Even in Vermont, Sanders Trails Clinton in the Race for Superdelegates

[leftcoastmountains]

-snip-
Of the nearly 4,500 delegates who will cast a vote at next July's Democratic National Convention, an estimated 713 of them are so-called "superdelegates" — party muckety-mucks who can vote however they please. And according to Bloomberg's Mark Halperin and Jennifer Epstein, Democrat Hillary Clinton's campaign claimed last month that it had already secured more than 440 commitments from that crowd.

The Clinton campaign won't confirm its delegate count on the record, but the Hill has been keeping track of the endorsements of one block of superdelegates: Democratic members of Congress. Clinton has 119 of them, while Sanders has, um, none.

http://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/even-in-vermont-sanders-trails-clinton-in-the-race-for-superdelegates/Content?oid=2905463

Don't shoot the messenger.

[daleanime]

1. Of course not....

to both not shooting the messenger, and not getting any congressional delegates. They know where their bread is buttered, they won't start coming to our side until it's pretty much in the bag for Bernie. That was always a given. Just another reason to not have much respect for 'our' congress creatures.

[HereSince1628]

14. Purges of insurgents are the 'revolution' that starts in the establishment

Pushing out the establishment requires showing the establishment to actually be obstructing the people's will.

This should be obvious, but apparently it is not.

[Divernan]

15. Bill & Hillary have a spread sheet of those who "betrayed" them.

I can’t stop thinking about the news that, according to a forthcoming book, HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton, she and Bill kept a list of the people who had betrayed her during her presidential campaign in 2008. When I say list, I’m not talking about some names scrawled on a beer mat after a drunken bout of slagging off senators down the pub. This is Hillary Clinton we’re talking about, after all. She didn’t keep the names on a Post-it note stuck in her diary, nor stuck to the mirror in the hall so she could flick the Vs at it as she left for work in the morning. She allegedly had two aides compile a spreadsheet of her enemies, what she’d done for them and the exact way they had stuck a knife in her back.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/hilary-clintons-revenge-list-is-no-bad-idea-9070431.html

Most of us are familiar with information in the diary kept by Hillary's close friend and confident, Diane Blair, which detailed Hillary keeping track of people who'd opposed her health care initiative for purposes of "revenge". http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/02/12/confidants-diary-clinton-wanted-to-keep-records-for-revenge/

First on CNN–Confidant’s diary: Clinton wanted to keep records for ‘

revenge'

Fayetteville, Arkansas (CNN) - Shortly before Hillary Clinton’s effort to pass health care reform died in the summer of 1994, the first lady asked a close friend and confidant for advice on “how best to preserve her general memories of the administration and of health care in particular.”

When asked why, according to the friend’s June 20, 1994, diary entry, Clinton said, “Revenge.”

Her thirst for revenge has apparently just grown over the decades, but now it's more formalized, i.e., into spreadsheets. One of the people she & Bill destroyed? My very own Congressman, Jason Altmire.
http://www.saintpetersblog.com/archives/133900

Florida Blue’s Jason Altmire featured in new Hillary Clinton book

Today marks the release of a tell-on book on Hillary Clinton, and in it, some telling narrative on Florida’s Jason Altmire — formerly a congressman from Pennsylvania and now the Senior Vice President at Florida Blue.

The book, titled “HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton“, is a stark depiction of revenge, strategy and political warfare carried out by the Clintons following Hillary’s 2008 defeat to Barack Obama. But it also seems expressly intended to foster or substantiate the dialogue of Hillary as a phoenix rising; of Hillary as the next and rightful United States President.

Authors Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes — both White House correspondents and journalists — pieced the 448-page book together following more than 200 interviews with Hillary’s inner circle, supporters and enemies. (continued below)

[Divernan]

16. For Clintons, revenge is a dish never served too cold.

If Shakespeare were alive, he'd do a whole trilogy on the dark, tangled web of the Clintons' personal and political history. Background: After the data from the 2010 census came in, congressional districts were reapportioned, and two blue districts were gerrymandered into a district which stretched across some 5 counties in the shape of a dragon in a Chinese new year's parade. This pitted 2 Democratic incumbents against each other. My Congressman, Altmire was favored to win, until Bill Clinton jumped in and started throwing his weight around. Billary's boy, Critz won the primary but went on to lose in the general election in 2012, and we've had a fucking arch-conservative Republican Congressman ever since. Thanks, BILL! and HILLARY, too! For frigging NOTHING!

http://www.saintpetersblog.com/archives/133900

But more than any other, it is Altmire’s story that “HRC” digs into. “If there was a poster boy for the betrayal-and-revenge narrative, it was Altmire, a tall, broad-shouldered former Florida State University football player who had won his western Pennsylania House seat in the midterm Democratic landslide of 2006,” wrote Allen and Parnes. They continued by describing how Altimire had earned some early stripes as a congressional aide when selected to work on Hillary’s health care reform task in 1993.

