Tubbs-Jones, Meek continue to insist that Clinton is better for Dems at the top of the ticket

CNN estimates that Sen. Barack Obama needs 170 delegates to clinch the Democratic nomination. They say Sen. Hillary Clinton needs 334. And with the remaining states having a combined 217 delegates, that leaves 266 superdelegates to poop or get off the pot.

As a result, Clinton continues to insist that she's the better candidate at the top of the ticket, even though the voters in her own party flat out disagree. Yet the Clinton surrogates, including Congressional Black Caucus members, Reps. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones of Ohio, and Kendrick Meek of Florida, joined 10 others in writing the following letter:

SWING STATE DEMOCRATS SAY HILLARY BEST FOR TOP OF TICKET

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 9, 2008
 
Dear Fellow Democrat,
 
We are writing to you because of our shared belief in our Party’s principles and our commitment to ensuring that we have the strongest possible nominee to lead our ticket against John McCain and the Republicans in November.
 
The decision about who to support to be our Party’s nominee is not one that any of us should take lightly.  We haven’t.  But, after giving this important decision a great deal of thought, we are convinced that Hillary Clinton has the vision, skills and commitment to make the changes our country needs.  As Democrats who have run and won in competitive Congressional districts and battleground states, we believe that Hillary is best positioned to successfully lead the Democratic ticket in districts and states like ours around the country. 
 
As you know, Hillary has racked up victories in bellwether states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and now Indiana that are absolutely vital to winning the White House and maintaining our Congressional majority in the fall.  Hillary has won the big battleground states by connecting with voters whose support we must have to win the general election.  Her victories in Pennsylvania and Indiana were all the more impressive after being outspent by as much as two or three to one.
 
Pennsylvania was not just a victory for Hillary Clinton.  It was also a wake- up call for superdelegates, forcing us to ask ourselves two essential questions: 1) Which candidate can carry the magic 270 electoral votes to win in the fall? 2) Which candidate is most likely to help our fellow Democrats in down-ballot races?  We believe the answer to both of these questions is Hillary Clinton.
 
On the first question, Hillary has shown she can win the all-important battleground states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida even while being outspent. This speaks to her ability to connect with voters we must deliver in the fall, including blue collar Democrats who can sway this election as they have in the past. 
 
On the second question, Hillary has won rural and suburban districts which we as Democrats must carry to maintain our edge in Congress.  Of the fifteen districts rated “toss up” by the Cook Political Report, Hillary has now won ten.  Of the 20 districts we picked up in 2006 that had gone for President Bush just two years before, Hillary has now won 16.  She is strong in the places we must win to hold and expand our majority.
 
This is a historically close race.  The candidates are separated by a mere percentage point or two and the path to victory for each candidate is the same: win in the upcoming states and secure enough pledged and automatic delegates to get to the number required to win the nomination.
 
The race now turns to the remaining six contests where the focus will be squarely on the economy.  Voters in our states and across the country are voting on issues that affect them, their communities and their children’s future.  We believe that they will decide that Hillary is the candidate who best understands those issues and has the best solutions to address them.
 
We Democrats are justifiably proud of both of our candidates, and if Senator Obama is our Party’s nominee, we will enthusiastically support him.  But our responsibility is not to choose simply to support the eventual nominee; it is to help select the nominee who is best for our party and best for our country.  Our choice is clear: Hillary Clinton is that candidate.  We believe she should be your choice as well. 
 
Thank you for consideration.
 
Sincerely,
 
Rep. Michael Arcuri (NY-24)
Rep. Shelley Berkley (NV-01)
Rep. Marion Berry (AR-1)
Rep. Henry Cuellar (TX-28)
Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand (NY-20)
Rep. Gene Green (TX -29)
Rep. John Hall (NY-19)
Rep. Darlene Hooley (OR-5)
Rep. Kendrick B. Meek (FL-17)
Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (OH-11)
Rep. Silvestre Reyes (TX-16)
Rep. Mike Ross (AR-4)
Rep. Joe Sestak (PA-8)
Rep. Ike Skelton (MO-4)
Rep. John Tanner (TN-8)
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-20)

Comments

[Jody Gaddy]

Those people who signed the letter are ediots. No wonder democrats cannot get anything done in Washington these days.

