Remember a month ago when I told you in my column that there was no such thing as a pledged delegate, at least not in the way the mainstream media has assumed?
Just when we thought understood this delegate madness at least enough to know what to call them, The Politico's Roger Simon on Tuesday revealed the Democrats' dirty little delegate secret: Pledged delegates aren't really "pledged" at all; since nothing in DNC rules binds them to vote for any particular candidate based on that candidate's performance in his state, they are just as "super" as their more popular (for now, anyway) counterparts.As it turns out, Hillary Clinton has been paying a lot of attention to that little-known wrinkle in DNC rules. She and/or her surrogates have pointed out that "pledged" delegates are free to make their own decisions "nearly half a dozen times this month," according to this CNN report today.
Clinton herself is clearly laying the groundwork for a nasty convention fight in Denver. More from the CNN article:
"Every delegate with very few exceptions is free to make up his or her mind however they choose," Clinton told Time's Mark Halperin in an interview published Wednesday.Add this to comments she made to Greta Van Susteren about convention credential fights and her consideration of what is being called the Tonya Harding option," and it's clear that Clinton is getting ready to rumble.
"We talk a lot about so-called pledged delegates, but every delegate is expected to exercise independent judgment," she said.
