The Clinton campaign, ready to lead on day one, demonstrates more competence:
Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign failed to file a full slate of convention delegate candidates for Pennsylvania’s April 22 primary.
This despite the possibility the primary proves critical and despite Clinton owning the full-throated support of Gov. Rendell, state Democratic Party leadership, Mayor Nutter and, presumably, the organizational skill all that entails.
And despite a Rendell-ordered extension of the filing deadline that could be viewed as more than just coincidental.
***The shortfall was brought to my attention by western Pennsylvania attorney Jack Hanna, a Democratic state party regional caucus chairman and Obama supporter.
Hanna says before the deadline extension Clinton could have been 21 delegate candidates short. One late filing was by former Mayor John Street.
“It seems to me they did not pay sufficient attention to the details,” Hanna says.
And it seems to me, in a state that could be important, in a state known for bad winter weather, a forward-looking campaign might be, well, more forward-looking.
You know, so as not to slip up.
No one could have predicted there wouldn’t be any WMD. No one could have predicted they would not greet us as liberators.
(via Marc Ambinder via the comments)
*** Update ***
More competence:
The Chinese facility that supplies the active ingredient of the widely used blood thinner heparin was never inspected by the Food and Drug Administration because the agency confused its name with another just like it, agency officials said yesterday.
After eight years of this under Bush, I am ready for some actual competence. The Hillary campaign, which can not even field full slates of delegates, follow agreed upon rules (see Michigan and Florida), or concern themselves with the vagaries of election law in their firewall states, have not really been oozing competence lately. Slash and burn negative attacks- they got that covered. Competence- not so much.
Mr Furious
John, don’t you realize Hillary doesn’t punch in until Day One? Then…watch out!
gypsy howell
Exactly. Her “competence” mantle is starting to look a little frayed.
Seriously, WTF is the matter with them? Bill ran and won twice – surely they know how this delegate thingie works in each state by now?
Dennis - SGMM
Hillary is saving up her competence for Day One. Speaking of which, has anyone briefed her on how many Senate seats the Dems need to pick up so that she can go forward with her grand plans? She may find it a bit harder to turn Republican Senators than it is to turn super delegates.
Billy K
Maybe she couldn’t find enough people who wanted to BE her deleagates.
Kallisti
I can’t help but think that she never expected it to come so far as Pennsylvania.
wingnuts to iraq
This is what happens when you ONLY plan for success. We’ve had enough of that in the past 8 years.
Punchy
Yes, the Xinqxixiuxi factory makes heparin, while the Xinxixiquxi factory makes heroin. Easily confused. Lots of x’s and stuff. Like a porn movie, kinda. And Jesus, cuz he died on a cross, which resembles an “x” sideways.
It’s all so difficult to do stuff, like read, and stuff.
cleek
what Kastilli said. when’s the last time the race was still undecided when PA came around ?
cleek
s/Kastilli/Kallisti/
damn my dylsexia
Dennis - SGMM
Mark Penn and Howard Wolfson were going to tour skid row with a trunk full of Mad Dog but Hillary would have had to loan her campaign another $48 for the booze so the project was canceled.
rawshark
This is why I’m very afraid of the new drugs my dermatologist wants me to take. I’ll take clear skin without liver failure please.
Zifnab
Sometimes I think this is God’s way of gerrymandering the election, and sometimes I think this may just be a combination of Godwin’s law and Heller’s Law in action. Hillary is clearly just not the right amount of incompetent to be President.
Billy K
Forty-eight dollars worth of Mad Dog? That’s a lotta Mad Dog!!!
Zifnab
s/Heller’s Law/The Peter Principle/
Fail.
Svensker
Do you work for the FDA?
GSD
Apparently Sen. Clinton was ready on day one for everything except a primary challenge.
-GSD
Dennis - SGMM
The plan was that everyone would throw flowers and welcome her as a liberator.
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
Sorry, if I’m reading this right, I can’t chalk this up to incompetence.
It sounds like their (supposed) supporters dropped the ball on their own paperwork. It’s not exactly like the campaign can sign someone else’s signature.
in fact, given the pattern of sleaze we’ve been seeing from them, being caught not forging signatures would be a step up for them.
