Reader Posts
« previous | TPM CAFÉ READER POSTS HOME | next »
Local elected officials weigh in on Obama-Clinton
BARACK OBAMA will be the nominee of the Democratic Party. This is the only plausible outcome barring some highly damaging revelation or the dubious likelihood that Hillary Clinton can either capture 70 percent of the remaining unpledged and superdelegates or convince the party it should award her all of Michigan and Florida's votes. The party's Rules and Bylaws Committee takes up that issue on May 31. Clinton's superdelegate majority stands at 18 and is falling. Clinton has signaled that she will continue to fight on against what appear to be insurmountable odds after her drubbing in North Carolina and a razor-thin 12,000-vote victory in Indiana. So, as we approach the end game, what should be done to break the nomination stalemate, and how should the Michigan/Florida issue be resolved? I put these two questions to our elected officials and received these responses: - Supervisor Charles McGlashan: "The party leadership should convince one or the other to run for vice president; the senators would thus team up as an unstoppable pair of runningmates. The party would exercise some long overdue discipline and would finally be able to develop a vision for healing the country from the terrible management of the past eight years. "If the party could pull off this unification, we could welcome the states' delegates as co-developers of a vision for reuniting America, rather than squabbling over voting rules." - Supervisor Hal Brown, an Obama supporter: "We must get the superdelegates to declare now. Period. We should play by the rules, but we cannot give in to Hillary Clinton's demands. An equitable result would be if she were given 55 percent of both the Florida and Michigan votes, and Obama were given 45 percent." - Assemblyman Jared Huffman (Marin-Sonoma), an Obama supporter: "The picture is now resolved. The Democrats should respectfully wait for Clinton's folks to exit on their own terms; and the Clintons should use the next few days/weeks to establish a tone of civility and unity that undoes some of the damage their scorched earth campaign has wrought. "Seat them ( Florida/Michigan delegations), but I don't think their votes should be counted. Either way, this is much less of an issue than it was a few days ago. Since "undeclared" won almost half the Michigan vote, presumably that would be a split in delegate votes at the convention-which simply leaves Florida having a token few delegates for Clinton and not nearly enough to change anything." - State Sen. Carole Migden, a superdelegate who has not declared: "I believe this is an unprecedented season of engagement and high-caliber candidates. We ought not be too exercised by the phenomena of a spirited campaign. Both candidates are viable and have received considerable encouragement from the electorate. I don't believe this competition has been damaging; it is more a statement about spiked voter participation and record breaking interest by the public. I am confident Obama or Clinton will beat McCain." - Joe Nation, state Senate candidate: "I think voters are taking care of this stalemate, and I expect the nomination to be concluded very shortly. Isn't this how democracy is supposed to work?" - Assemblyman Mark Leno, state Senate candidate: "Our democracy is made stronger when we have choices and as Democrats we must not usurp the will of the voters. It's critically important everyone's voice is heard. We must not disenfranchise voters in Florida and Michigan. At this point, the equitable thing to do is seat all of their delegates and split them evenly." - Rep. Lynn Woolsey of Petaluma, a Clinton superdelegate: "While the nominating process has certainly been a wild ride, I have no doubt that the energy and enthusiasm it has created will serve to strengthen our party as we head into the fall. However, as I have said before, we must ensure that our party's nominee is chosen not through back-room deals, but by votes of the American public. "After the final votes are tallied, I believe that our party will have a clear choice, and Democrats will rally around a nominee."
Richard Rubin writes a monthly column for the Marin Independent Journal. For more information on the author or to read his past articles, contact the Marin Independent Journal or visit their website at
Post a Comment