Big Donors to Pelosi: Stay Out of Primary Battle

Posted on March 26, 2008

Top Democratic donors who support Hillary Clinton have written a letter to Nancy Pelosi taking her to task for her recent, ill-advised comments about superdelegates not "overturning the will of the voters." Speaker Pelosi should stay neutral and above the fray before there is a nominee, but she's clearly favoring Obama -- which is pretty ironic considering that it was Hillary Clinton who won Pelosi's home state of California. Here's an excerpt from the letter:

Several states and millions of Democratic voters have not yet had a chance to cast their votes.
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.
During your appearance, you suggested super-delegates have an obligation to support the candidate who leads in the pledged delegate count as of June 3rd, whether that lead be by 500 delegates or 2. This is an untenable position that runs counter to the party's intent in establishing super-delegates in 1984 as well as your own comments recorded in The Hill ten days earlier:
"I believe super-delegates have to use their own judgment and there will be many equities that they have to weigh when they make the decision. Their own belief and who they think will be the best president, who they think can win, how their own region voted, and their own responsibility."

The entire reason for the existence of the superdelegates is to pick a nominee if no one reaches the magic number that guarantees the nomination. Superdelegates can vote for whoever they want, exercising their independent judgment. If superdelegates have to follow their own state's voters, then Pelosi, Kerry, Kennedy and Richardson will all have to declare for Clinton.

The people who wrote this letter are really, really big donors who the Democratic party relies upon. All they are asking is that Pelosi keep her mouth shut, quit trying to short-circuit the process and let the primary season play itself out. Or else they might close their wallets in the fall.