Hillary won PA because the Governor there supported her. If Obama had the full support of the Governor and the Mayor of Philadelphia, he would have won the state.

Further, that Hillary won PA in the primary does not mean and can never mean that Obama will not win the state in general election.

No matter what those morons plot, Hillary will never be nominated. If they nominate her by stealing this nomination, then democrats will not win another election in the next 20 years.

[nic]

Hmmmm...what about the fact that Obama won some of THEIR states (NV, TX, MO, and likely OR in a few weeks)?

[Michael7]

Roland,

Okay, we got some more political dummies that would find it perfectly fine for the Dems to take the nomination from the person who rightfully earned it by playing by the rules (winning the most states, most votes, most pledged delegates and raised the most money, not to mention increased the number of new Dems into the party) and give it to the person who came in second, essentially telling the voters that we know what is best for you. Your voting was just an exercise in futility. Do these folks really want to win the White House come November? What have the Clinton's promised these bozos if they were to get the nomination and win in November?

Now I am from Ohio and used to live in Congresswoman Tubbs-Jones district and thought that she had more political sense than to do something as dumb as this, well I guess I was wrong. The people in her district need to think long and hard about re-electing her the next time she runs for Congress.

If the situation was reversed, would we see the same type of actions coming from the Dems allowing Sen. Obama to "play out the string" of remaining contests? I think not!

[Carolyn]

Please answer this question: Why have we not heard about Hillary and Bill's pastor William Procanick? Was he not sentenced to jail for a crime against a young child? Why is this been out of the newspapers and other media?Did Press Club friends of Bill and Hillary contact or book Rev Wright? I know he did not have to accept. And who is this movie mogul Weinstein threaten Rep Polosi if she does not get the Florida and Michigan vote done, he and or others will not give money to democrats. Weinstein is a Hillary supporter.

[Heather Johnston]

We need unity among Democrats now. Obama will get the nomination and the White House despite these last minute attempts to put Hillary at the top unless the party falls apart.

Hillary cracked under pressure with regard to her white America comment. Plain and simple. Her ambition beat out her morals. It will be something she has to contend with for the rest of her days. The Clintons have done some real good over the years, and the diehard Black supporters are, dare I say, "clinging" to that fact to remain loyal which has very clear meaning in the world of Washington politics.

In fact, she is not the one who voted against the MLK, Jr Holiday. That was Mr. McCain, and his recent apology was politically motivated, if he weren't running we never would have heard it. Please let's not lose sight of that, as well as the fact that there is not a single Black republican in the House or Senate.

If some of her Black supporters want to continue to back her candidacy at this late date, perhaps they are striving for unity in their own way. It would only serve McCain to have the party seem totally racially polarized.

[bettychilds]

Yet another example of a BLACK ON BLACK CRIME!

[Michael Davis-Dallas Progress]

Are you sure General Custer didn't sign that letter?

Anyway, Bill also jumps on people in West Virginia that disagree...check it out.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/09/bill-clintons-angry-confr_n_100972.html#comments

[Angela]

This is a joke, right? This letter is as pathetic as those who authored it.

[simplycharming47]

"But our responsibility is not to choose simply to support the eventual nominee; it is to help select the nominee who is best for our party and best for our country. Our choice is clear: Hillary Clinton is that candidate. We believe she should be your choice as well".

What the hell kind of comment is that? This gives new meaning to "Operation Chaos".
Now let's see why they are so pathetically desperate.

Obama picked up the backing of nine superdelegates.

The American Federation of Government Employees announced its support for Obama. The union claims about 600,000 members who work in the federal and Washington, D.C., governments.

Obama has Hillary Clinton beat in both the delegate count, Obama leads with 1,859.5 delegates, to 1,697 for Clinton.
Obama is just 165.5 delegates short of the 2,025 delegates needed to win it. and the popular vote.

