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Distinguished Party Leaders?
Although the HRC campaign continues to beat the drum that superdelegates, voting their conscience (?), will be counted on to deliver her the eventual Democratic nomination, that tide has been running in exactly the opposite direction for some time now.
I've followed the trend on the Politico Superdelegate page. HRC has gone from being almost 100 superdels ahead of BHO in January, 2008, to dead even shortly after the NC Primary, and now trails by 28.
The most recent cascade of commitments has resulted in another interesting stat ... BHO has a superdelegate edge in every category of superdelegates now (Add-ons, Congressional, DNC, Governors, Representatives, Senators), except for 'Distinguished Party Leaders'.
HRC has the same 9 'distinguished' endorsements that she's had since the Cloak of Inevitability was still draped upon her. BHO has 5. 5 remain uncommitted (which must include Brother Al and Jimmy Carter, but I don't know who else).
So, on balance, the only 'distinguishing' characteristic of this segment of superdels is that they're out of step with the remainder of the party.
Comments (4)
That, and the fact that they rendered extraordinary service to the party and the country. There's no need to bash them simply because they're not voting as you'd like.
Of the twenty DPLs, the four who have not committed are Carter, Gore, George Mitchell, and former DNC Chair Bob Strauss. (Robert Byrd was the fifth until yesterday - as a former senate majority leader, he counts as a DPL, and not as a senator.)
May 20, 2008 9:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
Who's bashing? I just point out a trend. Leaders lead ... I just found it interesting that they are headed in the opposite direction.
The real fact is that it is a very small sample ... just 19 according to Politico ... so not exactly statistically valid.
May 20, 2008 9:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
An addendum: If you count the way the DNC does, there are 22 DPLs, and the split is 10-8 in favor of Clinton.
May 20, 2008 9:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
carter has said that he will declare his support after the last primary. he doesn't want his endorsement to have an effect on the democratic (small d) process.
he has, however, made mention of the public endorsement that every other member of his family has given to obama.
although i haven't seen gore's comments on this matter, i would assume that he is also trying to be diplomatic by holding off till after the primary season. but we know how he feels about hrc, and i think his endorsement of obama is inevitable.
May 20, 2008 2:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
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