I voted for her in the primary so Ralph will have the best advantage possible to explain to the nation why we need a multi-party system.

Go Hillary Go! Implode Democrats Implode!

Peter: your “bitching from the sidelines” quip, if taken literally, would suggest that it’s useless, and indeed counterproductive, for anyone outside of the organizational machinery of the Democratic Party to voice an opinion on anything.

I’m pretty sure you don’t mean this, and in any event, expressing disapproval on a moderately well-read blog is functionally equivalent to writing a letter to the editor or sending a message to your congressman. It’s just another way of participating in the civc forum of politics.

I’ve voted for Tammy Baldwin every time she’s been on the ballot, and at no point did I suggest she’s too right-wing for my tastes (which tend a little to the center of most of my commenters). Butthe argument that “no one should be attacking Tammy on this” seems misplaced. I’d rather we not have superdelegates in the first place, but since we do, I’d rather that they simply vote for the person who won the most elected delegates.

I don’t particularly care how they do this — if they all vote for their favorite candidate, and their votes cancel each other out, that’s fine. If they vote en masse for the democratic winner, that’s fine too. If they’re elected officials, voting for the person who won their district is fine. If they’re party functionaries, who knows?

I’m well aware of the context, history and “full story” of the superdelegate idea, as are most people who pay attention to politics. I want a more open and responsive Democratic Party, and at this moment in time, one of the ways to get there is to make the votes of elected officials equal to the votes of everyone else when it comes to choosing presidential candidates.

Given the dynamics of the campaign, the “superdelegates steal a win for Clinton” idea was never going to happen, but for a while there, the Clinton camp was trying very aggressively to set it up. And Tammy Baldwin was participating in the attempt.

This isn’t the same thing as saying, “Personally, I support Hillary Clinton, and I think her health care plan is superior to Obama’s”, while remaining non-commital about the convention. Russ Feingold did exactly that when announcing his support for Obama, and in fact he also highlighted his discomfort with the whole idea of his vote being more important than everyone else’s.

Under the circumstances, this is a pretty reasonable position, and certainly preferrable to emphasizing your willingness to vote down your own constituents.

One one level, none of this matters, since the superdelegates aren’t going to swing the election one way or another. But on another level, they have the theoretical potential to do so. Tammy was vigorously asserting her “right” to exercise a power that I don’t think she or anyone else should have in the first place. Why wouldn’t I object to that? If a “hand-wringing routine” is part of what’s required to change the system, then so be it.

http://www.progressivepunch.org/members.jsp?chamber=House&party=All&x=12&y=11

That’s right, when the chips are down, on the tough votes, Tammy does the progressive thing. If you’re whining about not having a progressive-enough Congresswoman, here’s the crow to eat (among thousands of other examples to contradict you).

MadisonGuy, there is a major difference between corrupt, anti-progressive Al Wynn getting picked off by Donna Edwards over years of actually terrible representation in Congress and someone challenging Tammy Baldwin over a Democratic Party procedural issue.

Fact of the matter is that Superdelegates, and even the delegate selection process alltogether, are a Democratic National Committee issue. That’s right, the party itself sets rules for how delegates are awarded. And if you don’t like it, well get involved and change it. It’s the same principle with our government - you can’t expect American politics to change by bitching from the sidelines, be it the actions of Congress on, say, global climate change, or the goings-ons of the Democratic Party proper.

If you’d like to be a delegate to the national convention, you can do so - anyone can. You need to be a delegate to the county caucus first, then the district-level caucus. Find the info on http://www.wisdems.org.

But in the meanwhile, don’t go bellyaching without considering and confronting the context and the facts alltogether. Superdelegates are supposed to choose to back who they want to and are not obligated to support a candidate, even if said candidate gets a majority of voters in their district. That wasn’t the intent of SDs, and it’s never been their function. I don’t like it myself, but I’m involved in the party and I’d like to change it. So no one should be doing this hand-wringing routine unless they know the full story, and certainly no one should be attacking Tammy on this or suggesting something so ridiculous as a “challenge from the left.”

You are pathetic. This rule has been in effect most of your life, and you now suddenly don’t like it. I don’t hear you getting upset that Forbes Kerry, or Kennedy are still voting for Nobama.

I actually do think Nobama will be a Dukakis. He will implode in the general and do so in a big way. Nobama’s I’m a box of chocolates, something new and different every day will not stand up in November.

Remember just because the Republicans came out and voted for Nobama Tuesday does not mean they will in November.

I would go so far as to say Nobama has done / will do what no Republican could , drive the final stake through the FDR coalition. Nobama is making McCain look good, now that’s scary.

Come on lets be honest if this guy was white, he’d be Liebernated. The guy is against caps of 30%, against health care mandates, pro nuclear power and coal, pro corporate written trade agreements, pro NCLB, and pro merit pay for teachers. This guy is wrong on all the right issues, and falls right into the Republican narrative on all the others.

Look at his recent crackpot surrogate on Hardball, no I am not talking about the goof ball we call a governor, who could not state one accomplishment. Nobama is completely media driven, a Pepsi commercial gone terribly wrong.

If you feel strongly about it, tell her so at http://tammybaldwin.house.gov/.

Of course she has more say than us when it comes to running the government. But I don’t think she should have more say than us when it comes to voting for the other people who run the government.

Re. voting her out of office: but she’s a great representative in almost all respects (this is the first time I can remember strongly disapproving of something she did), and there’s no change in hell that I’ll vote for Dave “.22-caliber” Magnum.