Posted on 05/02/2008 11:47:36 AM PDT by The_Republican
Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) sharp denunciation of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright this week has superdelegates moving in his direction.
While the reverend’s controversial remarks and his widely panned appearance at the National Press Club caused many pundits to wonder if superdelegates would be frozen into indecision, those who moved into Obama’s column this week cited the Illinois senator’s reaction as one of their reasons for backing him.
Former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Joe Andrew was perhaps the biggest jewel of the week for Obama. Until Thursday, Andrew had supported Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.). He was appointed DNC chairman in the 1990s by her husband.
Andrew cited a number of reasons for his defection. Chief among them was his concern that the protracted nomination battle was hurting the party and helping presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).
But Andrew said Obama’s “principled stand” on Wright was “shocking.”
While Andrew’s crossover was the big story Thursday, Obama also picked up endorsements this week from Reps. Lois Capps (D-Calif.), Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) and Baron Hill (D), who is also a native of Indiana, the next battleground state on the calendar.
Hill, who is from a conservative district, included Obama’s response to Wright in his endorsement statement even as Republicans criticized his decision.
“I am pleased that Sen. Obama clearly and unequivocally denounced Rev. Wright’s remarks,” Hill said. “Hoosiers don’t feel that way about our country, I don’t feel that way about our country and Sen. Obama made it abundantly clear that he doesn’t feel that way either.”
Clinton maintains a narrow lead over Obama 98-97 in congressional endorsements, despite published reports to the contrary. Obama, however,leads in Senate backers, 14-13, following Sen. Jeff Bingaman's (N.M.) endorsement earlier this week.
The Obama campaign said Thursday that Wright’s public comments over the past week haven’t deterred new superdelegates from backing the Illinois senator.
“After 14 months, the campaign has been tested, and it’s clear we’re still forging ahead and the campaign is still on track,” Tommy Vietor, an Obama spokesman, said. “Our eye is still on the ball.”
With both candidates not yet at the delegate count needed for the nomination, the focus of the race has turned to the uncommitted superdelegates or those committed to one candidate who might defect.
Obama has made strides to catch up to Clinton in the superdelegate count, but the New York senator’s campaign made a point Thursday of showing her lead continues to grow.
In an effort to presumably blunt the attention Andrew was getting, the Clinton campaign unveiled five new superdelegates on board Thursday — four from New York and one from Connecticut.
The Clinton campaign also circulated a memo from senior adviser Harold Ickes that was addressed to the superdelegates and included polling data suggesting Clinton is more electable than Obama in November.
Andrew making all kinds of news
Superdelegate and former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Joe Andrew made a lot of news Thursday when he announced that he was switching his support from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).
And he didn’t stop there.
Andrew, an Indiana native who was appointed to the DNC by former President Bill Clinton, immediately thrust himself into one of Washington’s favorite parlor games: speculating as to who will be the nominee’s running mate.
The longtime friend to Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), who has been a staunch supporter of Clinton especially in the lead-up to Tuesday’s Hoosier State primary, added to the controversy by suggesting an Obama-Bayh ticket.
“I believe that Evan Bayh would be a great president, and therefore a great vice president,” Andrew wrote in his open letter to Hoosiers. “I will continue to argue that he would be a great choice to be on the ticket with Barack Obama.”
Superdelegates unite for new foreign policy
A group of 16 superdelegates, both committed and uncommitted, announced an effort Thursday to push the Democratic Party to adopt a platform that would drastically alter President Bush’s foreign policy.
The superdelegates, led by Win Without War’s national director, former Rep. Tom Andrews (D-Maine), called for the eventual Democratic nominee to embrace a platform that would end the Iraq war, avoid war with Iran and close the Guantánamo Bay detention facility.
To that end, the group announced it would circulate a petition among superdelegates seeking to persuade the eventual nominee to adopt a platform containing those facets.
Andrews and several members of Congress — some supporting Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), some supporting Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and some uncommitted — held a conference call with reporters Thursday morning where they said they are unified on adopting a new foreign policy.
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), a member of the group and an Obama supporter, said the petition was necessary to “hold the nominee accountable.”
“We know that [Arizona Republican Sen.] John McCain will continue to bring us more of the same, and that’s war without end and war at any cost,” Lee said.
Meanwhile most Americans saw through the political stunt.
Thank you ...
If they weren’t gullible, they wouldn’t be Democrats.
I’ll say this for Obama’s team, they’re better than Hillary at planting “trending my way stories” in the media.
I’m glad to hear that Joe Andrew is a Big Jewel. I confess I never heard of him before.
If they weren’t gullible, they wouldn’t be Democrats.Yup.
And by “principled stand,” we mean, “tardy and sullen response made unavoidable due to plummeting poll numbers.”
20 year relationships with racists, hate-mongers and terrorists and the messiah Hussein is still gaining.
My advice, convert your assests to gold by November.
