Delegate issue puts Pelosi in hot seat

Top fundraisers are concerned the party leadership is declaring the race over prematurely.

Washington Post

WASHINGTON — Top fundraisers for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign on Wednesday upbraided House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for suggesting that Democratic superdelegates should back the candidate with the most pledged delegates and urged her to respect the right of those delegates to back whomever they choose at the end of the primary season.

The criticism represented the latest effort by Clinton’s campaign and its allies to beat back talk that Sen. Barack Obama has amassed enough of a lead in pledged delegates that she will be unable to overtake him and arguments that a continuation of the conflict between the two candidates ultimately will hurt the party and help Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee.

“You suggested [in a recent television interview] superdelegates 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,” the Clinton backers wrote. “This is an untenable position that runs counter to the party’s intent in establishing super-delegates in 1984.”

Arguing that neither Obama nor Clinton will have amassed the necessary 2,024 delegates needed to win the nomination by time the primary season ends in June, the fundraisers urged Pelosi “to clarify your position on superdelegates 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.”

Clinton, in an interview with Time magazine published Wednesday, accused the Obama campaign of trying “to shut this race down” and went beyond what her fundraisers told Pelosi by noting that even pledged delegates are not legally bound to support the candidate to whom they are pledged. “We talk a lot about so-called pledged delegates, but every delegate is expected to exercise independent judgment,” she said.

Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said that, despite the letter, the speaker’s position has not changed. She has not endorsed either candidate.

Clinton spokesman Phil Singer, in an e-mail, said that the campaign was given advanced notice of the letter and that it speaks for itself. Obama spokesman Bill Burton, in a statement, called the letter “inappropriate” and urged the Clinton campaign to “reject the insinuation contained in it.” Burton later said in an e-mail that was a reference to what he saw as an implied threat by the group to withhold funds from Democratic Party campaign committees.

Robert Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television and one of the organizers of the letter to Pelosi, said in an interview that there would be “no effect” on contributions to the party among the signers of the letter. “This is just fair play,” he said.

Johnson added that he and the others want to make certain the nomination battle is not declared over prematurely. “It’s not the role of the leadership to say ‘Vote only the way the pledged delegates go,’ ” he said.

But the letter made clear that the fundraisers believe their voice should carry real weight with the speaker. Noting their past financial support, they wrote, “We ... hope you will be responsive to some of your major enthusiastic supporters.”

The contributors’ letter came at a time when both Clinton and Obama are focused on raising as much money as they can before the end of the month.

Clinton, accompanied by daughter Chelsea Clinton, was in Washington for a pair of fund-raising events for her campaign, including one with a minimum contribution of $1,000. Obama, who has severely cut back on fund-raising events with large donors in the past few months, will break that pattern today with four events in New York City. The first of those — at the Madison Avenue offices of Credit Suisse, a financial services giant — will include a “campaign briefing,” according to the invitation. Guests will be charged a minimum of $1,000 to attend.

Clinton raised $35 million last month, all but $5 million online, but her campaign supporters concede she still relies on a more traditional model of fundraising.