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Title: If Bernie Sanders wins the New York Democratic primary, some superdelegates vow to back Hillary Clinton anyway
Source:
NY Daily News
URL Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/pol ... nton-sanders-article-1.2581729
Published: Mar 30, 2016
Author: Adam Edelman
Post Date: 2016-03-30 08:41:15 by cranky
Keywords: None
Views: 4370
Comments: 19
Every single New York superdelegate reached by the Daily News said they would never support the Brooklyn-born Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Maybe the system really is rigged. At least a half-dozen Democratic superdelegates in New York State who have already decided to support Hillary Clinton said Tuesday they would maintain their allegiance to her — regardless of the results of the Empire State’s primary. Even if Sanders were to win the April 19 New York presidential contest, when a whopping 247 delegates are at stake, every single New York superdelegate reached by the Daily News said they would never back the Vermont senator. “Absolutely not,” Elizabeth Stanley, the chief of staff for Westchester County Rep. Nita Lowey, told the Daily News when asked if she could see “any potential situation at all” resulting in her boss switching her support from Clinton to Sanders. Hillary Clinton has 469 pledged superdelegates. “Hillary Clinton is Congresswoman Lowey’s friend, colleague and her constituent, and she is behind her 100%,” Stanley added. “I would not under any circumstances switch my allegiance from Secretary Clinton to Senator Sanders,” Queens Congressman Gregory Meeks said. The other four New York superdelegates — who can pledge and withdraw their allegiance to a nominee based on their personal preference — also would never pull their support from Clinton, their spokespeople said. They all spoke anonymously for fear of insulting either campaign. The offices for another six known New York superdelegates wouldn’t comment or didn’t respond to a request for comment. There are 44 superdelegates among New York’s 291 delegates. The iron-willed insistence of so many politicians and sitting lawmakers already in the Hillary camp to not budge from their support of the Democratic front-runner speaks volumes to the difficulty faced by the Sanders campaign — or any political outsider — in securing the nomination. But that challenge — one that is met by candidates every four years — isn’t merely a product of Clinton having earned so many supporters. It’s also due to the complicated setup of a nominating process that gives weight to the desire of party bosses who don’t have to take into account the expressed desire of Democratic voters. The majority of Democratic delegates in New York, and across the U.S., are “pledged.” Typically they are elected state and local officials. They are awarded proportionally, and bound to the candidate who wins their state’s primary. Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., is friends with Clinton, so she can count on her superdelegate vote. Across the U.S., there are about another 712 superdelegates — unelected delegates free to support any candidate for the nomination at the party’s convention. The superdelegates who are elected officials are, for example, members of the House and Senate, Democratic governors and the Vice President as well members of the Democratic National Committee. Other superdelegates are “distinguished party leaders” like former Presidents, senators and House leaders. Among New York’s superdelegates this year are Hillary’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, and most of the state’s House members. Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand are superdelegates this year. Superdelegates are not involved in the Republican Party nomination process. To secure the Democratic nomination, either Clinton or Sanders must attain 2,383 total delegates before the party’s national convention in Philadelphia this July. In spite of Sanders winning 15 states — including some by an 80%-20% margin — over 94% of the 498 superdelegates have said they are backing Clinton. Clinton has 469 superdelegate votes, compared to just 29 for Sanders. Bill Clinton is also a superdelegate and will almost certainly back his wife. Right now, if Sanders had the superdelegate votes that Clinton currently has, he’d be winning handily, with 1,444 total delegates to Clinton’s 1,272. Currently, Clinton has 1,712, total delegates, compared with 1,004 for Sanders. Excluding superdelegates, however, Clinton’s lead is only 1,243 to 975 — a narrower difference that has prompted the Sanders campaign to say it will try to convince many superdelegates to jump ship and support him. Despite the uphill battle, Sanders campaign officials said they remain optimistic “Yes, Hillary Clinton has a substantial lead but there are still hundreds who have yet to make a public declaration of support,” Sanders senior adviser Tad Devine told The News. “We recognize that a lot of them have already made up their mind . . . and we respect that. We just think that if we can do well on the merits, we can get people to do what we feel is the right thing,” Devine added. A Clinton representative said the campaign has “always said we would work to earn more pledged delegates.” 
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 17.
#4. To: cranky (#0)
I am not a demonrat, and do not like Bernie. In fact, I do not like him or Shitlery. But, it is quite obvious that Bernie is getting screwed, as well as those that vote for him. The superdelegate system is a mob system. Stalin & Mao would be proud of the demonrats.
The national committees make the rules and decide who their respective nominee will be. All the candidates knew that when they declared their candidacy. Or at least, they should have.
You're entirely right. Neither party has ever been some exercise in pure democracy. Just because you can grab a majority of delegates doesn't mean you get to be the nominee automatically. If you stand against the bedrock principles of the party or make your campaign scandalous and odious to the party (as Trump has done), you can't expect to be its nominee. You don't like that? Start your own party and make your own rules. Bernie's solution would have been to run as the Socialist candidate. I think the SWP is still on the ballot in at least a half-dozen states for instance. They'd love to have him. But Bernie chose to run as Dem (and quietly changed his affiliation to Dem finally just last year).
