Pelosi to Hillary: NO.

[garybeck]

OK, it was Pelosi's spokesperson addressing the letter written by Hillary's backers. But in effect this seals the deal.

Pelosi is 100% wrong on impeachment but at least she got this right. The party cannot afford an attempt by Hillary to overturn the pledged delegates by superdelegates. that's called disenfranchisement. I don't think she has the superdelegates to do it anyway. So it would amount to flailing IMHO. It appears the party leaders are indeed going to prevent this from happening.

Here's the story on CNN:

Clinton backers don't sway Pelosi

(CNN) – A recent letter from several Hillary Clinton fundraisers to Nancy Pelosi seeking she step back from her contention that superdelegates should support the pledged-delegate leader appears to have had little effect on the House Speaker.

Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said late Wednesday the California Democrat stands by her argument that the party's superdelegates would do damage if they go against the will of voters and hand the nomination to the candidate who finished second among those delegates awarded from the round of caucuses and primaries.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/27/clinton-backers-dont-sway-pelosi/

[leftofcool]

1. Robert Johnson (BET Founder) suggest that people read

the super delegate charter. He was just on FOX Noise and said that the letter to Pelosi was not a threat and just received a letter from her asking for 100,000 for the convention.

[Hawkeye-X]

16. Well, after watching BET for 3 months in Texas.

I can safely conclude BET is nothing that special, and am quite puzzled as how he got rich off African American's attention to rap.

Hawkeye-X

[TheWraith]

40. Same way any other crap channel gets an audience.

Usually by playing to the lowest common denominators and making the thing as cheap to run as possible. Look at "Spike TV."

[sandnsea]

35. He's such a better spokesman than Jeremiah Wright

What a hypocritical bunch of dimwits.

[ej510]

38. Bet used to be educational and uplifting.......

now it's trash like mtv. They used to have programs like teen summitt. Educating youth trying hard to get kids in to college. They no longer support programs like that.

[wileedog]

50. Yeah, its legal, we get it.

Its also fucking stupid and will destroy the party. There is no way in hell I am going to further support a Democratic party that will allow the Elite Big Money to push aside a legitimate candidate with Superdelegates. I am sure I am not alone.

[grasswire]

2. what power does Pelosi have?

Seriously. Don't the delegates themselves hold all the power?

[leftofcool]

4. Yes they do

[garybeck]

6. isn't she a superdelegate?

[leftofcool]

11. I am not sure. If she is, she only one super

[Melinda]

45. Pelosi is one SD, but the other 216 SD's in Congress depend on her for Committee leadership and...

memberships appointments -- and there are 217+ Representatives who are SD's.

Specifically, Madame Speaker Pelosi has the following powers:

The Speaker is the presiding officer of the House but does not preside over every debate. Instead, he or she delegates the responsibility of presiding to other members in most cases. The presiding officer sits in a chair in the front of the House chamber. The powers of the presiding officer are extensive; one important power is that of controlling the order in which members of the House speak. No member may make a speech or a motion unless he or she has first been recognized by the presiding officer. Moreover, the presiding officer may rule on any "point of order" (a member's objection that a rule has been breached), but the decision is subject to appeal to the whole House.

The Speaker is the chair of his or her party's steering committee, which chooses the chairmen of standing committees. The Speaker determines which committees consider bills, appoints most of the members of the Rules Committee, and appoints all members of conference committees. When the Presidency and Senate are controlled by a different party from the one controlling the House, the Speaker can become the de facto "leader of the opposition." Since the Speaker is a partisan officer with substantial power to control the business of the House, the position is often used for partisan advantage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives

IMO, the donors who sent that letter to Pelosi are playing with fire... Pelosi has way bigger guns, particularly now that donations by the millions can be made in a single day via the internet.

[bleever]

15. She is the chair of the convention,

and she gets major press as the Speaker, so even though she doesn't have any power, she has a lot of influence in this matter.

