Superdelegates play hardball
Flexing their new power to determine the Democratic presidential nomination, a bloc of Ohio superdelegates is withholding endorsements from Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton until one or the other offers a concrete proposal to protect American jobs, two Ohio Democrats told Politico Wednesday.
The apparent deal among Ohioans is the first evidence of superdelegates’ banding together and seeking concessions from the presidential candidates in return for votes at the convention. It’s a practice that could become more common after Clinton’s victories in Ohio and Texas on Tuesday put her back on solid footing in her race against Obama and ensured that the battle for superdelegates will continue for many weeks to come.
Ohio Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur, one of the leading protectionists in Congress, said Ohioans have many suggestions on economic and trade issues they hoped the candidates would address.
“We have a laundry list of measures we think would be effective, some involving tax policy, some involving investment policy, intellectual property incentives to hold investments in this country,†Kaptur said. “I’m hoping superdelegates [who] are uncommitted that have the economy as their major concern will gravitate to our group and use that power to gain additional attention.â€
Among congressional Democrats from Ohio, only Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, a Clinton backer, has endorsed. The rest — Kaptur, Reps. Dennis J. Kucinich, Tim Ryan, Zack Space, Betty S. Sutton and Charlie Wilson, and Sen. Sherrod Brown — remain uncommitted even after their state’s voters handed Clinton a decisive victory in Tuesday’s Democratic primary.
“We had a general agreement,†Kucinich said of the pact. “We have economic issues that need to be addressed. Ohio has economic issues more urgent than any other state.â€
A spokesman for Ryan acknowledged that the Ohioans sent a letter to both Obama and Clinton last week in which they outlined their views about the economy, but he insisted there was no agreement to withhold votes. Ryan himself told Politico: “We want the candidates to talk about the issues important to Ohio. We all have the same issues, and we’ve talked about them. But I don’t think there’s any coordinated effort to stick together. There are conversations. It gets hard to build any kind of alliance when, in a lot of our districts, certain candidates did really, really well.â€
Ryan said he had been thinking of making an endorsement “up until Monday,†then added: “There’s always talk of trying to build coalitions.â€
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it was inevitable. and superdelegates from other states will follow suit. the question of whether the SDs should vote the will of their constituents is now irrelevant; now they will have to be bought off, one by one.
THIS is why you don't leave the nomination up to politicians. never mind which candidate is a whore for special interest, now their eventual nominee will be a whore for several hundred members of congress, regardless of who it is.
this is a
MESS.
oh, and I am sure that kookspinach will be reasonable.