Hillary leads in the superdelegate count 271.5 to Obama's 271. Little more than four months ago, on the eve of the primary season, she held a lead of 169-63.

Her chances of catching up in the six remaining primaries and caucuses are virtually nil. Fewer than 500 pledged and superdelegates remain in play, and by accepted estimates she would have to pick up 70 percent of them to become the nominee. Obama needs just 38 percent.

Benjamin Franklin said it best: Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools, that don't have brains enough to be honest.

[hbf]

I am so tempted to send another email to Laura Richardson, the Congresswoman from the 37th District of CA, who endorsed Hillary Clinton, and ask her how she feels about Clinton's strategy to marginalize the African American voters in the Democratic Party. I've decided not to waste my time, as I'm sure that email will go unanswered the same as my previous email to her stating that Barack won our District and asking her to consider switching her alliance. Three prominent AA Congresswomen in the Los Angeles Area have endorsed Clinton.....Maxine Waters, Diane Watson, and Laura Richardson. All of their districts voted overwhelmingly for Barack. I think our AA elected officials that are still supporting Clinton after she has made it clear that she intends to steal the nomination from Barack based on the premise that hard working white folks in WV, KY, OH, and PA won't vote for him; owe their constituents an explanation for their continued loyalty to Clinton.

[Pamela]

Make no mistake about it...by the time this process is over there are going to be a great many of Hillary Clinton supporters feeling ashamed of the fact that they supported someone who has so little regard for herself or anyone else!

[Regine]

Crabs

[Songbird, SC]

Okay, can I throw up now? This letter is preposterous.

Talk about being brain washed and clueless.

Simplycharming47: Your post had me rolling. So true...So true.

[phil]

I bet if you go and look at their voting records, they have votes against a lot of things that could actually help their Black communities. But because they have safe predominately Black districts, where there are many uneducated people,they pimp them. Smile in their faces, and stab them in their backs.

[Tony]

I thought we had smarter leaders than this. First of all, a year ago Hillary Clinton had it all, including a whopping majority of the African-American vote (remember?). For all her wisdom and political skill she blew it with an ill-advised campaign strategy boasting experience when voters wanted change. Look where we are today with all the experience in Washington. Little was accomplished that really benefitted the average American, not to mention the poor. Lately her embrace of the gas tax showed that she'll stoop to gimmickry instead of real solutions. People are tired of that. Administration of her campaign in terms of fundraising, staffing choices, strategy, accurate perception of what the public outcry really means, leaves her leadership ability in real question. Loyalty is great, but how do you move the country with a shoddy operation?

Her triumphs in the areas mentioned started only after her 'kitchen sink' tactics which did more to suggest an unprincipled power-grabbing mentality that produced votes and wins. However, it did nothing to transform her into the gifted, focused, above-the-fray leader her opponent proved himself to be. The letter even mentions my state of Florida. She, along with every other Dem candidate, signed on to the DNC's position penalizing the state for illegaly moving their date earlier, then all of a sudden when she's starts losing wants to change the rules back.

Finally she met her match. Barack Obama has transformed the electoral process by his well run campaign and he will do the same as president.

[Eddie]

This should get out in the local Black newspapers in their towns. Clinton must have bought and paid for these people.

[Cynthia, TX]

Rep. Michael Arcuri (NY-24)
Rep. Shelley Berkley (NV-01)
Rep. Marion Berry (AR-1)
Rep. Henry Cuellar (TX-28)
Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand (NY-20)
Rep. Gene Green (TX -29)
Rep. John Hall (NY-19)
Rep. Darlene Hooley (OR-5)
Rep. Kendrick B. Meek (FL-17)
Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (OH-11)
Rep. Silvestre Reyes (TX-16)
Rep. Mike Ross (AR-4)
Rep. Joe Sestak (PA-8)
Rep. Ike Skelton (MO-4)
Rep. John Tanner (TN-8)
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-20

The problem I have with this is the above people can sleep at night and feel good about the decision to take the nomination away from the person that has won it. How can your mind and heart reconcile this? Again, it's the politics of the old versus what the possibilities of the future can bring.

