The numbers are close, but a Gallup poll found democrats think superdelegates should support the delegate leader, over the person they think would be the better president, 50% to 45% (http://www.gallup.com/poll/104899/Democr ats-Divided-Over-How-Superdelegates-Shou ld-Vote.aspx)
For an analysis of what this means for the candidates, make the jump.
Joyce Brayboy, a superdelegate, has endorsed Barack Obama.
http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_t he_dome/brayboy_endorses_obama
Everett Sanders of Mississippi has also joined the forces of light.
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/arch ives/2008/03/two_more_superdelegates_for _ob.php
Meanwhile, Clinton looks likely to lose one delegate, Eilot Spitzer, who is expected to resign as governor of New York. Very bad news, as a positive force in government is being lost to a foolish lapse in judgement. It's unknown who his likely replacement, Lt. Gov. David Paterson, supports for the nomination.
http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews /idUSN1047698120080310
Update [2008-3-10 16:23:23 by EMTP democrat]: There's an analysis of how the Spitzer resignation affects the SDs here: http://demconwatch.blogspot.com/. The gist: Should Spitzer resign he would lose his superdelegate status. Spitzer is in Clinton's corner on our endorsement list. He would be replaced by Lt. Governor David Paterson who is already a superdelegate and Clinton endorser. This may bring the total number of superdelegates back to 794 depending on how this plays out. Paterson is currently an at-large member on the DNC roster of superdelegates. If he becomes Governor and gives up his DNC position the DNC will fill the vacancy with someone else and the number will continue to be 795. If he holds his position with the DNC the number of superdelegates will go down to 794.As amazing as it sounds, it appears the Clinton campaign fraudulently charged thousands of dollars to an unwitting and unwilling donor, who had to file a police report before the campaign refunded most but not all of her money (they continue to refuse to compensate her for the overdrafts that resulted.)
Kathy Callahan's story is supported by campaign finance reporting that shows the campaign charging $11,300 to her credit card. See the data here: http://209.85.135.104/search?q=cache:bT8 6RAoZmzwJ:www.campaignmoney.com/politica l/contributions/kathy-callahan.asp%3Fcyc le%3D08+%22kathy+callahan%22+hillary& ;hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
Another source: http://opensecrets.org/indivs/search_hp. asp?txtName=callahan%2C+Kathy&NumOfT hou=0&txt2008=Y&submit=Go%21
Callahan describes her experience (from bluejersey): I voluntarily left the Hillary Finance Committee after I discovered more than $3, 000 in unauthorized charges from HRC campaign on my own VISA card! And that set off a wave of overdrafts and $400 in bank charges that I was stuck with. And thE compliance officer Allison Wright at Hillary VA headquarters refused to reimburse me for the charges. And the senior finance reps who I notified about more than $3, 000 in Unauthorized Visa Charges: never once aplogized or empathized with my plight...Much less send me a "sorry for all the trouble" note and a check!
Unbelievably, it took me more than a month of pleading and begging VIA email to get the money back. I was told verbatim:
"Kathy Callahan, you are going to be with us all the way to the White House...So let's leave the money where it is and we'll save time on inevitable future donations and transactions!"
I went into a state of abject shock, disbelief and later anger! Heartbroken. I didn't want to report this entirely correctable problem to anyone outside the Hillary campaign! One long month later, and at the behest of a bank executive who said to me a few days before Christmas Eve,
"You are way way way over the legal donor limit, Kathy! What are they thinking? Are they thinking at all?"
So I followed his direction and filed a police report in Ridgefield. I then notified Allison Wright and Cc'ed senior finance reps (who I met many times) via email again -about the police report and said,
"Enough is Enough, already! Christmas is coming!"
It was then and only then and within a matter of seconds that I got a cell phone call and email from Allison Wright imploring me, "Kathy, please don't do anything, formally! I will send you whatever you want back, immediately!" I told her,
"You can send all of my money back!" Finally, $5, 300 large came back to me but not $400 in overdraft charges. And to think that the legal limit during the primary is $2, 300 and I had already generously and enthusiastically donated $2, 000 to Hillary legitimately!
I had no other choice but to walk away! And I am so glad that I did. Every cloud has a green, gold and silver lining. And in my case it's Barack Obama.
-Kathy Callahan, MSW, NJ LCSW, MASS LICSW
Clearly, this is something to be investigated. No conclusions can be drawn as yet. The police report should be quite interesting. What I am most interested in is this: have any Clinton donors had similar experiences of unauthorized charges or the Clinton campaign taking donations over the legal limit? Is this an aberration or the first example of a pattern of behavior?
Questions, questions, questions.
In the NYT's devastating account of the last days of the Clinton campaign, a grim picture emerges of disorganization, waste, a partisan echo chamber, and childish screaming matches between supporters -- a picture familiar to anyone who has watched the conduct of her supporters on MyDD.
Broken and defeated, some turn to the comforts of booze:
"Morale is low. After 13 months of dawn-to-dark seven-day weeks, the staff is exhausted. Some have taken to going home early -- 9 p.m. -- turning off their BlackBerrys, and polishing off bottles of wine, several senior staff members said."
Others vent their feelings through verbal abuse:
"Some advisers have been heard yelling at close friends and colleagues. In a much-reported incident, Mr. Penn and the campaign advertising chief, Mandy Grunwald, had a screaming match over strategy recently that prompted another senior aide, Guy Cecil, to leave the room. "I have work to do -- you're acting like kids," Mr. Cecil said, according to three people in the room."
Words to live by.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/us/pol itics/24mood.html?_r=1&ref=politics& amp;oref=slogin
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