Wasserman Schultz in op ed pumps superdelegates' role ....fails to say she is Clinton's co-chair.

madfloridian

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Sun Apr-20-08 12:29 PM
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Wasserman Schultz in op ed pumps superdelegates' role ....fails to say she is Clinton's co-chair.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz wrote an op ed in the Miami Herald today. She talks about the role of superdelegates, praises Hillary Clinton, and says she will vote for her at convention.

I notice that nowhere in the column is it mentioned that Wasserman Schultz is a national co-chair of the Clinton campaign. She and Alcee Hastings were chosen last June.

Here is her praise of superdelegates. It boils down to knowing more Democratic leaders and more insiders, and it implies we, the everyday voters, have no vested interest in the party like she does.

A superdelegate argues party leaders' experience plays a vital role when neither nominee has a majority.

The Democratic Party created superdelegates because members of Congress were elected by hundreds of thousands of people in our districts and party leaders have vast amounts of political experience that is vital in choosing a nominee.

Almost every day, I am involved in one way or the other with functions in the Democratic Party. When in Washington, I attend caucus meetings and party briefings and talk with senior members of the party. When I am home in Florida, I meet with local Democratic Party committees, local Democratic elected officials and party activists. I have a vested interest in the success of the party, whose values and ideals are reflected in who the party chooses as its presidential nominee.

VETERAN PERSPECTIVES

I believe that I and nearly 800 other superdelegates were given this responsibility precisely because of the active role that we play in the party and the number of people that we know and talk to who have a vested interest in the success of the party.

..."In my opinion, the role of the superdelegate was created so that party leaders and experienced elected officials could weigh in when primary voters are split on who should be the party's presidential nominee and fail to give either candidate the 2,024 delegates needed to obtain the nomination.

Debbie knows more insiders than we do. She makes it clear that no matter what, she is for Hillary Clinton. That is her right, she is a superdelegate.

BUT...and this is a very big BUT.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz needs someone to tell her that the party's nominee is chosen by DELEGATES...not by the "popular vote." NOT by the electoral vote. She is among the many Clinton surrogates pushing that talking point.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz reinvents the party rules for choosing a nominee

My comments to myself after hearing her interview with John Harwood..the video of which is at the link.

Here is a video of John Harwood interviewing her in her DC office. She makes it clear that superdelegates will break for Hillary, that the campaign truly believes the Wright controversy is relevant and will use it, that there are many ways to choose a nominee...that we need to look not only at delegates....but get this:

She is using the meme that we must also look at the popular vote, but especially in the end...the electoral vote.

To the latter two I say bull hockey. The nominee will be chosen by the delegate count, the Clinton campaign does not get to rewrite the rules like that.

It is amazing how smoothly they have the words down pat. They speak so naturally of how we will choose our nominee by electoral votes.

This interview blew my mind.

I have another bone to pick with Debbie WS. She has become way too close to three of the Florida Republicans who are extremists in their views, who are enablers of the Bush administration...who do not think about what is best for Florida.

Two Florida Democratic congress folks prefer their Republican incumbents to their own party.

This time around, Wasserman Schultz and Meek say their relationships with the Republican incumbents, Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and his brother Mario, and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, leave them little choice but to sit out the three races.

''At the end of the day, we need a member who isn't going to pull any punches, who isn't going to be hesitant,'' Wasserman Schultz said.

The decision comes as Democrats believe they have their best shot in years to defeat at least one of the Cuban-American incumbents with a roster of Democrats that include former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez, opposing Lincoln Diaz-Balart; outgoing Miami-Dade Democratic party chair Joe Garcia, opposing Mario Diaz-Balart; and businesswoman Annette Taddeo, opposing Ros-Lehtinen.

But Wasserman Schultz and Meek say their ties to the three Republicans are personal as well as professional: Both served in the state Legislature with Mario Diaz-Balart and say they work in concert with all three on South Florida

She has yet to agree to go against those Republicans, even as the Democratic candidates are gaining ground.

She even told one blogger that she needed him to get the other bloggers off her back.

Damn those "activists" anyway...right, Debbie?

"I have read some of the bloggers' comments," she told me, imploring me to "please help get them off my back," as she seemed to be frustrated by the coverage she's received lately in the blogosphere.

The Miami Herald should somewhere in the op ed have given disclosure about her co-chair role with the Clinton campaign.

I disagree with Wasserman Schultz once again. I do not think superdelegates are any smarter, any better informed, or any more capable of making a decision because they know more insiders.