Why would Hillary turn to Reid and Pelosi to ask Obama to step down?

[madfloridian]

I posted this question about Hillary, Reid, and Pelosi as sort of an afterthought in another post last night. I am getting no answers there.

This morning that question bothers me more. I see the same hands playing politics this time. The cult meme is hitting hard. That is a tactic used by insiders to keep outsiders out and in their place. We were called cultists in 2004 when we supported Howard Dean. DU was one of the originators when another candidate entered the race...and it quickly spread throughout the media. The DLC called us "fringe activists.

Cult? Fringe? Both are about the same. It was dead wrong then and worse now. I think this campaign between two mostly moderate Democrats, neither of them anymore so-called "liberal" than Howard Dean was, is going to divide....trouble is I am not sure which way.

SO, I will ask the question again. Why, if true, would Hillary go to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi to have them get Obama to step down? Pelosi is the convention chair. Can you say neutral? This leaves out the committee of the party that is responsible. Would she really go over the head of the DNC?

I have seen this only in the Telegraph.

Hillary campaign planning to enlist Dem leaders in her battle

The Clinton camp hopes to stop the Obama bandwagon by winning Texas and Ohio primaries on March 4, after which Mrs Clinton is planning to call on party grandees including Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Harry Reid, the party's leader in the Senate, to persuade Mr Obama to stand down.

Spin or not?

We know which side Pelosi is on. She has made herself clear that she thinks Florida is not to be blamed at all....that the delegates will be seated. Doesn't sound neutral to me at all.

Pelosi says it is not Florida's fault at all

..."Pelosi also said the imbroglio over the primary isn’t the fault of Florida Democrats, who are the ones being sanctioned.

“Let’s be clear about what happened in Florida. The Republican legislature changed the date of the election there and also put a tax issue on the ballot that the Democrats just could not walk away from,” she said. “It wasn’t Florida Democrats who said they wanted to push earlier.”

She has been proved to be wrong..Florida Dems voted for it 115 to 1.

Florida is ready to help in this scenario.

State Dems to appoint delegates, hoping Florida will be counted

Local Democratic party leaders, confident the results of the Jan. 29 primary will be counted and the state's 210 delegates will be seated at the national convention, are going ahead with plans to appoint Florida's delegates to select a presidential candidate.

The district caucuses to select delegates from across the state remain on schedule for March 1, they said Monday.

"We still have time in front of us," said Celeste Bush, the Democratic Party leader in St. Lucie County. "I do believe we will be seated without a bunch of hoo-ha."

That would be this Celeste Bush. She was one of the DEC chairs who did a large amount of emailing to stop donations to the DNC.

Again my question...why would Hillary appeal to Reid and Pelosi? Is the Telegraph spinning? That might lead to the question of who is really the final authority on this issue. Hmmm...mmm. Is it really coming down to that? Is everybody in charge of everything now? Reid and Pelosi in charge of deciding who to ask to step down?

[Yael]

1. I'm surprised she has't enlisted the help of the kitchen sink

[EFerrari]

2. I'd like to know the answer to your question. n/t

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

11. Answer: They won't.

Publicly, at least.

The delegate leader, whichever one, will be the nominee, imo.

[EFerrari]

14. I hope you're right. n/t

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

15. Oh, I meant to clarify...

The delegate count minus Sdelegates, though they probably won't turn the tide anyway.

[LakeSamish706]

3. Once again it just goes to show that Clinton will do anything, anything at all...

to win this election. Don't know about how others feel, but this really is just more of what we already have.

[monmouth]

4. I think Ms. Hillary is due for a rude awakening. He's going to sweep

the races today. She should be thinking of her own concession speech. I'm really starting to get very sick of the "Clinton Machine." Their oil is running low and they're starting to make very unpleasant noise....

[Captain Hilts]

13. They know that and have spent very little money here. nt

[TexasObserver]

5. Why? Because Hillary is literally delusional about her candidacy, and thinks party elders want her

She's wrong. Most of the support she has gotten from Democratic congress people is based upon the supposition that she was going to win the nomination. Now we know that is not going to happen unless all the superdelegates ignore the public will and try to throw the match to Hillary.

The truth is that many, many senior Democrats can't wait to see the end of the Hillary Clinton campaign, and are cringing at the very thought of living through another election cycle of the Bill and Hill Show.

[formernaderite]

17. i hope you're right but

insider politics may break in her favor.

[TexasObserver]

22. If you want to be the majority party in congress, who do you want at the top of the ticket?

NOT HILLARY is the correct answer.

[monmouth]

6. I think Ms. Hillary is due for a rude awakening. He's going to sweep

the races today. She should be thinking of her own concession speech. I'm really starting to get very sick of the "Clinton Machine." Their oil is running low and they're starting to make very unpleasant noise....

[Submariner]

7. Reid and Pelosi can't handle a mental-midget knuckle-head like Bush

so there is no way they can persuade Obama to hand off the nomination to republican-lite Hillary.

[democrattotheend]

8. A lot of Pelosi's closest allies in the House have endorsed Obama

George Miller, Anna Eshoo, Zoe Logfren, and Rosa DeLauro. Doesn't necessarily mean anything, but some people thought Miller's endorsement was a hint on where Pelosi stood.

[madfloridian]

26. My point is how they area all disregarding the DNC's role in the party.

They are effectively shutting it out of the process. She openly said Florida was not at fault, when obviously they were completely at fault. Glad to hear that, though, about her colleagues.

[stillrockin]

9. Because they're all in bed together. Corrupt corporate politicians.

[Captain Hilts]

10. She wouldn't. Why speculate? nt

[AtomicKitten]

12. There is chatter erupting in the blogosphere that is a dire prediction.

http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2008/02/12/hillary-clinton-to-steal-election/

K&R

[madfloridian]

16. Josh Marshall and Ezra Klein from your link....

Josh Marshall agrees in a post titled No Way:

"The Clinton camp really needs to be shut down on this new gambit of theirs to muscle the party and other candidates into seating the Michigan and Florida delegate slates."


And Ezra Klein, at the American Prospect, worries that Clinton's tactics will wreak havoc on the party:

"This is the sort of decision that has the potential to tear the party apart... ...It's as hard as hardball gets, and the end could be unimaginably acrimonious"

[AtomicKitten]

18. "unimaginable acrimony"

We saw it in 2000. The Clintons better think long and hard about traveling down that path.

[madfloridian]

19. Amen..

.

[cmkramer]

20. Question

Why do you believe the nonsense you read in the British press?

[madfloridian]

23. I asked for clarification.

Can you clarify?

[cmkramer]

24. IMHO

You seem to be implying that the Telegraph story is factual.

I'm pretty sure that if going to party leaders in Congress to persuade them to tell your opponent (s)he needs to get out of the race now worked, it would have happened long before.

[madfloridian]

25. Then let me clarify again....I am asking.

.

[newmajority]

21. Spineless Reid and Jellyfish Pelosi are out of their (fail to be) leadership positions

When the Obamandate sweeps Washington DC, and brings the "coattails" of a super majority with him. These useless Bush appeasing Vichy "democrats" will be replaced with new leadership who will actually DO something.