[Jody Gaddy]

This election process is a big revellation for me.
Some Black people in US Congress have shown their true true color - the enemies of the black race.

Some Black people in the media have also shown that they are against the advancement of the black man. This is the first time I have seen a Black woman in the media showing her true hate for the black race. Carol Simpson (she used to work to CNN) has shown that she is brainless animal. She was on CNN's Larry King.

She said that her 40 years of reporting tells her that anything can happen in politics. She says white people will go into the polling boots and will remember God Damn America and will not vote for Obama.

Reverse racism and racism are the only means left for Hillary. Hillary is doing a good job using many black men and women to try to destroy Obama. They will all fail because Hillary is not going anywhere.

[Aggie]

The interesting thing here is that these people want a backroom coup de e'tat in spite of the fact that Obama has won on all numerical indicators. They want them to just give it to Hillary, in spite of the numbers.

What is also interesting is Hillary's CBC supporters who are NOT on the list. Does this mean there is some softening, and that they will soon be coming over like Payne?

People who live in these CBC districts needs to apply some pressure.

[Vera Richardson]

I noticed that Shelia Jackson-Lee's name is not on the list of CBC members who are requesting that Hillary Clinton be "given" the Democratic nomination. I blog on a black website. On May 7, 2008, I posted the following blog entry:

My Open Letter to Congresswoman Shelia Jackson-Lee

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee on May 14, 2007, the Clinton Campaign announced your endorsement of Senator Clinton for President. Staff of her campaign named you National Campaign Co-Chair and Gulf States Regional Co-Chair.

In your endorsement of Senator Clinton you stated, ”I am pleased today to endorse Hillary Rodham Clinton for President. Senator Clinton has a great love for America and has a deep understanding of the issues that face our nation. I look forward to having a strategic role in the campaign and helping this dedicated public servant become the next President of the United States”

I truly admire you Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee and your determination to keep your promise to Hillary. Please counsel your dear friend and tell her to end her valiant quest for the Oval Office. We can’t wait for two more weeks and/or six more primary contests. The urgency is now. If Hillary refuses to end her candidacy please endorse Senator Obama today and help unite this party.

It’s time to embrace and endorse Senator Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee of our great party. It is his time to run for the Presidency. He has won more states, more popular votes, and more delegates.

I am very passionate in my support for Senator Obama. I believe in my heart that this is a divine time for Obama and this country. We all know that our God works in mysterious ways. God has given all of us free will. I hope and pray that the people in power will not let greed and the need for more power cause us to self-destruct as a democracy and as a nation.

As a nation we united after we were attacked by al-Qaeda led by Osama bin Laden on September 11, 2001. Therefore, we know that it is possible for this country to unite again.

Congresswoman Lee you know that the American people voted for change during the 2006 election. Unfortunately Congress has been unable to deliver that change.

Barack Obama is the change agent that we need to make positive changes for all Americans. Under the leadership of President Barack Obama this country will once again stand united as one nation under God.

Vera Richardson author of “A Case of Racial Discrimination and Retaliation Real or Imagined.”

[Maa]

To Simplycharming47, Roland Martin and all the African American voters who put these hankerchief heads in office. Please print this letter and hang it in a prominent place in your homes so that when it is time for them to be re-elected, show them how you can put a hispanic, asian or white person in office. They should be ashamed of themselves. How do they feel with Billary refering to the fact that she can rely on the white women and middle class whites to get her a win? Who are they chopped liver? More than that, when its time to vote for them please show them how you feel. The term, "I CAN SHOW YOU BETTER THAN I CAN TELL YOU" should play a big part in this.
I live in FL and when it is time to re-elect the brother who is supporting her, I will know his name by then and he will not get my vote. And I have a big mouth and will definetly encourage others to show him how it feels to have his own people turn against him.

