Obama's Super Delegates & Money Machine

Remember after Super Tuesday when media outlets, DNC leaders, the Obama campaign, Obama supporters, and blogs such as The Huffington Post & DailyKos were shouting at the top of their lungs that Super Delegates should carry out the will of the people. Throughout the blogosphere there were lists of super delegates being circulating; all urging Obama supporters to contact them and let them know they were watching. What Happened??

We no longer hear those raised voices; perhaps because they are singing a different tune. Now we hear those voices pressuring undecided Supers to back Obama to avoid further damage to the “PARTY”. CNN and ObaMSNBC certainly don’t ask the question as to whether these Supers are following the will of the voter.

Over the past month, I’ve spent extensive time exploring the ridiculous nature of the Democratic Primary process. In The New American Disenfranchisement I focused little on the Super Delegate Aspect of the race. I personally believe that most rational people realize the ridiculousness of less than 800 brokers having the ability to determine a race in which 30 Million votes have been cast.

This nominating process should be a wake up call to Democrats to urge their party leaders to change their primary system; a system designed to allow the party, not the voters to determine the nomination. Beyond the 3 million voters that have been disenfranchised in Florida & Michigan, demand change in states such as Texas where 1/3 of the delegates were awarded in a caucus system in which only 42,000 people participated. The result was that Obama received more delegates from Texas than Clinton, essentially disenfranchising the 2.9 Million voters who cast ballots in the primary. Demand change in states that have huge imbalances in how they award delegates. For Instance:

Pennsylvania: Congressional District 2 = 9 delegates vs. CD 9 = 3 delegates
Ohio: CD 11 = 8 Delegates vs. CD 6 = 5 Delegates
Illinois: CD 1 = 8 Delegates vs. CD 18 = 4 Delegates
Missouri: CD1 = 7 Delegates vs. CD 8 = 4 Delegates
And the list goes on…

But now onto the new issue…

Who are the Super delegates? Elected Congressmen & Congresswomen, Governors, State Party Officials, Former High Ranking Party Officials, and State-level congressional leaders.

Despite all of the early talk about these leaders voting with the people, it is surprising how many of them have not. For Instance Below is the list of House Members, Senators, and Governors not voting along the lines of their constituents, along with any recorded contributions from Clinton or Obama. (Isn’t their obligation first and foremost to their constituents?)

Elected Officials Voting for Clinton Who’s Constituents Voted for Obama
Michael Thompson – California (Obama won by 500 votes)
Doris Matsui – Cal.
Lynn Woolsey – Cal.
Diane Watson – Cal .
Maxine Walters – Cal.
Laura Richardson – Cal.
Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger – Maryland
Gov. Martin O’Malley – Maryland

Elected Officials Voting for Obama Who's constituents voted for Clinton
Robert Cramer – Alabama
Gov. Janet Napalitano – Arizona
George Miller – California
Gerald McNerney – California - Obama Donation $5,000
Fortney Pete Stark – California
Zoe Lofgren – Cal.
Howard Berman – Cal.
Adam Schiff – Cal.
Henry Waxman – Cal
Linda Sanchez – Cal
Joe Donnely – Indiana - Obama $7,500 Donation
Baron Hill – Indiana – Obama $12,500 Donation
Ben Chandler – Kentucky – wow Obama drew less than 10%
Bill Delahunt – Massachussetts
Gov. Deval Patrick Mass.
Sen. Ted Kennedy Mass. - $10,000 from both candidates
Sen. John Kerry – Mass.
Gov. Bill Richardson – New Mexico
Carol Shea-Porter – New Hampshire
Gov. Brad Henry – Oklahoma
Patrick Murphy – PA Donations from Clinton $2500 Obama $18,826
Sen. Bob Casey – PA
Patrick Kennedy – RI
Charlie Gonzalez - Texas
Eddie Johnson - Texas
Rick Boucher – Virginia
Nick Rahal – WV
Sen. Robert Byrd –WV $10,000 from both candidates
Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV – WV - Obama $5000 Donation

Here’s some interesting one’s that are undeclared whose constituents voted for Clinton (please note the donations):
Sam Farr – Cal.
Jim Costa – Cal. - Obama Donation $5,000
Bob Filner – Cal
Joe Courtney – Connecticut - Obama $5,000 Donation
Gov. Steve Beshear – Kentucky
Rep. John Oliver – Massachussetts
Rep. Niki Tsongas – Mass. – Obama $5,000 donation
John Tierney – Mass.
Ed Markey – Mass
Travis Childers – Mississippi
Sen. Frank Lautenberg – New Jersey - Obama $9,000
Gov. John Lynch – New Hampshire
Charlie Wilson – Ohio – Obama $7,000
Marci Kaptur – Ohio
Dennis Kucinich – Ohio
Zack Space – Ohio - Obama $7500
Sen. Sherrod Brown – Ohio $10,000 from both
Dan Boren – Oklahoma
Jason Altmire – PA - Obama $10,000
Tim Holden – PA
Gabriel Gifford – Arizona Obama Donation $9,000
Michael Honda – California
Sen. Jack Reed – RI – Obama $5,000
Lincoln Davis – Tennessee
Bart Gordon – Tennessee
Gov. Phil Bredesen – Tenn.
Nick Lampsen – Texas - Obama $5,000
Alan Mollohan – WV
Gov. Joe Manchin – WV

It’s important to note the donations above include disclosed donations by either Clinton or Obama. If you’re a Democrat I would be outraged by the individuals in the above lists, especially Clinton Supporters. Just the floppers above represent a net of 20 Supers for Clinton OR a 40 delegate swing. Furthermore, have Supers become so beholden to the DNC that they no longer remember that their loyalty is to their constituent first; or is it just about money. If I were on the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee I would start dumping huge amounts of money into the districts above and start running the commercials.

But the Super delegate issue goes well beyond just the Federally Elected Officials. Many of the DNC member super delegates are high ranking elected State Office holders. We are currently working on that list (visiting our advertisers would certainly provide us more time to compile the list). Additionally, there is also a large number of Supers that are high ranking state Democratic Officials like Arizona’s Yuma County chair Charlene Fernandez whose county vote over 60% for Clinton; and California’s State Vice-Chairperson Alexandra Gallardo-Rooker.

There’s no doubt that the Obama money machine is in full force. We know for a fact that through the end of February, Obama had contributed more than $710,000 to the campaigns of Federally Elected Supers, while the Clinton campaign contributed $236,000. But this information is scarce as PAC’s tied to the Obama campaign have not updated their disclosures to the FEC since March. Just think about how much money has flowed from Obama’s coffers, and the coffer’s of his primary supporters and 527’s like Move On, since March.

Obama’s campaign has suffered defeat after defeat since the end of February, he has consistently lost support among the very groups that make up the backbone of the electorate, yet Supers continue to flock to him.

I’ll leave you today with just a couple thoughts:
The RNC issued a press release yesterday pointing out Obama’s Hypocrisy on Lobbyists, check it out: http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20080521/pl_usnw/rnc__obama_s_lobbyist_hypocrisy

For the large number of environmental voters of Oregon who propelled the “Messiah” to his win in your state: consider the fact that since launching his federal –level political career Exelon Corp. (an nuclear energy subsidiary of ComEd) has been a top contributor to Barrack Obama, including over $229,000 in this campaign.

J Brown
May 22, 2008
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