Lynette Long

EARTH TO THE DNC!

Over the years, when I heard people say they felt abandoned by -- even forced out of—the Democratic Party, I couldn’t fathom what they were talking about. While far from perfect, and not always having nominated the candidate of my choice, the party’s principles have always most closely aligned with my own.

Today when someone says they’ve feel abandoned by -- even forced out of—the Democratic Party, I hear the words of a kindred spirit. And what I can’t fathom is the party’s apparent determination to destroy itself.

Earth to the DNC. Earth to the Obama campaign. You cannot win elections by relegating large voting blocks to the junk pile.

Immediately after the Rules Committee debacle, I emailed a friend saying that the disillusion, anger and sense they’ve been disenfranchised could drive many Hillary supporters to either stay home or vote for McCain. Alluding to the need for massive fence mending, I concluded "The Democratic party would be unwise to underestimate the numbers, passion and commitment of these voters."

Unwise? Underestimate? Talk about understatement! In my own defense, I claim naiveté. The DNC had clearly demonstrated it didn’t believe that every vote should count. At the time I wrote that email however, I honestly thought the party wanted to bring the disenfranchised back into the fold…if for no other reason than their numbers could tip the balance in a close election.

It’s not the first time in life I’ve asked myself, "What were you thinking?" But I never thought I’d be asking that about the Democratic party’s principles. Nor did I ever believe the party would openly tell huge blocks of voters to go jump in the lake. Again, you need the numbers to win elections.

The question then is why? Why has fence mending been replaced with disdainful admonitions to get lost or smug assertions that disrespected voters will fall into line because they’ve got no place else to go? Even if some voters believe that, screaming at the doubtful, calling them names, and telling them we don’t want your vote anyway is hardly a recipe for party unity. On the other hand, it has helped to swell the Puma Pac ranks.

Like Republican George Bush before him, we now have a Democratic candidate who claims to bring people together while splitting the country asunder. Black against White. Men against Women. Rich against Poor. Democrats against Democrats. Old against Young. On a recent blog, for example, an Obama supporter unjustly accused millions of women, ‘Because you’re all too old to care about abortion rights, you want to drive us into back alleys." Excuse me… but those whom you call ‘too old to care’ are the very people who fought for and secured your own reproductive rights. No one’s asking you to say thank you, but you can at least acknowledge your history.

ARE SUPERDELEGATES FOR SALE?

by Lynette Long

In a few weeks the historic 2008 Democratic Party Presidential Primary between an African American Man and a White Woman will end. The two candidates competed in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Guam. At the end of these contests, neither candidate had earned enough pledged delegates to garner the necessary 2118 needed to win the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. Hillary Clinton earned 1640 pledged delegates while Barack Obama earned 1763 pledged delegates. A paltry 123 pledged separated the two candidates at the end of the primary season. Since there was no clear winner, the superdelegates would determine the Democratic nominee.

Approximately 800 superdelegates will make up around 20% of the 4000 delegates at the convention. These superdelegates are Democratic Party leaders, Democratic governors, and Democratic members of congress. They have the right to endorse either candidate without reason and can change their endorsement from one candidate to another at any time. The superdelegates are very powerful and highly sought after by candidates. One superdelegate is equal to one pledged delegate or 11,361 voters in California or 7,220 voters in New York. Many factors influence which candidate a superdelegate endorses but they usually vote the way their constituents vote. Some superdelegates have intense personal relationships with particular candidates that may influence their endorsement. Members of congress may also be influenced by money given or promised by party leaders, the DNC or the candidates themselves.

Politicians collect money for their campaigns but most American’s don’t realize that politicians collect a separate a pot of money called a Leadership Political Action Committee or PAC. These PACs are used to hire additional staff and pay for additional perks such as limos and first class flights. But one of the major reasons for these PAC’s is to donate to the campaigns of other candidates. Nancy Pelosi’s PAC is called PAC to the Future, Barack Obama’s PAC is called Hope Fund, and Hillary Clinton’s PAC is called Hillpac. Money was distributed by these PAC’s to the superdelegates to influence their voting. The Federal Elections Commission requires scrupulous reporting of how PAC money is obtained and how it is spent. This data can be retrieved at www.opensecrets.org.

In 2007, Obama distributed 299,000 from his PAC to superdelegates. He especially targeted the states of Iowa and New Hampshire. On July 25, 2007, the Hope Fund made $1000 donations to each of the following groups: Hillsborough County Democrats, Hudson, NH; Martha Fuller Clark for State Senate, Portsmouth, NH; Merrimack County Democrats, Chichester, NH; New Hampshire for John Lynch, Manchester, NH; Sgambati 4 NH Senate, Tilton, NH; Stafford County Democratic Committee, Durham, NH and Sullivan County Democrats, Claremont, NH. Obama also gave $5000 contributions to New Hampshire Democratic Party, Concord, New Hampshire, on July 26,2007; New Hampshire for John Lynch on July 25, 2007, and New Hampshire Democratic State Committee, Concord, New Hampshire on November 3, 2006. Obama did not announce his candidacy until May 2, 2007.

Obama also gave New Hampshire Democratic State Senator Jacalyn Cilley $1000 on July 25, 2007. She endorsed Obama on July 31, 2007, just six days after his contribution to her campaign. On July 26, 2007, first term New Hampshire Congressman Paul Hodes of New Hampshire endorsed Obama. The New Hampshire Primary was not until January 8, 2008 and Hillary won New Hampshire.

By March 28, 2008, Hope Fund donated $710,900 to superdelegates, more than three times as much as Hillpac. ($236,100). A study by the Center for Responsive Politics showed that presidential candidates who gave more money to a superdelegate received their endorsement 82% of the time. This is especially disturbing when the superdelegates endorse a candidate that is decidedly contrary to the will of the voters in their state and their districts.

