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Clinton Asks Donors And Pledged Delegates To Back Obama

Posted by JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief in Politics.
Jun 10th, 2008 | Comments

Two news reports suggest that Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton is indeed working behind the scenes to foster party unity by trying to get her donors and pledged delegates to back presumptive Democratic nominee Senator Barack Obama.

Skeptics will say it’s pro forma. But, no matter what, given these reports Clinton can’t be accused of sitting on her hands.

For instance, in the case of her pledged delegates Marc Ambinder reports:

Multiple Democratic sources say that Sen. Hillary Clinton, in a series of private conversations and conference calls, continues to urge her pledged delegates to vote for Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention. Clinton plans a series of calls with superdelegates, interest groups and state delegations over the next few days. (One of them took place last night, according to this report from Iowa’s Quad Cities-Globe-Gazette.)

“She’s doing calls with supports and delegates and various other groups of supporters,” said Mo Elliethee, a spokesperson. “What she did was reiterate what she said on Saturday. She thanked them for their hard work and their dedication and all that they did for her and celebrated some of the accomplishments of her campaign…. And she urged them to get behind Sen. Obama and to work just as hard to elect him president.”

Ambinder points out that this isn’t quite the same as her releasing her delegates, which could create some complications.

In the case of her donors, the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza reports:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s top national fundraisers convened a series of conference calls today with major donors in various regions around the country to urge them to throw their financial weight behind Sen. Barack Obama — sooner rather than later.

The calls were led by Jonathan Mantz, the Clinton campaign’s finance director, and were cast as a follow-up on Clinton’s appeal for unity during her concession speech over the weekend.

“Honestly, reaction has been mixed,” said one source familiar with the calls. “There are a lot of hurt feelings out there. And a lot of folks that want to make sure Hillary is respected through the remaining process.”

Does “respected” mean that unless she’s offered the Vice Presidential slot she’s not being “respected?” If so, there’s a good chance she won’t be respected…

The problem for Clinton supporters is that if Obama loses and it’s determined that it’s partially due to Clinton supporters not supporting the ticket, then in 2012 they’re going to face an angry segment of the Democratic party that will work tirelessly to scuttle any Clinton comeback attempt and back a new non-Clinton family candidate.

It’s also hard to believe that given strong policy differences between Obama and presumptive GOP nominee Senator John McCain that Clinton supporters wouldn’t work to defeat McCain. Republicans don’t seem to forget about the impact of Supreme Court appointments. Democrats do…

What’s interesting now are the dynasty dynamics.

The Bush “brand” looks nearly decimated now (Jeb may have to wait a while) with the presidency of President George Bush.

The Bush brand is now like what Wendy’s was for a brief while when someone found a (planted) human finger in one of its restaurant’s bowls of chili.

But the Clinton brand survives and flourishes due to Hillary Clinton’s excellent concession speech speech and due to the potential of Chelsea Clinton. Let’s just not “go there” when we mention the impact of Bill Clinton’s 2008 performance on the Clinton “brand.”

Bill Clinton is now to Hillary Clinton what Billy Carter was to Jimmy Carter.

runasim

I read the post with interest, until I got to the last sentences. Honestly, some bloggers wouldn't be able to compse a piece about the weather, without slipping in some digs at Bill Clinton.
Isn't there a serial killer out there that some of that hatred could be spent on?

unclejoe40

runasim,

part of the reason that hillary lost was because bill couldnt keep his yap shut

instead of touting what hillary could do, he spent too much time saying what obama couldnt do

and he used to be the greatest campaigner this country has ever seen

runasim

Unclejoe,
How perfect does someone have to be to avoid constant, unremitting attacks?
What is the pleasure in dehumanizing someone to the point where he becomes nothing but an inanimate target?
Bill Clinton did a lot of things wrong, There were also many instances when his words were misconstrued and taken out of context. . Once you get on someone's hit list, every move, every sneeze is assigned the worst possible meaning and motivation. It reminds me of nothing better than a cock fight, the bloodier , the better.
Bill and Hillary both played old politics by attacking Obama. Obama did, too, to some extent, only he usually aimed his barbs at McCain.
Obama is forgiven, becasue he is the favorite (he's mine, too), and Hillary was rehabilited because of her concession speech. But Bill is still there, becasue it seems someone is always needed to use as a punching bag.

There is a video clip out with McCain making a verbal gaffe close to 10 years ago.
When I think of the effort put into digging that up from the archives, it turns my stomach.

mlhradio

>>Bill Clinton is now to Hillary Clinton what Billy Carter was to Jimmy Carter.<<

Ouch! A pretty painful jab there -- painful because it is, sadly, more true than not.

One of the biggest surprises (at least to me) out of this primary season was the tarnishing of Bill Clinton's image, a tarnishing that he brought about himself. Before the primaries, he was viewed quite favorably by most of the Democratic establishment and populace. But now his star has fallen down to earth, and most Democrats look upon him with disdain, like that uncle at the party who had a little too much to drink, is a little too loud and a little too embarrassing.

Time will only tell whether or not his legacy has been permanently damaged or not. I suspect the Comeback Kid probably has one or two more comebacks left in him, though.

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