All the candidates knew that when they declared their candidacy. Or at least, they should have. " Yes they do. Their primary rule # 1 is: " HEADS WE WIN, TAILS YOU PEONS LOSE " So the question is: Why, really, go through the political theater waste of time of having primaries? Why not just have a meeting of the " Party Elites " with the wannabes lined up, and the " Party Elites " make their selection? Why go through the charade? " You don't like that? Start your own party and make your own rules. " Be careful what you wish for. Eventually, that may happen. And then the GOPe will go the way of the Whig party. Gee, where is the Whig Party now? Oh, thats right, they do not exist any longer. When it does, you and the GOPe will be crying like a bunch of babies. And you all will have brought it on yourselves. If Trump is cheated out of the nomination, it will be a repeat of Mcstain & Romney, the base will be pissed and stay home, or vote third party. Then Hillary will win. She will institute Hell on Earth. You all will blame it on the base. But the fact is, that the fault will fall directly on the GOPe and their suck ass wannabes. And everyone will know EXACTLY where the blame falls. You all will then be able to hold your next convention in a phone booth. You, the GOPe, & your national committee, since you all own the party, all better make another rule: " We are not to blame for anything shitty we cause, it is always someone else to blame. If you all do not like it, remember, it is our party, we make the rules, and fuck you ! " Stalin & Mao would be so proud of you all. LOL Keep it up boys, the GOPe is going to commit suicide.
The Whig party dissolved to become the GOP a few years later. They lost a lot of election in the meantime. Dishonest Abe was a lifelong Clay Whig, even after he started calling himself a Republican. And, BTW, Lincoln completely stacked the deck with his own delegates to secure his nomination for the 1860 election.
LOL. Facts are very often inconvenient pesky things. "No matter how cynical you become, it's never enough to keep up." - Lily Tomlin
I thought it was important to deflate this bizarre notion that party conventions and nominee selection is or ever was an exercise in pure democracy. People tend to believe this because it has been so long since we had a nominee selected by convention delegates. But there is still a full set of rules to deal with a brokered convention. And for a reason. There are at least six conventions where the nominee selected was never even a candidate for president prior to the convention. In a few cases, they were virtual unknowns to everyone in both parties. In the GOP, Wendell Wilkie in 1940 was the last nominee picked this way.
Flash forward about 75 years and change the names to Trump and Hillary. Frankly I am beginning to think that Trump's bubble has burst and that he will not be the REP nominee. Whether he runs as a 3rd Party candidate remains to be seen.
I won't believe it until he says, "I am not a witch".
Would you believe him if he did?
#18. To: SOSO (#17)
Not even if he swore an oath with his incredibly tiny hand on a stack of Bibles.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest" If Bernie Sanders wins the New York Democratic primary, some superdelegates vow to back Hillary Clinton anyway "
#5. To: Stoner (#4)
But, it is quite obvious that Bernie is getting screwed, as well as those that vote for him.
#6. To: cranky, Stoner (#5)
#9. To: TooConservative, Cranky (#6)
" The national committees make the rules and decide who their respective nominee will be.
#10. To: Stoner (#9)
And then the GOPe will go the way of the Whig party. Gee, where is the Whig Party now? Oh, thats right, they do not exist any longer.
#13. To: TooConservative, Stoner (#10)
And, BTW, Lincoln completely stacked the deck with his own delegates to secure his nomination for the 1860 election.
#14. To: SOSO (#13)
LOL. Facts are very often inconvenient pesky things.
Yup, Wilkie was a Democrat until late 1939, didn't run in the primaries and still became the 1940 GOP nominee. Then he went to work for FDR after FDR beat him in the 1940 election.
A longtime Democratic activist, Willkie changed his party registration to Republican in late 1939. He did not run in the 1940 presidential primaries, but positioned himself as an acceptable choice for a deadlocked convention. He sought backing from uncommitted delegates, while his supporters, many youthful, enthusiastically promoted his candidacy. As Hitler rampaged through Western Europe in the spring of 1940, many Republicans did not wish to nominate an isolationist such as Thomas E. Dewey, and turned to Willkie, who was nominated on the sixth ballot over Ohio Senator Robert A. Taft. Willkie's support for aid to Britain removed it as a major factor in his race against Roosevelt, and Willkie also backed the president on a peacetime draft. Both men took more isolationist positions in the final days of the race. Roosevelt won a third term, taking 38 of the 48 states.
#15. To: TooConservative (#14)
Yup, Wilkie was a Democrat until late 1939, didn't run in the primaries and still became the 1940 GOP nominee. Then he went to work for FDR after FDR beat him in the 1940 election.
#16. To: SOSO (#15)
Frankly I am beginning to think that Trump's bubble has burst
#17. To: TooConservative (#16)
I won't believe it until he says, "I am not a witch".
Replies to Comment # 17.
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