First, you can hear the speech yourself and see if my comments are accurate. Go to:
http://www.necn.com/Boston/Pol…
Edwards stated that HIS delegates are free to vote their conscience, and he will NOT be telling them what to do – and that he expects superdelegates to do likewise.
Edwards stated that the next president must deal with poverty, with third world development, and with global warming. He also made clear yet again that he was NOT interested in Vice President as an option.
He made clear he was not planning to endorse either Hilary Clinton OR Barack Obama – but that BOTH had pledged to him that addressing poverty issues would be a priority.
He also said that the sooner the race is decided, the better for the Democratic Party. There, gentle readers, did I report accurately?
we more need leaders, and less opportunists
I rated your comment a 4 not because I disagree with you, but because you appear to be implying that if someone endorses they are necessarily an opportunist, without explaining why you think so. I think it’s an unfair accusation. I’m sure some endorsers are motivated mostly by opportunism, but I’m also sure some endorsers are motivated mostly by a desire to support the candidate they think would be better for the country.
(An apt comparison, as both Governors share past Clinton loyalty)
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p>Deval Patrick: endorsed early (before his state or any voted) and strongly.
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p>Bill Richardson: withheld endorsement until well after his state, and the majority of states voted, and at the point at which it was almost near-certain Obama would win. Made a very weak endorsement, telling the papers how tough it was to choose. Gave GQ interview, saying he was P/Oed b/c the Clintons didn’t personally court his endorsement enough (a big head, this man has).
I commend John Edwards on his stand!
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p>For many reason, I support Hillary Clinton, if it weren’t obvious. Barack Obama has grown and become a fine candidate. I am still concerned that the rhetoric needs to match the policy.
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p>We, Democrats, are fortunate to have two fine candidates. Soon we will chose one and all rally behind him or her and reclaim the Oval Office!
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That pretty much sounds like he is staying out of the endorsement game then…yet his wife mentioned that they will both endorse after the NC primary (presumably the winner of their “home state”) so it seems a little dicey there.
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p>Can he endorse a candidate yet keep his delegates unpledged?
There is no such thing as a pledged delegate. All delegates are free to vote their conscience.
Since he said:
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p>1. Edwards delegates should vote for their preferred candidate
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p>AND
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p>2. The sooner the race is decided, the better
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p>Doesn’t that imply that he’s calling on his delegates to state their preferences in public soon? Since they all came from early states I assume that by now all of them have been elected, so they know who they are and can declare who they plan to vote for.
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p>Are we going to start seeing those announcements, and their votes added to the tallies just as announced superdelegates’ votes have been?
Edwards will have delegates in at least two, probably three states.
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p>In New Hampshire, the delegates were “pre-elected” late in 2007 and then allocated based on the primary results. So the Edwards delegates are actual people at this point.
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p>In South Carolina, the number of Edwards delegates was determined by the primary and those delegates will actually be elected May 3 at the state convention. The Edwards campaign was allowed to designate who the delegate candidates are, but they will be elected by the state convention delegates who sign a statement saying they support Edwards. It sounds like there’s the potential for a contest between former Edwards supporters who now back Clinton or Obama.
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p>Finally, in Iowa, the nextt stage of the delegate selection process for Edwards is the congressional district caucuses on 4/26. As with the precinct and county caucuses, the Edwards supporters will need 15% in any of the CD’s to get a delegate from that CD. At the moment, CD’s 3 and 3 look safe, 4 is hopeless, and 1 and 5 are close to 15% (1 at 14.5%, 5 at 15.3%).
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p>Statewide, Edwards is at 15.6%, so he’s still in line to get 3 delegates if he can hold onto 15%. These delegates will be elected on 6/14 at the state convention.
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p>In both cases, there will be a competition for the actual delegate spots, which, like South Carolina, might well come down to a competition based on second preferences.
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p>In the end, it’s possible that only the four New Hampshire delegates will end of being elected as truly neutral in the Clinton-Obama race.
Become a Delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention!
Edwards won four delegates in the primary. The two delegates for the congressional district seats have been determined already as I noted above.
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p>The two state-wide delegates will be elected at the meeting mentioned in John’s comment. Since there will be only 14 voters (the previously elected delegates), group dynamics rather than hard political math will probably determine who gets the delegate spots.
After hearing Elizabeth speak at the JFK Forum, and now this, I believe that, ironically, they just might be the ones who make the difference in defeating McCain and the Republicans. They’re both as passionate, brilliant and determined as ever. They’re not endorsing because they have to be able to get behind the eventual winner 100%. Only then can they unite the Dems and make people see that we simply can’t survive another Republican administration (no matter who controls the House and Senate).
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p>So the “soothsayers” and polls were right all along: “Edwards will be the only one who can defeat McCain.” And now, John and Elizabeth are back, making the difference and uniting the party. So whether John is president or not, their vision is going to prevail. Give thanks — and go see them every chance you get!
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p>Thanks for posting, Deb.