[grasswire]

17. and what power does the convention chair have?

Robert's rules of order?

Or what?

[bleever]

20. I think you're right

that she has no power.

They're just looking to control the conversation around the whole topic.

[Melinda]

46. OMG, Pelosi is the most powerful woman in American politics! Please, look at this:

The Speaker is the presiding officer of the House but does not preside over every debate. Instead, he or she delegates the responsibility of presiding to other members in most cases. The presiding officer sits in a chair in the front of the House chamber. The powers of the presiding officer are extensive; one important power is that of controlling the order in which members of the House speak. No member may make a speech or a motion unless he or she has first been recognized by the presiding officer. Moreover, the presiding officer may rule on any "point of order" (a member's objection that a rule has been breached), but the decision is subject to appeal to the whole House.

The Speaker is the chair of his or her party's steering committee, which chooses the chairmen of standing committees. The Speaker determines which committees consider bills, appoints most of the members of the Rules Committee, and appoints all members of conference committees. When the Presidency and Senate are controlled by a different party from the one controlling the House, the Speaker can become the de facto "leader of the opposition." Since the Speaker is a partisan officer with substantial power to control the business of the House, the position is often used for partisan advantage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives

All 217 democratic reps are also SD's. These reps depend on the goodwill of Speaker Pelosi for all appointments, recognition, appropriations, etc.

Don't mean to sound over-bearing, but learning really IS fundamental!

[sudopod]

47. She could really ruin someone's day

if she weren't such a nice person.

[RoadRage]

57. To bad she's not bent on ruining Bush's day, eh? :)

I sorta like her.. and i don't think impeachment would actually go through anyway - but i'd like to see her threaten Bush a bit more with it.. he's such a currupt leader.

[sudopod]

63. lol, true that! nt

[TheWraith]

42. She's the most powerful elected Democrat in the country.

As such, she's the de facto face of the party leadership.

[Melinda]

44. SD's=217 US Reps. As Speaker, Pelosi appoints all Chair leadership and committee memberships;

IOW, she holds the keys to powerful committee assignments from where all appropriations and legislation flow. There are 217+ democratic members of the house who are also superdelegates, but who are first and formost COngress critters who rely on those plum committee roles. Going against Madame Speaker has potentially devastating consequences not just for those Representatives/SD's, but for the electorate of said Representatives/SD's, period.

[garybeck]

54. Why do you think Hillary's supporters wrote that letter to her?

If she didn't have more power than one superdelegate, it would have been a waste. Turns out it was a waste anyway.

[cali]

55. lots. she's the most powerful dem in Washington

and at least a couple of dozen house dem will vote as Nancy votes.

[Coexist]

3. OPEN COMMENT TO PELOSI AND DEAN:

Once this is settled, send out an email to us all, asking for us to make up for what the big donors held over your head. I bet you will get it within 48 hours.

End this divisive mess - and THEN ask the little people for the cash. We will help the DSCC and the DNC. Its going to be a big year for us and we really do want to help. But we are too distracted by this messy primary.

Fix it and ask us for our $$ thanks.

I think it will work.

Love and kisses,

A Democrat.

[madfloridian]

7. If Dean had gotten his one million donors giving 20 a month....

This would not even be happening now.

But he didn't get it...so it means big money rules.

[Coexist]

9. but he could raise $10 million for the convention.

[madfloridian]

14. Not sure what you mean??

Please clarify. The convention is having trouble raising money because of the candidates getting it all.

[Coexist]

23. I mean, I donate to the candidates -

I have heard about the DNCs problem w/the convention $$. I considered donating more, but I hesitated, because if the party hands this to Clinton, I'll be very angry that my $$ went to crown her at the convention. So I am waiting to see what happens, and then I will send $$. I think maybe others feel the same?

I don't know. But if big donors tell Dean to pound sand unless Clinton is chosen, I will offer what I can to offset them.

