More on Woolsey’s Letter

Date March 30, 2008

Rep_Woolsey, originally uploaded by b_luecke.

“After all of this excitement, no one wants our party’s nominee to be chosen by the votes of a handful of super delegates. It should come as no surprise to anyone that I won’t stand for it either. That is why, while I remain a strong Hillary Clinton supporter, I will cast my vote at the convention for the candidate that is chosen not through back room deals, but by the votes of the American public.“

In my last post, I questioned how vague the letter was and it really didn’t satisfy me. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Then I started reading and listening to NPR and it occurred to me that Clinton and her supporters hope to convince the Super Delegates to come over to her side by winning the popular vote. It is an appeal to all of us who felt Gore had won the popular vote (and perhaps the electoral if the count was allowed to continue). She could very well win the popular vote even if Obama beats her in every other aspect.

If you check out Real Politics, Clinton does have a 700k+ deficit to make up in the next months. The only way you can say that Clinton can be ahead in the popular vote is if you exclude caucus states and you narrow or overcome the margin significantly if you include renegade states of Florida and Michigan. Given the current popular vote counts, Clinton would need a massive run of victories.

So when Woolsey and any other Clinton supporter talks about the will of the American people, they hope to stay in there long enough to win the popular vote and convince the rest of the super delegates that this means something. Gore is the poster child for how much the popular vote means in a general election. If the popular vote meant anything we would have a two term President Gore with his lockbox and greater progress against global warming.

In other words, winning the popular vote and a ham sandwich — gets you a ham sandwich.

Nowhere in her letter does she talk about her own constituents and their will and their desires. She does not acknowledge that voters in her district overwhelmingly voted for Obama. As I have said before, she is a super delegate because of her elected status and her work in her capacity as our representative. We put her in that role and we want her to let us be heard. If you read the letter, we are not even a part of the equation.

 

Then I read where someone called Monday, March 24th, Lynn Woolsey’s office and “was transferred to someone who said: She is now going to be voting with her Congressional District. The woman I spoke with did not use the word endorse…but this is looking much better. She said that her news release should be out soon and it will also be on her website. I checked the website…not there yet…”

Feedback I have heard on her letter not been very favorable and there is talk about other steps to take to send a message to Woolsey that they are displeased. They feel like they are being taken for granted in her district. I don’t disagree.

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Category Posted in Hillary Clinton, Lynn Woolsey, Marin Politics, Obama, elections