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
:s/cleek/vi dork/g
Zifnab
I thought that was Perl.
cleek
I
vi
Esc
:q!
Billy K
Sigh. You’re missing the point. It’s not about who dropped the ball; it’s about irrational hatred for Hillary.
Get with the program, d00d!
Davebo
That’s why you build a solid ground organization in the state. Hell you spend thousands just to ensure you can transport ordinary voters to the polls.
You should make damn sure that your delegates are actually going to be, you know, your delegates.
Dennis - SGMM
Probably so. If the shoe was on the other foot though, Howard Wolfson would be on television touting the shortfall in delegates as proof that Obama is too inexperienced to be president, all talk and no substance, etc. Hillaryis44.com would run out of pink packets just trying to keep up with the ensuing comments.
SmilingPolitely
Who could have foreseen history repeating itself.
John Cole
Wrong. This is a big deal. This is not without consequences.
This race is officially over. Hillary has blown it. You heard it here first. Things may still get vicious in the next couple weeks, but this is over. Hillary’s campaign is over.
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
I’m sure it has consequences… I’m not saying “ZOMG DO OVER!! The MEN are rigging the system against the womyns OMFG”. But is this incompetence?
FTA:
This what I’m confused over. Who’s primarily responsible for the paperwork? The article is implying that the delegates themselves have to sign and submit, not the campaign.
Although, I guess it would be odd for there to be a rash of defections, even after an extension. Maybe some bad delegate relations?
Punchy
You really are that niave, aren’t you? Repeat after me — Clintons don’t lose. She will fight this until Denver, then twist more arms than a chiropractor until she gets the nommy.
18 and Life, bitches. 18 and Life.
cleek
some people disagree
Shygetz
Clinton’s delegates are part of the Clinton campaign. They screwed up big time. Ergo, the Clinton campaign screwed up. And it’s gonna cost ’em.
Zifnab
Wow. I mean, I think Obama’s got the momentum, but I wouldn’t quit give it to him yet. There’s always the “live boy, dead girl” scenario. FOX is ready to bust that one wide open, right after it wraps up its Celebrates-Still-Going-Into-Rehab 243 part expose.
grumpy realist
This woman is running around on a platform of “competence”, right? And here we have a lower-level set people (who she supposedly is in charge of) who manage to not get the correct paperwork in.
(The lady is a lawyer. I suggest she go back to all the notes she took about “agents” and “responsibilities”.)
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
I think Hillary is a failure, but I have trouble faulting her management skills for her delegates being losers. Remember, the delegates chose her, she didn’t choose them.
Now, if you want to talk about the kind of people she attracts… %cough% Mark Penn %cough%
Dennis - SGMM
Hillary will explain the failures of her DLC-type campaign in a speech beginning with the words “I hit a perfect trifecta.”
Original Lee
I heard a piece this morning on the radio about how the delegates to the Democratic Party convention can vote any way they like, even on the first ballot. Is this true? The journalist was saying that there is some obscure party rule that lets this happen, but this is the first I’ve heard of it.
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
You mean necrophilia?
I never knew that was a possible feature of campaigns.
demimondian
Hmm. I have a lot of faith in hilzoy, and she seems to think that this is an own-goal, but not as bad as it sounds. Reading her analysis (thanks to cleek, above), I’m inclined to agree that this is a non-issue.
Laughably dumb, but still a non-issue, at least as long as the distribution of missing delegates is relatively uniform.
Jake
And Bush will declare that full immunity for incompetent drug manufacturers is a vital component of national security in 5 … 4 … 3 …
Billy K
Only in the party of communists and homosexuals
Jen
Read Atrios, read Politico, read Obsidian. Can I just take a step back from this primary season and note that this stuff is messed. Up. Overhaul-needin’ messed up. That is all.
Billy K
Hillary will explain the failures of her
DLCGOP-type campaign in a speech beginning with the words “I hit a perfect trifecta.”I FIX’D IT!
crw
The delegates have to file the paperwork, so they are ultimately responsible. But the national campaign is responsible for verifying the local delegates are actually doing their job. And the national campaign is ultimately responsible for making sure contingency plans (such as having alternate delegates lined up and notifying them to file their paperwork as needed) are in place. This scrambling and still coming up short tells me they did not adequately plan for the inevitable vagaries when you’re counting on imperfect, illness and death prone human beings. Trust, but verify as they say.