Regardless of the time lapse and Altmire’s success in his own right since then, Hillary felt pretty sure that Altmire owed her one. Hillary saw Altmire as one of her prime targets as she courted superdelegates in 2008. But things didn’t go that way. She didn’t get around to meeting with Altmire and others “in earnest until after Super Tuesday in February” at which point she had assumed the nomination would be hers. Obama, for his part, had reached out to Altmire in the summer if 2007, and he and Michelle continued to court him.

From there, Altmire was heavily lobbied by both of the Clintons and Obama for his endorsement as a superdelegate. While Altmire came to the point where he wanted Obama to win, he felt it would be right and best to keep his thoughts to himself. He never did endorse her, and stayed neutral throughout.

The details of Altmire’s many exchanges with both Clintons are extensively portrayed in the book — fascinating details and relatable ones for those who have felt similar tensions. Likewise for Altmire’s exchanges with Obama. But as popular knowledge and this book make clear, the Clintons keep a list of those they consider traitors.

“The bill for Altmire’s neutrality would come due nearly four years later, to the day, in the 2012 Pennsylvania Democratic primary,” the book reads. “A full presidential cycle later, Bill was still determined to get payback.” Altmire was heavily favored to win his primary against Democratic representative Mark Critz — at least before Bill got involved.

Needless to say, there’s a reason why Jason Altmire today leads Florida Blue. Altmire is a sure gain for Florida, a loss to the people of his Pennsylvania district, and a warning to others who dare cross the Clintons, even if all they do is remain silent and neutral.

[restorefreedom]

2. welcome to bernie group

as to the supers, they will not dare override the will of the voters. if bernie wins primaries and gets the regulars, and the supers try and steal it for hillary, the dem party will implode, as it should.

no worries here.

edit...you've already been in bernie group..my mistake

welcome back anyway

[Omaha Steve]

3. OOPS

[HooptieWagon]

4. If HRH uses super delegates to overturn elected delegates...

...it will only prove that the Democratic Party is an oligarchy, not democratic. The Party will be fractured, probably permanently. She will assuredly lose the GE as many Dems will stay home or vote third party. That will be her legacy. She might be too narcissistic to care.

[Demeter]

12. Maybe Bill will explain it to her

maybe not...she had to be dragged kicking and screaming into conceding LAST time.

[Robbins]

5. Superdelegates can change their mind

they aren't locked in till the convention.

When Bernie wins primarys the situation will change.

[HubertHeaver]

6. Iowa Caucus is on Feb 1, 2016.

The Clinton campaign can claim some or all of the "super-delegates" if the campaign wishes to. Such claims are meaningless until the votes are cast and the delegates are assigned by the voters.

[leftcoastmountains]

7. Wow I wish I had such

confidence! You guys are amazing!

[HubertHeaver]

8. Yes, we are amazing.

But then, we live in reality.

[Demeter]

13. We've seen this ploy before

The pretend of pretentiousness....

[DebJ]

9. Check this out.

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-08-28/clinton-s-superdelegate-tipping-point

I don't agree with the writer's ultimate conclusion, but this does explain it a bit.

[Aerows]

10. I polled

an anthill.

They self-righteously declared that none but the Queen should rule.

Until little Anatea headed for the basket of picnic (sacred mountain) and encountered a device that was saying things.

Peering into the screen, Anatea perceived intelligence among the people who posted on DU.

Intrigued, she lurked in the nearly empty picnic basket to see what additional information she could glean.

She discovered that all was not as it seems, in these human "politic".

Unsure if she was wiser, or if she should become more cynical, Anatae decided to go home, embrace the loved ones, friends and family held so dear.

Anatae figured hugging those dear was far more important that denigrating them.

[merrily]

11. New Hampshire Rep. Tim Smith posted on facebook about the extreme pressure to endorse Hillary.

He endorsed Sanders and got a flood of positive replies from supporters of Sanders, including asking about how to volunteer for and donate to his campaign. He said that seeing things like that may help other politicians believe that endorsing who they really want to endorse is not as dangerous to their careers as they might imagine. And he is a STATE rep. That's how far all this goes.

In any event, I don't believe people vote for President based on endorsements by super delegates and I don't believe that super delegates will overturn a popular primary vote.

Voting machines, however, may be a problem.

[sabrina 1]

18. Like Hillary's Iraq vote, it might be MORE dangerous to their careers to do 'what is expected' of

them. As the surge continues, and it will, I expect some of them will get the courage to join the PEOPLE who are they supposedly represent and try to save their careers.

[merrily]

20. Unfortunately, politicians seem to play the short game, while we hoi polloi must live the long game.

[TBF]

17. The superdelegates will align with the primary winners -

so we need to make sure that Bernie wins. If they turn on us at that point, and go against our votes, we all stay home. They know that. Too early to worry - focus on GOTV.

[Autumn]

19. Those Superdelegates endorsing Hillary at this time means nothing.

They can endorse her till the cows come home. It don't mean diddle.