“Mrs. Obama said that America is tired of the Rev. Wright story.”
Like Obama, I won’t be tired of Rev. Wright for another 21 years and 11 months
This Super Delegates must be super naive — to have made a decision based on the too late, too little, too unbelievable “statement” by Obama.
“Obama’s Wright response wins him superdelegates”
BS. He was getting them anyway.
this had nothing to do with how great Obama dealt with the Rev. Wright issue it had to do with those delegates being scared to death Hillary is making a big comeback
Well, Obama’s team at least deserves credit from avoiding a flight of their own Super Delegates.
You would think the Wright Debacle would cause an stampede in the direction of Hillary. Instead, ALL the defections that I have heard about have ALL been from Hillary to Obama.
Right now, there is a golden opportunity for all the me-first Opportunists in Obama’s camp to DEFECT and earn the FAME they could have never imagined otherwise. All a Congressman or a Senator who wants notoriety is to announce their SWITCH because of Jeremiah Wright. They would be invited to EVERY News program on TV and Klintons would make sure their next few generations are taken care-off.
Still, Out of 249 so far, NOT ONE has buckled under the pressure, despite Elitist-Gate and Wright-Gate. Instead, he has cut down Klinton’s SD Lead to 17, and has gotten NOTEABLE Defections and Party Leaders that either served under Klinton-I or were appointed to high offices by him.
That campaign shows lot of fortitude and should be commended for it.
Ironically, though it’s gaining him superdelegates, it’s losing him the votes of many ordinary Democrats.
I’ve been in the shower the past couple of days (actually I was on vacation away from all computers and the local paper scarcely had any politics in its’ “news”).
Can someone bring me up to speed here?
Has Wright said something worse in the past couple of days than he’s already on record saying?
Last I knew he was getting a Monica on PBS from Bill Moyers.
And Obama already gave his “I have a bridge to sell you...” speech. It was a month ago. He was championed as a new JFK for being such a good speaking type person, who uh, speaks articulately about stuff.
So why is he NOW going on record denouncing Wright?
He said that he could no more disown him than he could his racist grandmother.
The Polls have gotten worse for him for sure. He is hurting in Deep Red States like Tennesse and obviously in Indiana and North Carolina as well.
Some of Obama’s superdelegates are NO LONGER the same people.
Some of the superdelegates have been ordered to step down for their own personal scandals.
So while the number of superdelegates may be the same, they may not be the same people.
It is a scam. How to steal an election. 2008 style.
Asked if he and Mr. Wright had patched up their differences, Mr. Obama said: “Those are conversations between me and my pastor.”
Mr. Wright, who has long prided himself on criticizing the establishment, said he knew that he may not play well in Mr. Obama’s audition for the ultimate establishment job.
“If Barack gets past the primary, he might have to publicly distance himself from me,” Mr. Wright said with a shrug. “I said it to Barack personally, and he said yeah, that might have to happen.”
Mrs. Obama is tired of America finding out about their association with Wright is more like it. Not to mention the other stuff.
Wright reiterated everything he had said before in front of 30 cameras on live TV and on top of that accused Obama of being a hypocrite, suggesting he was infact in agreement with Wright’s views and only denying them for Political expediency.
Obama has made it clear that Wright is his FORMER pastor. So who is his NEW pastor?
His new Pastor is a young guy, who IDOLIZES his old pastor.
So Wright has come out then and lashed out against ALL of the pundit punters in the MSM and said that they were WRONG when they said Wright was being “taken out of context”?
Yep. The “public distancing event”.
Exactly. He removed all doubt and closed any wiggle room there was. He made sure that the tiniest bit of benefit-of-doubt that Obama had bought with his race-speech, was removed. Now there is NO DOUBT.
“If Barack gets past the primary, he might have to publicly distance himself from me,” Mr. Wright said with a shrug. “I said it to Barack personally, and he said yeah, that might have to happen.”
The superdelegates are fools, they are succuming to the pressures being exerted by the far left. They will be whining and losing their positions after obama loses in November. The ‘demonicrats’ will be denied by their own choosing the only viable candidate, who was Hillary ...
Reagan Democrats will not vote for obama. The demo’s are being played like a violin. In the great state of Georgia, no matter how black Atlanta happens to be - obama will lose bigtime and his supporters will be wasting their time going to the polls ... what a pity!!!
These people are just stupid beyond belief. Must be nice to live a little bubble world.
It's not that they have fortitude, it's that the Supes are afraid to deny Obama the nomination. It might almost take an act of God to deny Obama the nomination.
“Our eye is still on the ball.”
But their feet are stuck in the miry clay.
There. . .fixed it.
Osama Obama hasn’t begun to be exposed. Grab your popcorn and beer. DemoRAT Liberals can have a Kool Aid party.
“...in a related story, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Reverend Al Sharpton, and Reverend Jesse Jackson have been added to the list of those who will speak at the Democratic convention in Denver...”
[joke alert]
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