February 14, 2008

Oh, Good!

I like this:
Many of the superdelegates who could well decide the Democratic presidential nominee have already been plied with campaign contributions by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, a new study shows.

"While it would be unseemly for the candidates to hand out thousands of dollars to primary voters, or to the delegates pledged to represent the will of those voters, elected officials serving as superdelegates have received about $890,000 from Obama and Clinton in the form of campaign contributions over the last three years," the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics reported today.

...

Obama's political action committee has doled out more than $694,000 to superdelegates since 2005, the study found, and of the 81 who had announced their support for Obama, 34 had received donations totaling $228,000.

Clinton's political action committee has distributed about $195,000 to superdelegates, and only 13 of the 109 who had announced for her have received money, totaling about $95,000.
The more detailed article offers this passage:
[T]he Center for Responsive Politics has found that campaign contributions have been a generally reliable predictor of whose side a superdelegate will take. In cases where superdelegates had received contributions from both Clinton and Obama, all seven elected officials who received more money from Clinton have committed to her. Thirty-four of the 43 superdelegates who received more money from Obama, or 79 percent, are backing him. In every case the Center found in which superdelegates received money from one candidate but not the other, the superdelegate is backing the candidate who gave them money.
But everyone says it's not not not because of the money! No one will defend traditional American values today. No wonder everything is such a mess.

Can we just eliminate the oh-so-tedious campaigning now? Let's celebrate doing it the tried-and-true All-American way: buy the nomination. And then buy the election! I heartily approve.

I will have a consideration of the significant dangers I see in Obama's candidacy, but it's taking somewhat longer to prepare than I had thought. Look for it in the next week.

But meanwhile...$694,000 from Obama to superdelegates. Hope! Change! And if not, cold hard cash.

I can be bought. In case anyone cares.

P.S. But I am not cheap. Not by a long shot. Corrupt maybe, but not cheap. That's because I believe in America! Obviously, even Obama doesn't think we should change everything.