Does that make sense?

[madfloridian]

25. Well, there are many reasons...

but when he is gone they can say his small donor plan failed...and sadly it did.

You can't use your power until you have it. He has no power unless we give it to him. :shrug:

And we chose not to do so.

[Coexist]

26. how many signed up for Democracy bonds?

do you know?

[madfloridian]

29. Don't know.

But I know he had that dream, and it could have changed our party completely.

[Coexist]

37. it aint over yet - after being bullied by big money this week

and pissing off all the new Democrats and Obama supporters, maybe he should make another big drive to help.

MoveOn is pushing this, he should get on some news shows and really sell how with these bonds, these people wouldn't be able to bully the party like this.

[Yael]

56. Yes, others DO feel the same

:hi:

[MelissaB]

13. I'm doing my part.

:hi:

[Cha]

21. Thanks, we need to send Dean

money as well as Obama.

[tishaLA]

27. 48 Hours? Try less than 24

Look at Obama's fundraising numbers. And then try to imagine that kind of extortion will work.

Not this time, fatcats. Not this time, Hillary.

[Coexist]

28. if Obama gets the nod, will he share his enormous donor list?

[tishaLA]

33. I can't imagine he wouldn't

I mean, Kerry shared his with Obama. And remember, there was some controversy early on about Hillary's donor lists and data collection? I'm blanking on the story right now.

[knixphan]

31. cosigned, ME

[Coexist]

39. why, thank you.

[crankychatter]

5. more chutzpa please

it's like pushups Nancy... the more you do, the easier they are.

[Araxen]

8. Kudos to Pelosi

I can't believe I just typed something positive about her.

[Life Long Dem]

10. I want McCain to make all the Bush's bills permanent

:sarcasm:

[pkz]

12. I went lookin' for the supers Charter

didn't find anything.
But I did land on an interesting find:

Ausman...has filed an appeal with the party's rules and bylaws committee, arguing that its 2007 penalties against Michigan and Florida violated the DNC charter itself.
Why?

Because the charter explicitly states that the following members of the party are automatically granted the status of delegates no matter what: “members of the Democratic National Committee, Democratic members of the United States Senate and the Democratic Members of the House of Representatives, former Chairs of the Democratic National Committee.”

Basically: the DNC can take way the earned (pledged) delegates... but it can't touch the automatic (super) delegates, because they're protected by the DNC's charter, which supercedes the DNC's rules and bylaws committee.

The verb used by the DNC charter is "shall."

So -- if the RBC hears the appeal, which they'd do at a meeting in, I think, April, and if they agree, the 23 superdelegates from Florida will be eligible for counting.
http://demconwatch.blogspot.com/2008/03/superdelegate-news.html

[grasswire]

18. this deserves its own thread

I hope someone will post a link to the actual rules.

[pkz]

34. I did some research

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5285505

[madfloridian]

24. I have written about that....I think he is grasping for straws.

Charlie Cook on Florida: "Monumental Incompetence"

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1939

And...

Florida trying a new angle now....make our superdelegates count.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1821

[msallied]

19. If this says anything, it says that the DNC should ax superdelegates altogether.

At least for the next election.

[TahitiNut]

22. It seems the Corporatist (Shadow) Party finally found a limit to Pelosi's compliance.

:eyes: I guess they should've stayed stealthy ... instead of going public.

[rndmprsn]

30. K&R

[hulka38]

32. Pelosi is sexist and HATES strong women.

Pelosi is just jealous of Hillary because she will hold a higher position than Speaker of the House.

[Megahurtz]

41. Hahahaha!

some people say the funniest things.

[hulka38]

49. I'm glad someone appreciated that.

[kwenu]

36. I don't think Pelosi takes being threatened very well.

[quantass]

43. Hillary...beat it!

[grantcart]

48. Since it appears that the only language this campaign understand is money - we should simply ask

Hillary how much?

