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Hillary Donors Warn Pelosi: Endorse or We'll Pull Our Money
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I tried to lay off blogging about the swill coming out of the operation run by Mark Penn and his boss, the Senator from New York, but I simply can't -- the desperation has turned into such scorched-earth campaigning that it's hard to digest. One can only believe that winning at any cost is the mantra going on in that shop.
Take this latest flap -- wealthy donors sending a letter to Nancy Pelosi that's no less than a street-thug mobster bat to the knees, an extortion attempt to silence the Speaker after she stated her opinion about the role of superdelegates: "If the votes of the superdelegates overturn what's happened in the elections, it would be harmful to the Democratic party."
Deep pocket, influential Hillary supporters who are big fundraisers in the party sent out the missive (obtained by TPM Election Central).
From the letter:
We respect those voters and believe that they, like the voters in the states that have already participated, have a right to be heard. None of us should make declarative statements that diminish the importance of their voices and their votes. We are writing to say we believe your remarks on ABC News This Week on March 16th did just that.
...We have been strong supporters of the DCCC. We therefore urge you to clarify your position on super-delegates and reflect in your comments a more open view to the optional independent actions of each of the delegates at the National Convention in August. We appreciate your activities in support of the Democratic Party and your leadership role in the Party and hope you will be responsive to some of your major enthusiastic supporters.You can read the full statement here. That sentence I highlighted is there for a reason -- it's poli-speak for "do my bidding or else." Signing the letter -- Marc Aronchick, Clarence Avant, Susie Tompkins Buell, Sim Farar, Robert L. Johnson, Chris Korge, Marc and Cathy Lasry, Hassan Nemazee, Alan and Susan Patricof, JB Pritzker, Amy Rao, Lynn de Rothschild, Haim Saban, Bernard Schwartz, Stanley S. Shuman, Jay Snyder, Maureen White and Steven Rattner.
At a rally here for Mrs. Clinton at Columbia College, Mr. Johnson was defending recent comments that Mrs. Clinton made regarding Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She did not mean to take any credit away from him, Mr. Johnson said, when she said that it took President Johnson to sign the civil rights legislation he fought for.
"And to me, as an African-American, I am frankly insulted that the Obama campaign would imply that we are so stupid that we would think Hillary and Bill Clinton, who have been deeply and emotionally involved in black issues since Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood -°© and I won't say what he was doing, but he said it in the book -°© when they have been involved."Unfortunately his mop-up job sucked big time.
My comments today were referring to Barack Obama's time spent as a community organizer, and nothing else. Any other suggestion is simply irresponsible and incorrect.'Nuff said. What's going on here is her big bucks supporters, want her to win regardless of the long-term effect on the party -- that not only superdelegates, but pledged delegates should be encouraged to jump ship to their candidate, and Pelosi was raining on their parade by daring to give her opinion.
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