So Much For Democracy! Clinton Camp: 'All The Rules Will Be Going Out The Window'

Jake Tapper is ABC News' Senior National Correspondent based in the network's Washington bureau. He writes about politics and popular culture and covers a range of national stories.

February 19, 2008 10:05 AM

Our friend Roger Simon has a juicy little column in this morning's Politico where he reports on the Clinton campaign's push not just for superdelegates but regular, pledged delegates.

Whether or not they know it, those delegates purportedly elected to represent the will of the voters of their home states and districts can actually vote any way they want. And according to Simon, "Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign intends to go after delegates whom Barack Obama has already won in the caucuses and primaries if she needs them to win the nomination.

“I swear it is not happening now, but as we get closer to the convention, if it is a stalemate, everybody will be going after everybody’s delegates,” a senior Clinton official told Simon yesterday. “All the rules will be going out the window.”

The Obama campaign responded harshly this morning.

“As it becomes increasingly clear that Senator Clinton may not be able to secure the nomination by winning the support of actual voters, the Clinton campaign has once again floated a strategy that would essentially say that the preference of Democratic voters is a mere obstacle to their win-at-all-costs strategy," said Obama campaign manager David Plouffe. "First, they said they’ll try to seat the non-existent delegates in Florida and Michigan, something that neutral party leaders have roundly criticized. Then, they suggested that superdelegates should consider subverting the will of the voters and the pledged delegates, which has also been strongly objected to.

“Their new strategy will be to convince delegates that were pledged by actual Democratic voters to switch sides. In their own words, ‘all the rules will be going out the window.’ Voters are already rejecting the Clinton campaign’s say-or-do-anything-to-win tactics, and this is the latest example that it’s time to turn the page on this type of politics that could severely harm our party’s chances to win the general election."

This thing reminds me more and more of the Florida recount. And just as with that contest, the point is not to "count every vote" -- but to win.

- jpt