probably have jobs until August, I guess!). And, I thought this was interesting…he stated that the reason that Hillary technically ’suspended” her campaign was so that she could still receive the superdelegates votes from the other primaries. I don’t know which ones he was referring to specifically, but he said that if she had conceded (I forget what word he used), those 190 delegates (don’t ask me where this number comes from) would have gone to … him. But by merely suspending her campaign, those Clinton votes would be reflected by those 190 delegates

But he reiterated that she would do whatever it takes to support … him. This was also interesting: He said in the coming weeks there would be discussions with … his campaign and her about how her issues would be reflected and how Denver would be treated. This is just me speaking, and I may be wrong, but what he seemed to be alluding to was making a decision about whether she would be a candidate for nomination or not. But there should be some talks and decision in a few weeks about how she “will come to Denver.” But she’ll (obviously!) be taking a break from such things for the next few weeks.

Former Maryland State Senator and pledged Clinton delegate, Mary Boergers sent an email to No Quarter’s SusanPC, in which she urges people to contact Howard Dean to protest his statement that he hopes there isn’t a roll call at the Democratic Convention. (I hope they’ll forgive me for lifting the whole thing, but getting the word out about this is IMPORTANT!)

I was on that conference call and there was nothing in Hillary’s comments to indicate that she was releasing her delegates and urging them to vote for Obama on the first vote in Denver. In fact what Harold Ikes said was that the campaign would like to keep Hillary’s delegates together so that she can more effectively fight for issues like universal health care to make sure it is included in the party platform. This seems like deliberate misinformation. (Sound familiar!)

One of the super delegates who was in London in fact complained about the strong arm pressure from the Obama campaign to immediately (last Friday before Hillary’s speech) switch their vote to Obama.

So to me the strategy is clear. The Obama folks want to try and prevent us from nominating Hillary at the convention and voting for her at the convention. We need to STOP this. Historically losing candidates always have their names put into nomination, give a great speech and then there is a roll call vote. The presumptive nominee gets the majority and then there may be a call to make it unanimous.

We need to make sure that people are aware of this procedure. Once again the Obama people are trying to change the rule of the game, pretending that they were always the rules in order to push Hillary aside. We must keep them from succeeding.

To me this is the most important thing that we can do right now. We need to attack Howard Dean for saying that he hopes there isn’t a role call vote at the convention.

This pressure, heavy handed tactics and “shot gun” marriage effort must end. This is the fight that we need to continue

To repeat Mary’s call to action: We need to attack Howard Dean for saying that he hopes there isn’t a role call at the convention.

Contact Howard Dean:
Phone: 202-863-8000
Fax: 202-863-8174
E-mail: HowardDean@dnc.org

This calls into question Taylor Marsh’s assertion that Clinton had indeed released them.

EXCLUSIVE UPDATE: Jay Jacobs, Nassau County, New York, Democratic Chairman, and Pledged Delegate says:

I am still a Hillary Delegate and will remain so until directed otherwise by her.

It seems possible that once again an AP-type rumor has reared its Trojan head similar to the one that surfaced one week ago today, on the final day of Democratic primaries about Hillary shutting down her campaign. The AP rumor was regarded by many as a deliberate attempt to suppress voter turnout, after Clinton’s 35 point trouncing of Obama in Puerto Rico the previous day.

Contact Superdelegates Today!

Contact your Superdelegate today, especially if you’re a constituent or a campaign donor, they need to hear from you! Here’s a handy link, thanks to Jeralyn at Talk Left via katiebird at The Confluence.

Superdelegates need to hear from you about why Hillary is your choice and the best choice for President. Comparing Hillary to Obama, she will win the general election against McCain, he will not. How many more of Obama’s shady dealings, inexperienced utterances, and associations with haters will emerge from his closet? Let the SDs know why you support Hillary, tell them your concerns.

Superdelegates can change their minds, or even decide who they’ll endorse anytime up to the Democratic Convention.

It’s about ELECTABILITY! The next few days are critical. Let the people prevail!

Beware AP Trojan Horse: It’s *&^% Not Over!

Fox News reports at 11:08 AM that AP reports that Hillary Clinton will acknowledge tonight that Barack Obama has the delegates needed to win the nomination. The Clinton Campaign explicitly say this is FALSE. Terry McAuliffe and Harold Ickes DENY this report AS FALSE. Now, who do you think is responsible for this little announcement?

Ickes on MSNBC:

Obama does not have the delegates and will not have them tonight. It might be over by Thursday, but I don’t see it going to the Convention. Mrs. Clinton continues to make her case. I don’t want to leave any impression about the credential challenge; she’s made no decision. We continue to make the case that she will be the strongest candidate.