Dennis - SGMM
Seconded. After reading about the Texas mixture of primaries and caucuses (Not to mention their delegate allocation formula), delegates not having to honor their pledges, super delegates answerable to no one, and all of the other weirdness, I am convinced that the DNC is terrified of one-man-one-vote. The nomination process isn’t Byzantine – it’s downright Kafkaesque.
The Other Steve
The Republicans are actually far worse. Most of their caucus/primary doesn’t matter at all. It’s just for show.
chopper
this is pretty much a non-issue. i certainly wouldn’t use it as a hammer to nail her campaign’s coffin shut.
personally, i’m waiting to see the outcome of today’s primaries.
John Cole
As always, I will defer to Hilzoy, who is more rational and less excitable than me by a wide, wide margin.
However, to me, is simply more evidence of the disarray, lack of planning, and essentially, total chaos that isthe current Clinton campaign. I think this is over. I think failing to seat delegates is a big deal.
Face
This is exactly why Clinton wins the nomination. She’s shadier than an oak tree. Yeah, I just said that.
Billy K
Sounds like something Hillary could get behind.
quickdraw
God, I hope so.
Then the Clintonistas can lick their wounds and bitch about media bias some more, and the Church of Obamology can focus their attention on McBain.
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
Aha, that’s where I was caught. I didn’t know that they could field alternates. It’s a campaign failure.
OK, John. Let the Two Minute Hate commence.
Neal
[Applause]
over_educated
FYI According to the actual document governing the PA race, Clinton will still be able to seat delegate, so this is not as great a disaster as described in Atrios.
over_educated
I think it is here:
http://padems.com/files/Delegate08Final806.pdf
Original Lee
Never mind – comments over at Obsidian Wings explained it all. Apparently, there is no rule against trying to flip delegates for the first ballot, but most people consider the downside sufficiently negative that they don’t go there. Guess we’ve found a new low for the Clinton campaign to dig for.
UnkyT
Votes for Obama in precincts where the Clinton campaign failed to failed to file a convention delegate do not count.
UnkyT
Occasionally I will proof-read my posts before I hit submit. This was not one of those occasions.
OriGuy
Someone over at Kos posted an excerpt from the DNC rules; as over_educated says, they can still name delegates if they earn them in the primary.
I swear, the DNC must have had Wizards of the Coast write the rules for delegate selection.
(The company that created Magic: The Gathering.)
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
hahhaha
“This is a 48th Edition tournament.
-No Alphas or Betas.
-No creatures with Trample.
-No creatures with Flying.
-You can play creatures with First Strike, but the First -Strike doesn’t count.
-No creatures of type Union.
-No red lands.
-Blue lands produce twice as much mana.
-No black lands.
-No lands of type Caucus.
-No dual-lands of type Caucus/Primary.”
Oh, I’m sorry, those are Hillary’s rules, not the DNC’s
chopper
nerd alert!
ThymeZone
Yeah, I’ll keep saying this as long as there is any chance in hell that it pisses off the Shrillery contingent:
Once again she shows she can SNATCH DEFEAT from the jaws of victory.
Uh huh, SNATCH DEFEAT. That’s right. SNATCH.DEFEAT.
What? You talkin to me?
UnkyT
Another sexist Hillery attack
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
Uh oh. TZ is trolling multiple threads looking for HillShills!
TZ is probably overdosing on MUP Dust! Someone hold him down, I’ll get the rope.
Make sure myiq doesn’t come into the room. I don’t want to clean the blood out of the carpet.
Zifnab
Is she running for President of the US or the DCI?
Tim
Thank you OriGuy and Caidence for causing me to flashback to the student union in 1996……
DougJ
Great. So now you’re plagiarizing from Ambinder.
Or maybe you too just “share ideas about posts” like Obama and Deval Patrick.
OriGuy
Magic Unity Pony
Costs 3 Blue, 3 Colorless to cast
Summon Pony
Trample
Tap to prevent Red damage to any player
4/5 Creature
I haven’t played in years, but my housemates still do. I contemplated creating a JPG of this card, but that was to nerdy even for me.