The Daily Background

… Pigs fly. Haha, no just kidding.

Clinton has argued that caucuses are undemocratic and that primaries are. Perhaps this is because Obama has won 11 caucuses and she has only won two, or perhaps it’s because she genuinely believes that caucuses are stupid.

(One example Clinton often brings up is that of the military member who is serving in Iraq who can’t participate in their local caucus back home. Unfortunately for the sake of her example, Democrats abroad are eligible and encouraged to participate in the Democrats Abroad primary, arranged just for them. There are still some legitimate concerns about people not being able to make it to caucus locations however, and I say this as a big proponent of absentee ballots).

Either way, I’ll take Hillary’s arguments about what’s more democratic more seriously when she explains the following.

First, why is her strategy for winning the Democratic nomination, at least as of now, predicated on winning the support of undemocratic super delegates (you know, the party bosses sitting in the smoke filled rooms) who vote against the popular vote in the states they represent? Amy Walter and John Mercurio discussed her new strategy in today’s episode of HotlineTV:

MERCURIO: This does seem to be, with the increasing amount of attention that her campaign is putting on the superdelegates… I think it sort of seems to be her last resort, and I think that’s in a way a strategic miscalculation on their part, to be talking openly–

WALTER: I agree.

MERCURIO: Or she’s not, but for her campaign to be talking openly about reaching out to the [super] delegates, about the fact that Chelsea and Bill Clinton are making these calls to these important members of the party. Because what it tells the voter in a state like Virginia, or Maralind or DC or Wisconsin or Ohio or Texas, is that “we’re already prepared to ignore your voice.” And that’s not necessarily what she’s saying, but it implies that “we’re already prepared to ignore you, and we’re looking towards the sort of party insiders that we’ve known since the ’90s and the ’80s, that are going to help us win the presidency, and that’s exactly the point of Barack Obama’s message.

WALTER: Right, exactly. And this is where Obama I think can make his case, if he’s able to do this, in places like Virginia and Wisconsin and Ohio…

Second, why did she make seemingly contradicting comments about whether the Michigan and Florida primaries should be tied to delegates?

Statement 1, before she won the meaningless primaries in MI and FL:

“It’s clear, this election they’re having is not going to count for anything.”

Statement 2, after she won the meaningless primaries in MI and FL:

“I know other campaigns have tried to downplay the significance of these two states.”

“I will ask my Democratic convention delegates to support seating the delegations from Florida and Michigan.”

(No wonder the NH Union Leader blasted Clinton for “coldly and coldly and knowingly” lying to New Hampshire and Iowa…)

Filed under: Z-TDB Blog