Nancy Pelosi May Have Just Put an End to Hillary Clinton's "Scorched Earth" Campaign

BUZZFLASH EDITOR'S BLOG

Mark Karlin

Editor and Publisher

March 17, 2008

Of all the political statements and punditry that burst at the speed of light through an overburdened news delivery system, so many important statements get lost in the rush.

And that may be the case in the comments last week of one Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives -- and the "commander-in-chief" of the House Democrats. To put this in context in terms of the slimmest of hopes -- hanging by a scorched-earth policy of trench warfare for Hillary Clinton -- remember that every Democratic member of the House of Representatives is a Superdelegate to the Democratic Convention. And if you recall, that's well over 200 of the 750+ superdelegates. In short, while she doesn't control the House superdelegate votes, she does indicate which way the wind is blowing.

That is why much attention should be paid -- in a week when Obama gained 14 delegates on Clinton in states where primaries had already been conducted -- to a statement made by Speaker Pelosi last week. We will quote a large chunk of the Associated Press story so that you can get a feeling for the full potential impact of Pelosi's unambiguous, clear dictum:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says it would be damaging to the Democratic party for its leaders to buck the will of national convention delegates picked in primaries and caucuses, a declaration that gives a boost to Sen. Barack Obama.

"If the votes of the superdelegates overturn what's happened in the elections, it would be harmful to the Democratic party," Pelosi said in an interview taped Friday for broadcast Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

The California Democrat did not mention either Obama or his rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, by name. But her remarks seemed to suggest she was prepared to cast her ballot at the convention in favor of the candidate who emerges from the primary season with the most pledged delegates.

Obama leads Clinton by 142 pledged delegates — those delegates picked in nomination contests to date, in The Associated Press' count.

Barring an unlikely string of landslide victories by the former first lady in the remaining states, he will end the primary season with a delegate lead, but short of the 2025 needed to win the nomination.

That gives the balance of power to the so-called superdelegates, prominent Democrats who are automatically entitled to attend the convention because of their status as members of Congress or other leaders. Clinton leads Obama for their support in the AP count, 249-213.

Pelosi's comments could influence other House Democrats who are neutral in the presidential race and will attend the convention as superdelegates.

In her interview, Pelosi also said that even if one candidate winds up with a larger share of the popular vote than the delegate leader, the candidate who has more delegates should prevail.

"It's a delegate race," she said. "The way the system works is that the delegates choose the nominee."

Note that not only does Speaker Pelosi strongly endorse the candidate with the most pledged delegates; she also throws cold water on the Clinton strategy of trying to pass Obama in the popular vote (which he now leads) and then claim that the popular vote -- and Obama is likely to still end up leading in that category, too, barring some Clinton campaign-Bush 2000 like shenanigans such as using the race card to drive out the "Archie Bunker" vote to vote for "Hillary, the Great White Hope" -- supersedes the importance of pledged delegates.

Pelosi pretty much repudiates the Clinton campaign's hope of running up the negatives on Obama and praying hard for Obama to trip over himself with some mortal gaffe. Speaker Pelosi firmly announced, in translation: forget about the miracles, Hillary. I'm letting my House delegation know that I don't condone this divisive, unlikely low road to the Democratic Party nomination.

Indeed, Obama has climbed from around a 100 superdelegate deficit to just 30, and while he has incrementally been increasing his superdelegate count, Clinton has staid static for weeks.

Furthermore, Pelosi threw cold water on the Bill and Hillary Clinton phony enticement to undecided voters that Obama might make a good vice-president (even though Clinton has declared several times that John McCain is fit to be commander-in-chief -- a glaring error in judgment on Clinton's part -- but Obama isn't). Of the "Dream Ticket" gambit, Pelosi dismissed it with a wave of her hand: "It's not going to happen." In fact, her exact words were, "It's impossible."

So among all the top Democrats in Congress who have indicated in one way or another that Clinton should "hit the road, Jack," the most devastating blow may have been dealt last week by Speaker Pelosi.

It didn't hit the news big time -- what with all the controversy about Ferraro and Wright -- but you can be sure that uncommitted members of the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives heard it loud and clear.

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