Carter: (No) Reason at All to Continue After June 3rd When We Know Who Got the Most Delegates,....

[tekisui]

Former President Jimmy Carter has given Barack Obama a major boost by calling for the bitter Democratic nomination battle to end on June 3rd and speaking glowingly of his ability to “transform the image” of America.

Mr Carter did not formally endorse Mr Obama but in an interview with The Daily Telegraph made crystal clear where his sympathies lie. He even sketched out the kind of inaugural address the first black United States president could deliver.

Coming from the most distinguished of some 300 uncommitted "super-delegates” - the Democratic party leaders who will crown their party’s nominee - Mr Carter’s new public stance is a blow to Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the White House.

"I don’t see any reason at all to continue after June 3rd when we know who got the most delegates, who got the most popular votes, who won the most states and so forth,” said Mr Carter, 83.

(snip)

June 3rd is when the final primaries will be held, in South Dakota and Montana Mrs Clinton, who has a virtually insurmountable deficit among the "pledged” delegates allocated according to votes and is highly unlikely to overcome Mr Obama’s popular vote lead, intends to fight for the Democratic nomination all the way to the party’s convention in August.

Her advisers believe her only hope of defeating Mr Obama would be to persuade the super-delegates that his “electability” against John McCain, the Republican nominee, is so questionable that they should put aside the results of the voting and anoint her instead.

Mr Carter emphasised that he and many other super-delegates would not countenance this. “It would be undemocratic if the super-delegates blatantly went against the decision of Democratic voters across the nation.

"And I think that many super-delegates who have not yet declared their preference have the same feeling that I do, including the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. She’s said over and over that whoever gets the most delegates by June 3rd ought to be the nominee.”

It would be “too bad” and damaging to the party if the battle went to the nomination, he said. The role of super-delegates, he argued, was to swing behind the winner chosen by the voters and not to usurp them.

(snip)

He mused openly about how Mr Obama might harness this feeling in an inaugural address.

"If the first statement he made was while I’m president of the United States we will never torture another prisoner and while I’m President of the United States we will never go to war unless our own security is directly threatened...it would transform the image of the United States in the minds of many people around the world.

link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/1907961/Hillary-Clinton-supporters-must-accept-outcome-of-popular-vote,-Jimmy-Carter-says.html

That is about as close to an endorsement as you can get without saying it outright. Carter is on the same page as Pelosi, Dean, Reid, 239 other Superdelegates, and a majority of the voters in the Democratic Primary.

[Ken Burch]

1. Waiting for the HRC people to say that Carter's only doing this because he's a Muslim

:sarcasm:

[ryanmuegge]

12. lol. well, i'd normally think that's only a joke, but the last few months have shown me that there

is no level too low for people in washington.

[ej510]

2. This could be good news. We will have to wait and see what happens.

[tritsofme]

3. President Carter also mentions the popular vote.

as a variable that will be looked at by many SDs.

[tekisui]

11. And that it is probably unsurmountable by Hillary.

[dansolo]

30. But he is probably not counting FL and MI in with the popular vote

[tritsofme]

31. I didn't realize you could read minds.

Impressive.

[babylonsister]

4. He also just said (in interview w/Tweety) that the powers that be

overseas are anxious for this election and very interested in the possibilities of Obama. So am I! :thumbsup:

[Kolesar]

8. A black president would be the surest message that we are not carrying "the white man's burden"

...of "civilizing" the rest of the world. A.k.a. imperialism and plunder .

[frickaline]

5. I adore Jimmy Carter&his words mean quite a lot to me as an undeclared voter, tyvm for the post!

[livingmadness]

20. I do too!

He is a very principled, fabulous man, and history has been very kind to his once 'radical' and now widely accepted views re dwindling resources etc. His foresight has been bang on. But I'm sure any minute the Clinton-folk will come screaming in to berate and denigrate him. *sigh*

[Kolesar]

6. Roll over

and let Jimmy take over. K&R

[redqueen]

7. K&R

[jackson_dem]

9. He also said there are "no major differences" on the issues between H and O

;)

[tekisui]

13. But a HUGE difference in how they will be received in the world

and Our Country. He says Obama is the one that is the polar opposite of Chimpy.

[jpalmer]

10. If true this is good news for Obama

Jimmy Carter is universally respected in the US and around the world because of his peace efforts. He is the best one-term president we ever had. This could be a substantial boost for Obama. The strange thing is now you have Carter along with Howard Dean and Terry McAuliffe calling for the superdelegates to decide as soon as the primary is over. That seems to perfectly fit the "Denver Plan" rumor that has been making waves in the local campaigns.

[thoughtcrime1984]

14. THAT was a great thing to say, thank you Pres. Carter! nt

[jsamuel]

15. he didn't say PD's, he said delegates and popular vote

"who got the most delegates, who got the most popular votes"

[tekisui]

19. And those will both go to one person:

Obama.

[jsamuel]

21. fine, but your title is incorrect

[tekisui]

22. I'll add some "..."

I couldn't fit the full quote.

[jsamuel]

23. and take the "P" out of PDs

[tekisui]

24. Check it, now, see if that works for you.

It was a long title to work with.

[jsamuel]

26. that is great, thanks, I appreciate you taking the time and listening too

[frickaline]

16. on Larry King last night he also said that his entire extended family voted Obama

[cascadiance]

17. I think it would be one thing if Edwards were still in the race and had the "difference" of votes...

... at his disposal to "give" to one candidate or the other, and that he was going to use the convention to try and build consensus on supporting the issues he wanted having supported with the candidate he would ultimately support.

Using the convention to negotiate that sort of thing perhaps makes some sense and build a more unified party platform as a result too. But we're not in that situation.

If it is just being used for power plays for the candidates' own sakes and all that's being offered as differentiators is "electability" and other crap like that, then I, like Carter feel that can be resolved before the convention, and actually is more healthy for the party if it is.

[NJmaverick]

18. You know some Hillbot, brought up Carter's name

trying to that Carter didn't see anything wrong with how Hillary was campaigning. Figures I was sniped on that one.

[Window]

25. K/R.

:kick:

[TragedyandHope]

27. Kick for a must read

:kick:

[dmallind]

28. Don't disagree really but one question then

What are the superdelegates for? Why do they exist at all if only pledgeed delegate lead counts? Isn't that in fact what they were instituted for - to balance popular vote with insider/activist vote?

As a further corollary didn't they come about while Carter himself was very much a leading voice in the party on an active day to day basis?

If we had closed primaries or only winner take all primaries abolishing the SD's might make more sense, but with the silly arcane ways delegates are assigned and primaries/caucuses designed I'm not sure having a party insider rudder is all that bad an idea. That however is a useless rudder if it only rubber stamps a pledged delegate lead which is what Carter suggess.

[futureliveshere]

29. This fits the pattern. The prob for HRC is that most SDs are "undeclared" not "undecided"

Thats a major difference and the numbers are just a game of fiction right now. SDs are not stepping in so that the states where contests are yet to be held do NOT get demotivated. This is a rejuvenated 50-state strategy that is being applied.

Once ALL the primaries are done they will declare for the candidate with the most pledged delegates and that will be it.

Don't believe me? Then read Mr. Super's Blog. The SD makes some good points.

[lojasmo]

32. Carter: Our last great president. EOM