UPDATE: Give to the DCCC, the congressional body in charge of electing and re-electing Dems to the House. They're the group that Hillary is threatening to boycott if Pelosi doesn't hand her the election. Let's show Hillary and her rich donors that they're no longer relevant in a party where millions of small donors now rule the day. You can give securely via our ActBlue page. And, we will be setting up ActBlue pages for more individual House and Senate races soon, too.UPDATE 5:31 PM: This statement was issued by the Obama campaign:
"This letter is inappropriate and we hope the Clinton campaign will reject the insinuation contained in it. Regardless of the outcome of the nomination fight, Senator Obama will continue to urge his supporters to assist Speaker Pelosi in her efforts to maintain and build a working majority in the House of Representatives," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.
Speaks for itself. ___________________________________________
Every time I think I don't want to write another post about the failed candidacy of Hillary Clinton, some new outrage arises. Last week, Hillary's big donors were trying to buy a new election in Michigan. This week, they're trying to extort Speaker Pelosi.
Keep in mind that Hillary's campaign finished February in the red. You'd think that would be a major concern for her funders. I know a lot of reporters, like the ones at the Wall Street Journal, couldn't do the math from the FEC reports, but here's a quick breakdown: Clinton reported $33.1 million cash on hand at the end of February. Of that total, $21.7 can only be spent in the general election leaving her with $11.4 million. She has debts of $8.7 million, so the campaign is down to $2.7 million. Subtract the $5 million loan Clinton owes herself, she's in the red. (The WSJ reported the debt to vendors was only $3.7 million, which is wrong, but they haven't corrected it.)
That's a problem for a candidate whose inevitability was built, in part, on her fundraising ability.
But, what are Hillary's top fundraisers doing? They sent a clearly menacing letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi with veiled references to how much dough they give to Democrats. Greg Sargent has a copy of the letter at TPM Elections:
We have been strong supporters of the DCCC. We therefore urge you to clarify your position on super-delegates and reflect in your comments a more open view to the optional independent actions of each of the delegates at the National Convention in August. We appreciate your activities in support of the Democratic Party and your leadership role in the Party and hope you will be responsive to some of your major enthusiastic supporters.
What does that language mean? It isn't limited to superdelegates, that's for sure. The letter says "each of the delegates." That is significant. Keep in mind that the super rich contributors are upset with Pelosi for saying last week:
"If the votes of the superdelegates overturn what's happened in the elections, it would be harmful to the Democratic party"
Now, of course, Pelosi is right. That would be harmful to the Democratic Party. But, Hillary and her rich supporters care about Hillary, not the Democratic Party. And, this isn't just about superdelegates. Clinton's donors are directing Pelosi to go public and endorse Hillary's comments from a few days ago, when Hillary said that the elected delegates, the ones YOU voted for already, don't have to support Obama even though YOU voted for him. In their world, those delegates can just vote for Hillary anyway. That's what this letter is about. It's about extorting Pelosi to hand Hillary the election by stealing Obama's delegates. It's about Hillary doing something that a month ago she promised she wasn't going to do - try to steal Obama's delegates. (To be clear, I don't think there is any way Clinton could win over any of Obama's delegates. I have no doubt his delegates will stick with him. But, the Clinton campaign has reached the point of desperation that they are willing to try. Actually, Clinton should be more worried about her delegates ditching her for the candidate who is going to win the nomination -- and be the next President.)
What Hillary is quite literally doing is threatening to destroy the party if she isn't handed the nomination.
This is crazy. The leaders of the Democratic Party need to end this disaster now.