He refutes reports that have him saying “it’s over,” declaring he has said no such thing!

Statement from the Clinton Campaign:

The AP story is incorrect. Senator Clinton will not concede the nomination this evening.

Keep going! It’s not over! Have courage. Make calls to Montana and South Dakota. Vote for Hillary! Contribute. Keep going!

Puerto Rico Hot for Hillary

[splashcast VJRV8574DU]

Hillary in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

Senator Hillary Clinton was carried to victory by the islands that love to love her, as Puerto Rico handed her a big win on Sunday and tossed Obama back. Through her win, she appealed to Puerto Ricans and Hispanics throughout the US, whose votes she’d easily win as the Democratic nominee in November.

Of course, you’d barely know she won, since the MSM covered it for about a second before they moved on to Obama’s impending win via Superdelegates. Clinton had just squashed Obama like a bug, beating him 263,120 to 121,458, that’s over 2 to 1 at 68% to 32%. Should I even waste my cells getting upset? Like I didn’t know they would: as the trouncing was taking place, one broadcaster commented that Hillary can save her reputation, but she only has a narrow window.

The video above is her victory speech, below is the written transcript. Notice her positive tone.

June 1, 2008

Hillary’s Remarks at the Victory Celebration in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Thank you so much. I have four words for you: Te quiero Puerto Rico!

Never before have these beautiful islands had such an important voice in a presidential election. And I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here. I cannot thank you all enough. Bill and Chelsea and I are so grateful to the bottom of our hearts for your generosity and your kindness, and I hope that we have helped to draw attention to the concerns of Puerto Rico and we have also helped to spotlight the beauty and the spirit of this wonderful place.

I am grateful for this show of overwhelming support. I came to Puerto Rico to listen to your voices because your voices deserve to be heard. And I hear you, and I see you, and I will always stand up for you.

I also want to recognize Senator Obama and his supporters. Our two campaigns have turned out record numbers of new voters, determined to chart a new course for America. Now, this primary election has been hard fought because there is so much at stake and we must elect a Democratic president.

I am I am overwhelmed by this vote today and I cannot complete this journey without your help. We have two contests left in South Dakota and Montana, and you can make the difference by visiting hillaryclinton.com and helping us make sure we go strong. Every contribution will help us make our case to the voters who are going to be heading to the polls.

And I want you to know that this election is really about your future. You voted even though some tried to tell you that your votes wouldn’t count. You voted for the person you believe will be the stronger nominee and the strongest president. And you are not alone. You are joining millions of people across the United States, more than 17.6 million, plus the votes that we’ve received today. People who don’t always make the headlines; who don’t always feel like your voices are being heard.

I think about these people all the time, because that’s who I care most about. The nurse on her second shift who still can’t pay her credit card bills; the worker who can’t afford the gas on the way to work, the waitress on her feet without health care. The small business owners saddled with rising energy bills; the college student who can’t afford to continue college; the farmer, the teacher, the trucker, the soldier, the veteran. The people yearning for a president who will rebuild the economy and a Commander-in-Chief who will restore our leadership and moral authority in the world.

I know that people face tough times. But what I’ve been impressed by is the resourcefulness and resilience that the people here and across the United States use to face whatever challenges they confront, because they believe they can keep working for a better tomorrow. The American Dream may bend under the weight of challenges we failed to meet and presidents who have failed to lead. It may bend, but it will never break, because that’s what keeps so many of us going; the thought of a better life tomorrow and a better future for our children.

I believe that the people of the United States need a champion in the White House, someone who will be a president in their corner and on their side. I believe you are voting because you want a president who will stand up for universal health care. Who will stand up for action to address the housing crisis, who will stand up for better jobs to protect Social Security. You want to cut through the speeches and the sound-bites to real solutions.

And so today you’ve come out strong. You have defied the skeptics. More people across the country have voted for our campaign, more people have voted for us than for any candidate in the history of presidential primaries.

We are winning the popular vote. Now, there can be no doubt, the people have spoken and you have chosen your candidate. And it’s important where we have won. We are winning these votes in swing states and among the very swing voters that Democrats must win to take back the White House and put this country back on the path to prosperity. Together, we’ve won the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Arkansas, West Virginia, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, and, yes, Michigan and Florida.

And I hope by my second term, regardless of what the people of Puerto Rico decide about the status option you prefer, you too will be able to vote for the next president of the United States.