I wonder if she would call it off for 100 million. We could raise that in a week.

[Danzo]

51. Has Pelosi ever said a PEEP...?

...about the unbalanced media coverage in the Democratic primary? I'm guessing no.

[Scurrilous]

52. K & R

:thumbsup:

[LWolf]

53. Pelosi to Dennis Kucinich:

<snip>

Exclusive to New Jersey Impeach Groups - ImpeachThem.com — We received a phone call today from a source in the Kucinich for President campaign, telling us there’s more to the story of Rep. Kucinich’s withdrawal than is publicly known. The source gave us permission to publish this, but without attribution. We can say the source is high up in the campaign. Most progressives are aware there’s been a large flood of money feeding a campaign by Cleveland City Council democrat Joe Cimperman, who seeks to win the primary for Dennis Kucinich’s seat in Ohio’s 10th congressional district, where Dennis has served the interests of working people for 6 consecutive terms — since 1996. Here’s the rest of the story, untold ‘til now. Before the Nevada primary, Dennis was visited by representatives of Nancy Pelosi and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — AIPAC. They told Dennis that if he would drop his campaigns to impeach Cheney and Bush, they would guarantee his re-election to the House of Representatives.

Kucinich threw them out of his office.

http://moderate.wordpress.com/2008/02/12/report-pelosi-aipac-blackmail-kucinich-to-drop-impeachment-or-lose-congress-seat/

FUCK NANCY PELOSI. She has no credibility with me.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

58. According to Kucinich, "The incident did not happen."

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/30931

By David Swanson

I spoke with Congressman Dennis Kucinich because a rumor was gaining traction that:

"Before the Nevada primary, Dennis was visited by representatives of Nancy Pelosi and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — AIPAC. They told Dennis that if he would drop his campaigns to impeach Cheney and Bush, they would guarantee his re-election to the House of Representatives. Kucinich threw them out of his office."

According to Kucinich, "The incident did not happen."

I find the Congressman's denial of the incident entirely credible. The rumor was supposedly based on the word of someone high up in his presidential campaign. But there is nobody who fits that description other than the Congressman or his wife. And campaign staff are not typically in congressional offices where congress members are forbidden to work on campaigns. It is doubtful that if such an incident had occurred, any campaign staff would have seen it or been told about it. It is also doubtful it would have occured. Pelosi's office would not bring AIPAC along or vice versa. And AIPAC has long known that Kucinich doesn't give a damn what they think. Also, Kucinich would never throw Pelosi or her "representative" out of his office.

[LWolf]

61. I can believe it either way; it happened, or it didn't.

Or SOMETHING happened. Where did all the funds for Cimperman come from? Regardless of how it happened, I believe that the outside challenge was funded by those who wanted to "punish" him for speaking out. Pelosi being the head of that pack.

My point still stands: Pelosi has no credibility with me.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

64. Well, Kooch said it did not happen.

I believe him. Where Pelosi might tie in is beyound me. Mind, I'm in the stupid state of Michigan here, and STILL have my Kucinich yard sign planted in the big flower box on my front porch.

[LWolf]

65. Do you want them to allow you a revote?

I would, if I were in MI.

As far as the rest, it makes sense to me that the sudden influx of outside money to unseat DK coincides with the showdown over impeachment in the House; Pelosi is on the wrong side of that showdown.

The rest is hearsay.

[OzarkDem]

59. Get lost Nancy, go attack the GOP

She's been an abject failure in her current job.

[Lilith Velkor]

60. Oh but that's too haaaard.

The cool kids will like her again if she attacks HRC. :eyes:

[ima_sinnic]

62. awww, whatsamatter, she wouldn't play kiss-ass?

poor widdle HRC supporters get so twisted when their tired old tricks won't work anymore.

but keep 'em coming! the more the Clintonistas are exposed as rich people who think they can buy the presidency, who regard The People as peons whose votes and will don't count, the better.