After reviewing state and congressional voting records as well as PAC donations, members of congress were identified that fulfilled the following four criteria: 1. These members endorsed Barack Obama. 2. The constituents of their state preferred Hillary Clinton. 3. The constituents of their district preferred Hillary Clinton. 4. They got more PAC money from Hope Fund than from HillPac. These senators are Jeff Bingaman, Frank Lautenberg, and Jay Rockefeller. The members of the house are Jason Altmire, Dennis Cardoza, Jim Costa, Joe Donelly, Gabrielle Giffords, Baron Hill, Ron Klein, Patrick Murphy, Gerald Mc Nerney, Carol She-Porter, Zack Space, Niki Tsongas, and Charlie Wilson.

Charlie Wilson is the perfect example. He ran in Ohio’s District 6 in 2006. His seat was the seat of the former governor and is located in Southern Ohio. Wilson was a last minute candidate for his seat and because of this was a write-in candidate. The governor and the party worked hard to get Wilson elected.  President Clinton made an audio recording endorsing Wilson that went out to 50,000 homes.  The governor of Ohio is a big Clinton supporter, the voters of Ohio voted 54-44% percent in favor of Clinton, and District 6, Wilson’s District, voted for Clinton 70% - 27%. Yet Wilson endorsed Obama. It looks like there is no loyalty in politics to either your constituents or your friends. Wilson got $7,000 of PAC money from Barack Obama, but no money from Hillary Clinton. Was this a factor in his choice?

THE TITLE BOUT

by Lynette Long

Don Fowler, the former head of the DNC sent a letter to Democratic leaders and major contributors this week urging party unity. Intended to get resistant Hillary supporters on board, the unity letter is likely to produce the opposite effect. The letter repeatedly stated, “Barack Obama won. It’s over!” In other words, “Get over it,” or as an astute Clinton supporter put it, “Get in line, it’s not your time.” Mr. Fowler chided Hillary supporters, “I must confess a bit of fatigue and irritation with the people who continue to carp, complain and criticize the results of the primary and lay down conditions for their support.” The paternalistic nature of this statement and the implication that the issues raised by Hillary supporters are trivial is troubling. “It’s time to act in a mature fashion,” Fowler implored. Demographics will prove that if Hillary supporters are anything, they are mature. Maybe there is wisdom in old age since they did not select Obama.

To illustrate that Clinton supporters are sore losers, Fowler compared the Democratic Primary to men’s basketball and men’s tennis. Attempting to appeal to the broadest base of Hillary’s supporters, women, by comparing the primary to men’s sports illustrates a continuing insensitivity to women and women’s issues by the DNC. In fact the DNC, the party of the people, has never had a female chair.

If sports were the metaphor of choice, the Democratic Primary is more like boxing than tennis or basketball. One could equate the primary to the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship. The two fighters in the ring, Senator’s Clinton and Obama, went the distance, 15 rounds, or in this case 52 primaries, but neither candidate scored a knockout blow. The fight will be decided by decision. The judges in this fight are the superdelegates and they will announce their decision at the Democratic Convention. There is one caveat however. These superdelegates are not impartial and both a carrot and a stick have been used to get them to declare for Obama. Many superdelegates have had large sums of money donated to their campaigns by Barack Obama under the guise of the Hope Fund or the Hope Pac. Others have received warnings that the DNC will not support their next campaign if they do not support Obama and still others have had death threats from the African American community.

The referee in this title bout, the person entrusted by the people to ensure a fair fight is Howard Dean, Chairman of the DNC. Dean stood silently by as Dodd, Kennedy and Kerry called for Clinton to throw in the towel early in the contest. He was mute when the main stream media called Hillary a bitch or said she should be taken out behind the barn. Dean did not enforce with the full authority of his office voting regulations to ensure a fair shot at the title for both candidates. Dean turned his back on the fight while Obama threw numerous sucker punches in the early rounds of the bout. Obama won 93% (13 out of 14) of the caucuses and only 46% (18 out of 39) of the primaries. It is impossible to explain the disparity in primary vs. caucus results due to superior organization or demographics alone. Dean and the DNC turned a blind eye to the fraud, busing and data manipulation by Camp Obama at the caucuses. Not only did Dean not investigate voter fraud, suppression and intimidation, he further engineered Obama’s nomination by giving the Florida delegates, a state where Clinton had a commanding lead, half a vote each. In Michigan Dean orchestrated the decision that gave Obama delegates for punches Clinton landed and gave Obama credit for votes logged as undecided. When Clinton Camp tried to raise some of these concerns they were labeled whiners.

The bout is not over until the judges officially announce their scoring of the fight in Denver in August. The DNC wants to deny Hillary’s name being put in nomination and to prohibit a state roll call that reflected the results of the primary. The DNC wants the judges, in this case the state delegations and the superdelegates, to declare that all votes went to Obama. But there was no knock out blow. In face based on the results in the swing states, the primary states, the blue states, the largest states, and by winning the popular vote, Hillary Clinton won the fight by decision. The referee can hold Senator Obama’s arm up in the center of the ring, but everyone watching the primary knows who won. If a football game is decided by an unfair penalty, a soccer game lost by an undeserved red card, a title match lost by a sucker punch, fans typically become embittered and resentful. Senator Clinton was the first significant female candidate to run for the presidency and her nomination was stolen by a corrupt party. No letter chiding Clinton’s supporters is going to change that. Red Sox fans will never become Yankee fans, and Clinton supporters are not coming home.

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