From the McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Clinton aides threatened lawsuit over Texas caucuses, officials say
By Jay Root McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Thursday, February 28, 2008
AUSTIN — The Texas Democratic Party warned Thursday that election night caucuses scheduled for next Tuesday could be delayed or disrupted after aides to Hillary Clinton threatened to sue over the party's complicated delegate selection process.
In a letter sent out late Thursday to both the Clinton and Barack Obama campaigns, Texas Democratic Party lawyer Chad Dunn warned a lawsuit could ruin the Democrats' effort to re-energize voters just as they are turning out in record numbers.
Spokesmen for both campaigns said there were no plans to sue ahead of the March 4 election.
"It has been brought to my attention that one or both of your campaigns may already be planning or intending to pursue litigation against the Texas Democratic Party,'' Dunn wrote in the letter, obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "Such action could prove to be a tragedy for a reinvigorated Democratic process.''
Democratic sources said both campaigns have made it clear that they might consider legal options over the complicated delegate selection process, which includes both a popular vote and evening caucuses. But the sources made it clear that the Clinton campaign in particular had warned of an impending lawsuit.
"Both campaigns have made it clear that they would go there if they had to, but I think the imminent threat is coming from one campaign,'' said one top Democratic official, referring to the Clinton campaign. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity.
Another Democratic official who was privvy to the discussions confirmed that Clinton representatives made veiled threats in a telephone call this week.
"Officials from Sen. Clinton's campaign at several times throughout the call raised the specter of 'challenging the process,' the official said. "The call consisted of representatives from both campaigns and the Democratic Party.''
The source, who asked not to identified by name because he did not have authorization to speak about the matter, said Clinton 's political director, Guy Cecil, had forcefully raised the possibility of a courtroom battle.
Rest of article HERE.
It's not Obama's fault that Clinton didn't have a post-February 5th plan. And, it's not like the Texas rules were invented in the dead of night on February 5th. They've been there all along. This changing the rules in the middle of the game garbage has got to go.
UPDATE: Copy of letter from Texas Democratic Party is HERE.
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3 comments:
I see you are a night owl too.
I do some of my best blogging in the wee hours.
And yes... I was doing my routine crawling of the news and political blogs and saw this at Kos... My head almost exploded.
Earlier today her campaign chairman also vowed that they are going all the way to the Convention...no matter what happens on March 4th. How much of that is just a bluff... I don't know. But there is something sinister about even mentioning this, because of the damage that it can cause (namely pissing off voters who are already disgruntled and killing voter enthusiasm on the Democratic side).
This lady seems more and more mentally and emotionally unstable with each passing day. We are watching someone who appears to be losing her mind.
Gangster style intimidation of the State Democratic Party is not going to improve her image with Texas voters or with the American public. In fact, she only plays into the negative images that people have of her when she does this nonsense.
This is going to be a situation where all of the Democratic big wigs may have to endorse Obama... I would like to see that happen on March 4th or 5th, if he wins Texas and Vermont...or if he comes out with more delegates. March 4th will likely end in a split decision of some kind.
It looks like Billary will win Ohio and Rhode Island. (maybe).
Another surprising development has been new polling (finally) out of Pennsylvania. Penn was supposed to be her plan C. Penn. was going solid for Hillary..20+ point lead just a few weeks ago. But her numbers in Pennsylvania are slipping fast... He has closed the gap big time there. And he has about 7 weeks to close the gap even more. Penn will likely be swayed by what happens on March 4th...and then again in Mississippi.
The man is even polling well in Hoosier Nation.... Indiana. I wrote off Indiana a few weeks ago as a sure Hillary win. If he wins in the Hoosier State... well... that would pretty much say it all. Part of that may have something to do with the proximity of Chicago... but that can't explain all of it. Something much bigger is going on.
I'm waiting to see if that stupid debate from Tuesday hurt him... the polls over the next few days will answer that quesion.
They tried their damndest to swiftboat him in that debate... to paint him as "too black"... "a muslim"... a "terrorist".... etc etc etc. It's really getting ridiculous. There should really be a strong election commission in this country that could make it against the rules to engage in the kind of stunts that Hillary and the Media are engaging in... I guess that goes for the Republicans also.
Another surprising development has been new polling (finally) out of Pennsylvania. Penn was supposed to be her plan C. Penn. was going solid for Hillary..20+ point lead just a few weeks ago. But her numbers in Pennsylvania are slipping fast... He has closed the gap big time there. And he has about 7 weeks to close the gap even more. Penn will likely be swayed by what happens on March 4th...and then again in Mississippi.
The PA one made me smile. He hasn't even begun to campaign there, and he's only down by 6 - I like those odds.
The man is even polling well in Hoosier Nation.... Indiana. I wrote off Indiana a few weeks ago as a sure Hillary win. If he wins in the Hoosier State... well... that would pretty much say it all. Part of that may have something to do with the proximity of Chicago... but that can't explain all of it. Something much bigger is going on.
I was shocked as hell by that Indiana poll. I was like WTF?
I mean, stunned by that poll.
It's just unbelievable. It's White Entitlement, AI. She has believed that she was ENTITLED to the nomination, and here comes this Uppity Negro who has just swept the nation, and they are stunned.
Once this is complete, I'm going to take a long look at Obama's campaign and how it was, in a word, revolutionary.
"It's not Obama's fault that Clinton didn't have a post-February 5th plan. And, it's not like the Texas rules were invented in the dead of night on February 5th. They've been there all along. This changing the rules in the middle of the game garbage has got to go."
Hear, hear.
I definitely think it's time for the Dems to change some of their insipid delegate rules (like allowing Iowa and N.H. to dictate the pace of an election while penalizing larger states like Florida and my home state of Michigan for breaking ranks with said nonsense). But rule changing can't happen midstream; and especially not when you're team is losing. *Shakes my head @ the Hill camp*
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