So, when the voting concludes on Tuesday, neither Senator Obama nor I will have the number of delegates to be the nominee. I will lead the popular vote. He will maintain a slight lead in the delegate count. The decision will fall on the shoulders of those leaders in our party empowered by the rules to vote at the Democratic Convention.

I do not envy the decision you must make, but a decision has to be made, and in the final assessment, I ask you to consider these questions: Which candidate best represents the will of the people who voted in this historic primary? Which candidate is best able to lead to us victory in November? And which candidate is best able to lead our nation as our president in the face of unprecedented challenges at home and abroad?

I am in this race because I believe I am that candidate, and I will be that president. We are winning the popular vote because we have stood for the core principle of our party, a party that believes in universal health care – no one left out. A party that believes hard working, middle-class families deserve a fair shot at the American Dream, a party that believes we must bring our troops home from Iraq safely, responsibly, and honorably. A party that cherishes every child, values every family, and counts every single vote.

We are winning against John McCain and beating him in the key states. We have what it takes to get the 270 electoral votes necessary to win the White House. And the majority of voters know who is ready on Day One to serve as our president. A president who will bring strength, knowledge, and experience to the White House to solve our toughest problems. A president who knows firsthand the challenges of the job, as well as its power to make a positive difference in people’s lives.

That’s why I’m in this race. Ultimately it’s not about Senator Obama or me. It’s about you – your hopes, your interests, your futures. It’s about the direction we choose as a nation. With two wars abroad and an economic crisis at home, we have to get this right. Our country cannot afford four more years of more of the same.

So, today Puerto Ricans across this beautiful place that I have come to enjoy so much made your voices heard and your votes counted, and for that, I want to thank my co-chairs, Senate President Kenneth McClintock and Puerto Rico Democratic Chair Roberto Prats, political directors Rafi Rodriguez Aguayo and Representative Jorge Colberg, Elections Representatives, Representative “Junior” Gonzalez and Rene Estades. Jose Hernandez Mayoral, Former Governor Carlos Romero, Miguel Lausell, Virgilio Ramos, and Luisette Cabanas. And special thank you to coordinator Ramon Luis Lugo, deputy coordinator Francisco Domenech, and advisor Jeffrey Farrow.

And I want to thank all of my volunteers, my staff, my supporters; everyone who waved at us as we caravanned all day yesterday. And I want to reiterate what I have said across Puerto Rico, together, in my first term, we will finally enable the status question to be resolved, based on the principles that government should be representative at all levels, and the people of Puerto Rico deserve the opportunity to choose from among all of the options.

Together we will work to ensure that Puerto Rico is treated equally when it comes to Medicare and Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, tax breaks for creating jobs, and more. I will be your champion. And I want to thank all of my friends in our labor unions, all of them who have done so much for us. It has been a joy to work with every single union that has been here supporting me. We would not be here without you tonight. And I want to say a special word of thanks to the Hispanic community, not just in Puerto Rico, but across the United States. I am so honored you have stood by me throughout this campaign. I am grateful for your love, your friendship, and your support.

What we have seen in this campaign and what we have always known is that Hispanic Americans, Latinos from every part of Latin America, care deeply about the future of the United States. You contribute so much to the greatness of this country, to business and academia, to labor, to the professions, to entertainment, to sports, to every part of society. And you have also contributed greatly to expanding the horizons and the diversity of our country. I am so grateful to you, and I am so proud of the support you have given me.

I also wish to thank my family for their incredible love and support, Bill and Chelsea, my mother, my brothers, Hugh and Tony, my sister-in-laws, Maria and Megan, and all who are helping here in Puerto Rico and South Dakota and Montana. Because we are in this to choose a candidate who we know will not only stand up for us but unite us. We will be strengthened by the enthusiasm of the millions of people who have voted and volunteered in all of these contests. We are propelled by this unique moment in history.

The campaign has been an extraordinary journey, and I am grateful for every day of it; every single day something happens which reinforces my commitment and lifts my spirits. It might be a young child who is introduced and says, “I want to grow up to be president.” It might be a young mother who says, “I have no health insurance. I hope you will help me.” It might be an older man, who says, “I am a veteran, but I cannot get the help I deserve.”

Every story like that reinforces my commitment to what we are doing together. People deserve better from their government. The people of Puerto Rico deserve better from the federal government. So, I call on you to travel this final stretch with me, to join me as we take America back and lead our country with confidence and optimism into this new century.

Let’s keep fighting for our dream. Let’s keep fighting for what we believe. Let’s keep fighting for one another. Let’s keep fighting for America. America is worth fighting for. Thank you, and God bless you and God bless America.