Howard Dean Calls for Superdelegate Decision by July 1
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean (AP Photo)
Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean, hoping to avoid a divisive fight on the convention floor, weighed in on the Clinton-Obama battle Friday by calling on all party superdelegates to declare whom they support by July 1.
The 800 or so Democratic superdelegates will almost certainly decide the presidential candidate, because it’s unlikely either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton will gain enough pledged delegates in the remaining primary contests to win the 2,025 delegates needed to clinch the nomination outright.
Dean, appearing on CBS’ “Early Show” Friday morning, was asked about the prospects of a vote among the superdelegates before the convention, an idea floated as a way to settle the still undecided Democratic race.
“Well, I think the superdelegates have already been weighing in. I think there’s 800 of them and 450 of them have already said who they’re for,” Dean said. “I’d like the other 350 to say who they’re on between now and the first of July so we don’t have to take this into the convention.”
Dean was not asked to elaborate on his remarks during the interview.
In a separate interview with The Associated Press, Dean warned against “demoralizing” Democrats with a drawn-out fistfight between Clinton and Obama.
“You do not want to demoralize the base of the Democratic Party by having the Democrats attack each other. … Let the media and the Republicans and the talking heads on cable television attack and carry on, fulminate at the mouth. The supporters should keep their mouths shut about this stuff on both sides because that is harmful to the potential victory of a Democrat,” Dean told the AP.
Dean’s comments follow an increasingly bitter and widening battle over the Democratic nomination. On Thursday, the deep-pocketed liberal organization MoveOn jumped into the fray, calling on its members to sign a petition rebuking a group of Clinton fund-raisers.
MoveOn’s action was prompted when the Clinton supporters sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, threatening to dial back their gift-giving if Pelosi maintains her position that superdelegates should follow the will of primary and caucus voters.
The Clinton campaign and its supporters — seeking to gain an edge in superdelegates — have argued that superdelegates are not bound by primary voting trends and were established under party rules to be independent.
Pelosi did not back down Thursday.
Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said Pelosi “believes it would do great harm to the Democratic Party if superdelegates are perceived to overturn the will of the voters. This has been her position throughout this primary season, regardless of who was ahead at any particular point in delegates or votes.
Democrats also are battling over how to handle the delegations from Michigan and Florida. The party stripped the two states of their delegates to the convention when they decided to hold their primaries before party rules allowed.
Mr. Dean is right about the candidates attacking each other, but Hillary started it and forced Obama to react, It just has got worse and worse because she and her advisors feel she needs to attack Obama in order to get the nomination. McCain did that with Romney and now Romney is sucking up so he can get the VP offer. The sad thing is these are the people who wind up running our country. God help us.
Hi; Hold on Hillary! Remember John Paul Jones, “I Have Just Begin To Fight”. This is what Democracies are all about. I do think that Mr. Dean and super delegates is a mistake but anyone who would disallow two major states to be cut off, is this how you all would rule the country?
Tammany Hall has re-organized!
Isn’t this against party rules? I seem to recall they could choose either candidate and make their decision at any time up to the date of the convention. Setting an artificial decision date in the middle of a campaign sounds just as bad as changing the rules on Florida and Michigan in the middle of the race. What if something really important pops up after July 1st and it causes people to change their minds? It’d be irresponsible to lock them from changing their minds before the convention.
I’m really getting tired of activist groups directing politicians in one way or another. Sure, all the phone calls, advertising, and commercials from Obama and Hillary are getting extremely annoying here in Pennsylvania, but I would like my voice to be heard and not people peeking into my wallet to see how much money I can hand over before they decide who they support or whether or not to listen to me. Someone needs to fix that. Hopefully this election someone will. It’s just about impossible to get local lawmakers to do things anymore since they’re always expecting “gifts” and contributions too.
This MAN dose not have a clue.
Buster
I thought we weren’t supposed to change the rules in the middle of the game.
I say let the candidates all have at it. The more voters know about these candidates, the better off this country will be.
Too late!
Too late in making this request AND the deadline is too late.
You could have done this right after Super Tuesday…at least after all the votes were finally counted. Why can’t the deadline be sooner…like May 1?
I don’t understand the reasoning here.
All of you folks are a bunch of idiots. You must think the American people can’t decide on our own destiny. As far as I am concerned ,we should get ride of all you and start over. Eight years of clinton will last me a life time. I will be forced to look somw where to place my vote.
See how goofed up this process is, and they think they can do better with the WHOLE COUNTRY? Geeezzzzzzzz