The Clinton campaign's strategy for winning the primary is getting less and less democratic. First they were going to break the agreed-upon rules and seat the Michigan and Florida delegations -- neither of whom got to vote in a contested primary -- rather than run actual elections in those states. Then they were arguing that we should really only count states with primaries, or maybe only big states with primaries. Then the hope was that superdelegates would ignore the voters and make a counter-majoritarian decision, throwing the election to Clinton. Now we're getting this weird story in which the Clinton campaign is suggesting they might go after pledged delegates -- that is to say, the delegates who represent the actual vote totals. It's an odd loophole of the convention system that these delegates aren't really bound by the voters they're supposed to represent. It is assumed that they will vote for the candidate the voters pledged them to, but there's no law around it. Now, it's not really likely that the Clinton campaign can get any of these voters to switch. And maybe Simon is just making a big deal out of idle musings from a "senior Clinton official." But, given their past gambits, this latest trial balloon isn't exactly out of place. It's a shame, as I happen to really like Clinton, and I love her domestic policy shop. But her campaign should -- at least publicly -- evince a bit more concern for the role of the voters in this nominating process. Update: Clinton campaign spokesperson Phil Singer says, "We have not, are not and will not pursue the pledged delegates of Barack Obama. It's now time for the Obama campaign to be clear about their intentions." Putting aside that the Obama campaign is ahead in delegates and has not suggested any intentions to poach, I'd really like to know who the "senior Clinton official" talking to Simon is. And more to the point, why they're talking to Simon and offering such explosive musings. One odd subplot of this campaign is that despite the Clinton camp's reputation for discipline, they've got a lot more anonymous officials (not to mention surrogates) wandering off the reservation. Also, read this bit of delegate speculation from Chris Bowers.