Also have you noticed how many times they have referred to the fact that "should a disaster happen to Obama" she will be there to pick up the reigns. Am I the only one who thinks that they are hinting to some fool to go out and assisinate Obama? The Clintons will stop at nothing to get what they want. I do believe that if anything should happen to him, they will be behind it.

[Dustee]

***"Pennsylvania was not just a victory for Hillary Clinton. It was also a wake- up call for superdelegates, forcing us to ask ourselves two essential questions: 1) Which candidate can carry the magic 270 electoral votes to win in the fall? 2) Which candidate is most likely to help our fellow Democrats in down-ballot races? We believe the answer to both of these questions is Hillary Clinton."***

Well, I hope that North Carolina was a wake-up call for the SD's and Hillary Clinton too. And she barely won Indiana with less then 1 percentage point. Hillary needs to go home and take her medicine.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/NEWS05/80326049

[Cyn]

What post has Senator Clinton promised to her to keep saying the things that she is saying. Tubbs better check to make sure that Clinton has not offered the same post to someone else.

[BrendaF - Egghead aspiring, some college, earning < 50K African American]

What is even more disturbing is this letter came out AFTER Mrs. Clinton's troubling comments to the USA Today. Here are excerpts from an interesting column by Derrick Z. Jackson of The Boston Globe:

Clinton's Diminishing of Black Voters

IN HER long, sad self-diminution to being merely a white candidate for subsegments of white people, Hillary Clinton claimed to USA Today this week, "I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on." Clinton exploited an Associated Press poll to say how "Senator Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me . . . There's a pattern emerging here."

This was on top of Democratic strategist and Clinton supporter Paul Begala saying this week on CNN, "We cannot win with eggheads and African-Americans. OK. That's the Dukakis coalition, which carried 10 states and gave us four years of the first George Bush. President Clinton, you know, reached across and got a whole lot of Republicans and independents to come."

Yet here is Clinton dancing all over stereotypes. There is no way you can say in the same sentence, "hard-working Americans, white Americans," without diminishing black Americans as lazy.

Can you imagine the Jeremiah Wright-level furor if Obama turned Begala's words upside down and said: "We cannot win with the working class and white people. OK. That's the Reagan coalition?"

The truth is that Clinton is in denial about one of the key reasons for her slide from inevitability. She choked on the black vote. Conveniently forgotten in her reinvention in Pennsylvania as Rocky Balboa (who conveniently was a white working-class boxer trying to beat down a black champion), is that this white woman led Obama in an October 2007 CNN poll, 68 percent to 25 percent among black women and was nearly dead even with Obama among black men.

The problem for Clinton is that this is another case in which her math does not add up. Yes, every voter the Democrats can get their hands on is critical. But all this talk about Obama not connecting with salt of the earth white folks cynically forgets that white leaders in the Democratic Party have not solved this problem since Jimmy Carter's 48 percent of the white vote in 1976, yet want to make Obama the poster child for it despite his multi-racial crowds and record turnouts of voters. In the late throes of her insurgency, to borrow from Dick Cheney, Clinton is playing "divide and doubt" about Obama getting "only" 37 percent of the white vote in North Carolina and Pennsylvania and 40 percent in Indiana.

But in a year in which Republican enthusiasm is in doubt with a bad war and a bummer economy, it must be remembered that Bill Clinton won the presidency in 1992 in three-way races with a grand total of 39 percent of the white vote and 83 percent of the black vote and 61 percent of the Hispanic vote and besting the first President Bush and Ross Perot among all age groups.

Full column: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/05/10/clintons_diminishing_of_black_voters/

History and facts do not appear to be in use much at the Clinton campaign.

[R. Harvey]

These people on this list, need to turn to Hillary and tell her its over. They should not be willing to walk over the cliff with her. Since they are close to her, they have a responsbility to help her make the transition and not destroy the Clinton legacy, the party, our chances of winning the election, and ultimately destroy the country. They were elected to lead, now do you job.