Dear "Stupid Delegate"

I should probably leave this alone, but, frankly, I've had about enough. Dear "Stupid Delegate" (that's not a spelling error) was how an email began that was received today by a delegate-friend and supporter of Sen. Obama. That's just a mild taste of the kinds of emails "super" or "automatic" delegates have been getting. Never mind Clinton's gracious concession last Saturday, the site that makes it easy to mass email all delegates, Lobbydelegates.com is up and running strong. One of my friends is keeping copies of all the email she gets-she is certain that no one will believe how nasty people were unless she has the proof.

And, Clinton supporters are not alone in the bomb-throwing.

Earlier this week, I was on the receiving end of a mass email with the following subject line: "Your Whiteness is Showing: An Open Letter to Certain White Women." That email was directed to "white" women who were threatening to withhold support from Sen. Obama. Needless to say, it was not generated by the Obama campaign. Never mind that I've endorsed Obama, given to Obama, ran to be a delegate for Obama etc. I still had the pleasure of receiving that email.

Look, there are a lot of feelings floating around about the primary, and folks need to vent. I get that, but this is not the way to do it, and I've begun to respond directly to people who send me this garbage. I'm hoping that they will begin to understand that when they send out mass emails, real people, who have feelings, read it. Actually, it's worked pretty well, and I had fairly productive email exchanges with both of the women who sent the referenced emails. I hope that you will do the same. Instead of just pressing the delete key, send back a note that challenges this kind of behavior. While it might be easier to just ignore it, it's important that folks get the message that this is no way to treat each other.

I think it's pretty darn easy to vent anger at a group of relatively unknown faces who are "super" or "automatic" delegates. It's hard to remember that actual, living, breathing human beings with families and feelings are on the receiving end of these awful emails. We need to speak up. There a way to express opinions without using each other as punching bags.

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Two More Pieces of Bad News for Clinton

Obama continues to close the "Super" delegate gap. CNN now has him just two delegates behind Clinton, while ABC News declared yesterday that he had surpassed her. Now, Rasmussen Reports says that they will stop polling Clinton "in the near future" in order to focus on McCain-Obama. While that last piece of news may not seem like a big deal, I remember how deflating it was to me, as an Edwards supporter, when Gallup dropped Edwards from it's national tracking. As a supporter, it was definitely a gut-check moment.

Clinton will win West Virgina handily on Tuesday, and she will also win Kentucky. It does not matter. Every available mertic, objective and subjective, points to Obama. Unless a really big rock falls on him, this race is over. I respect her right to stay in as long as she wishes, but this is like watching a terminal patient slowly die. The systems that support the life her her campaign-donors, delegates, press, polling, etc.-all seem to be slowly shutting down. It's sad to watch, and I wonder, when it's over, will this indebted campaign look to Democrats (read: Obama) to pay the bill for the prolonged life support?

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I Hate Math

But I bet Sen. Clinton hates it more right about now. I know there's this narrative out there about Clinton's comeback last Tuesday-you know, how she now has the wind in her sails. I thought so, too. At first. Now, I think, not so much.

Her three victories were impressive, but it turns out not to have helped her much in the all-important delegate count, where Obama still leads by more than 100 delegates. She didn't cut much into Obama's lead (about 20 delegates), and the ground she did make up is looking more like quicksand and could disappear entirely by the time the votes are counted in the Texas caucus and the Mississippi primary. And, remember, there were no surprises on Tuesday-two weeks out she was polling well ahead of her final numbers in all three contests.

Based on the CNN totals, Clinton seems to have netted a total of 20 delegates on Tuesday. Then, in Wyoming, Obama netted 5. That leaves Clinton netting 15 delegates total in the last week, and that's if you don't count the two super delegates who declared for Obama last week, plus the brand new congressman and brand new Illinois super delegate who was elected last week. That drops her net gain to 12.

Add to that the fact that Texas caucuses are still being counted, and Obama is ahead. When that counting is done, he may well have erased her seven delegate lead in Texas, or even passed her. But let's say he only cuts her lead in Texas by three. That reduces her net gain for last week to 9 delegates, and leaves me saying, "So, what's the big deal?"

The Mississippi primary is Tuesday, and Obama is favored. If he wins, he may completely erase any delegate ground she gained last Tuesday. As I watched the Sunday shows today, I heard Clinton surrogates argue: 1) that Florida and Michigan should be allowed to seat their delegations; 2) that big states are more important than other states; 3) that swing states and blue states are more significant than "red" states; 4) that it is the role of super delegates to supersede the will of the voters if in their super-wisdom they think it's the super-right thing to do; 5) "Caucuses are undemocratic." Funny, I don't remember her talking about undemocratic caucuses in Iowa. In fact, this was her campaign's statement when she signed the four state pledge in September of 2007:

Sep 1, 2007 4:02 PM Clinton Campaign Statement

The following is a statement by Clinton Campaign Manager Patti Solis Doyle.
"We believe Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina play a unique and special role in the nominating process. And we believe the DNC’s rules and its calendar provide the necessary structure to respect and honor that role.
Thus, we will be signing the pledge to adhere to the DNC approved nominating calendar."

Changed our mind, have we?

But, it's really not about math, is it? It's about the integrity of the process and the will of the voters. The integrity of the process means following the rules and making sure the will of the voters is reflected in the choice of nominee. There may be a way to give voters in Florida and Michigan a chance to vote again, but as Howard Dean said today, the measure of success will be whether the loser feels the process was fair. That, my friends, is going to be a tough row to hoe.

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