'Pledged Delegates Can Vote Their Conscience'

[SirNitram]

Link

Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson, a Democratic convention delegate pledged to support Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, said yesterday that he thinks Sen. Barack Obama has "in a real sense" won the Democratic nomination and that he now plans to support Obama at the August convention.

Johnson, who endorsed Clinton nine days before Maryland's February primary, said he will urge Gov. Martin O'Malley and Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, who co-chair Clinton's Maryland campaign, to bring all of her delegates to Obama's camp for the sake of party unity.

"I cannot in good conscience go to the convention and not support Barack," Johnson said in an interview. "She ran a great campaign, but she fell short of the line."

This is Johnson's second change of heart in the race. He had allowed his name to be listed as a supporter by the Obama campaign in December.

Unlike superdelegates, who are free to endorse either candidate, Johnson is one of 28 pledged delegates who have agreed to represent the 36 percent of Maryland Democrats who voted for Clinton on Feb. 12.

Some Clinton delegates were chosen by voters at the ballot. Others, such as Johnson, were selected in consultation with the Clinton campaign by the Maryland Democratic State Central Committee, party spokesman David Paulson said.

But Paulson said that pledged delegates are under no obligation to stick by their candidate and that Johnson is free to defect if he chooses.

"The freedom to change your mind or change your vote does exist," Paulson said. "They're not like superdelegates, but they do have this flexibility."

Obama swamped Clinton in Maryland, capturing 61 percent of the vote statewide and 79 percent of the vote in Prince George's County. Given the results in Maryland and elsewhere, Johnson said, the Maryland party would be unenthusiastic about the November election if Obama were not the nominee.

A decision by O'Malley or Mikulski to release all of Maryland's Clinton delegates could be the start of a national wave to unify behind Obama, Johnson said.

"If we do that, I think we could shift some other states and bring the race to an end," he said.

Johnson's call was rejected by some Clinton's other supporters in the state. Melissa Schwartz, a spokeswoman for Mikulski, said the Maryland senator "remains 100 percent behind Senator Clinton."

Del. Carolyn J.B. Howard (D-Prince George's) also rejected Johnson's call.

"I'm still committed to Senator Clinton until she decides that she's no longer in the race," Howard said. "You don't quit before it's over."

Several Maryland superdelegates have endorsed Obama in recent days, but Johnson is the first pledged delegate to switch sides.

In February, Johnson endorsed Clinton alongside Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D), telling a crowd of 100 supporters that she would "fight for us on the issues."

The late support surprised many at the time, in part because of his county's enthusiastic support of Obama.

It also came two months after Johnson's name appeared on a list distributed by the Obama campaign of Maryland politicians supporting his effort. An aide at the time confirmed that Johnson had authorized the use of his name by Obama's campaign.

Johnson said yesterday that the February endorsement had been a difficult decision, driven by his personal loyalty to Clinton and former president Bill Clinton. He said he is unconcerned that his support for either candidate might appear less than steadfast.

"My job is to bring unity, and we will not have unity in Maryland if Barack Obama is not the nominee," he said.

Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, the co-chairman of Obama's campaign in Maryland, called Johnson's support "helpful," noting the executive's position as the leader of the prominent African American jurisdiction, which has the largest concentration of registered Democrats in the state.

But Gansler said he thinks the unity Johnson seeks will come before the August convention regardless.

"His leadership coming over now cannot be ignored and should be followed," Gansler said.

"Does it need to be followed today? I don't think so. Inevitably, all the Clinton delegates will come over to the Obama camp."

Maybe she shouldn't have put that idea out there, huh?

[General Zod]

Hilarious. It's nice to see Clinton's slimy tactic to gain delegates backfire.

[Patrick Degan]

Back on March 26th, in the Hillary Says Pledged Delegates Up For Grabs thread, I called it (though it was about as predictable a thing as the sunrise):

What would truly be comical would be the spectacle of her squawking if a good number of her own pledged delegates, in the wake of this announcement, defected to Obama.

And now it looks as if that's now in the cards. Expect her to start screaming about Obama trying to "poach" them. The natural response is to simply throw her own words back in her face:

(CNN) — For the second time in three days, Hillary Clinton has told reporters that the “pledged” delegates that are awarded based on vote totals in their state are not bound to abide by election results — an idea that has been floated by her or a campaign surrogate several times this month.

“…Every delegate with very few exceptions is free to make up his or her mind however they choose,” she told Time Magazine’s Mark Halperin in an interview published Wednesday. “We talk a lot about so-called pledged delegates, but every delegate is expected to exercise independent judgment.”

Supporters of her rival, Barack Obama, disagree with Clinton’s assessment.

“Despite repeated denials, the Clinton campaign has again admitted that they will go to any length to win,” Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Wednesday.

– From CNN’s Rebecca Sinderbrand

Even as Hillary's campaign becomes more appalling it also becomes more comical.

[chitoryu12]

Hilary asking delegates to "express independent judgement" is like giving Jason Voorhees a machete, slapping his mother, and telling him to do whatever he wants. You're inevitably fucked.