The Politico’s Roger “NotL” Simon reports that Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign intends to go after delegates whom Sen. Barack Obama has already won in the caucuses and primaries if she needs them to win the nomination. She can do this because the “pledged” delegates are not really pledged, even on the first ballot.
At OpenLeft, Chris Bowers notes that Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan went after each other’s delegates at the 1976 GOP convention. More interesting is his point that many states have multi-tiered delegate selection processes, which makes it “entirely possible for pledged, or ‘elected,’ delegates to change hands after the fact without any lobbying or promises of the sun, the moon and the stars,” as in Iowa, where Clinton and Obama can go after Edwards delegates next month. Bowers also notes cases where the “pledged” delegates are not selected by voters, as in possibly pivotal Pennsylvania.
Update: Both camps now say they are ruling out delegate poaching, according to Greg Sargent at TPM.
This is going to get so good. You know, I really thought we Rethuglicans didn’t have a chance in hell … but things are definitely looking up.
Of course, “looking up” to the Maverick ain’t all that.
Just out of curiousity, why does anybody pay any attention to Politico after the hit-jobs they did on Fred!?
I’m not saying this in defending Fred! but in pointing out that they (most especially including this tool) are not above shading the truth to get their point across.
A lot of them came over from the Macaca Post. It’s all they know.
PPV – Hill/Bill vs. Barry O/Michelle in the Octagon.
If (when?) Kelvin Sampson gets the axe at Indiana, it looks like he’d be a natural fit with the Dems.
eLarson – I should not take so much joy in the debacle @ IU, but I do. Even Keady ripped him today.
…making the “d” in “democracy” uppercase, pretty much everywhere.
Sure, take this pledge to the bank. Just like the pledges to abide by the DNC rulings on Michigen and Florida.
” Both camps now say they are ruling out delegate poaching”
Yeah, right. So it is written, so it must be.
The disinformation is getting hip deep already. We will be drowning in it before November.
Michigan is the better way for me to write the name of the state.
“PPV – Hill/Bill vs. Barry O/Michelle in the Octagon”
Or the Chicago Mob vs the New York Families. Al Capone vs Lucky Luciano
eLarson – I missed the subtle irony of the Kelvin Sampson comment. In a post about shattering traditions, and poaching people from one team to another, Kelvin Sampson should be their poster-boy.
The last time I witnessed so much scrambling for cover was years ago. I woke up in the middle of a warm summer night and turned on the kitchen light in our cheap San Diego apartment, surprising the insect host that had been going about their business on battered linoleum floor.
The resemblance to today’s cast of characters was uncanny.