Wisconsin's Democratic Party took away Debra Bartoshevich's delegate seat at the Dems' national convention.
She supported Hillary Clinton in the primary and said she would vote for John McCain instead of Barack Obama in November.
To say the Dems weren't happy about that is an understatement.
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
[Bartoshevich] would like to go to Denver to vote for Clinton as the party's nominee. A first-time delegate to the national convention, she said it was an "emotional time" for her when Clinton conceded that Obama would be the party's nominee because of how hard she had worked for Clinton.
But asked whether she would support the party's presidential nominee, Bartoshevich said: "I'm still getting to know Senator Obama. . . . It's very difficult for me in two weeks, or less than that, to switch my support and be 100% behind somebody. . . . I would like to go to the convention and listen to Barack Obama."
Bartoshevich was being reasonable. She wasn't asking for much.
Now, in the interest of party unity, Hillary Clinton delegates will have the opportunity to vote for her at the national convention.
From FOX News:
Hillary Clinton supporters will get their chance for catharsis at the Democratic National Convention in Denver as the New York senator’s name will be included in the nomination.
A joint statement issued Thursday by Clinton and Barack Obama said Clinton will be included because they want to ensure that “the voices of all 35 million people who participated in this historic primary election are respected and heard in Denver.”
“I am convinced that honoring Senator Clinton’s historic campaign in this way will help us celebrate this defining moment in our history and bring the party together in a strong united fashion,” Obama said.
In recent weeks, the Obama and Clinton campaigns have been negotiating whether to allow the losing presidential candidate’s name in the roll call vote...
The statement by Obama and Clinton said including her name on the nomination ballot will be a show of unity and a recognition that she is the “first woman to compete in all of our nation’s primary contests.”
It is also one more step the Obama campaign is taking in an effort to appease Clinton and quell lingering resentment of Democratic Party members still divided by the intense primary battle.
Debra Bartoshevich won't get her chance to cast her vote for Hillary. She won't be there to hear Hillary address the convention.
No, she's been cast aside as a pariah.
This all must be very frustrating for her. Staunch Hillary supporters now will be allowed to be heard at the convention, but Bartoshevich has been barred from having that opportunity.
From WisPolitics:
Deb Bartoshevich, the former Hillary Clinton supporter who had her national convention delegate status stripped after she refused to switch her allegiance to Barack Obama, will host a house party to rally support for John McCain.
Bartoshevich, of Waterford, had her delegate status removed by the state Democratic party on July 25. When McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, visited Wisconsin a week later he met with her and her family personally.
"He thanked me for supporting my country over my party," she said following the meeting.
McCain's campaign held a conference call this morning to tout its grassroots efforts, including 70 planned house parties. The locations of other house parties announced so far are Fitchburg, Appleton, Stevens Point and La Crosse.
Bartoshevich did the right thing. She's a patriot.
She put her country ahead of her political party. When you think about it, she practiced exactly what Obama preaches -- to engage in a new kind of politics, to not be partisan for the sake of being partisan.
Bartoshevich made a choice. She recognizes that Obama is not the best candidate to be president.
Although she won't get to cast a vote for Hillary at the convention, I hope she takes some satisfaction in knowing that others will have the chance to do what Wisconsin Democrats took away from her.
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UPDATE, August 25, 2008:
12 comments:
So....If a State Delegate in the Republican Primary stated that he would vote for Obama, you don't think that State delegation would be correct & within it's rights to cut that delegate from the convention?
It seems that is what you are saying. I disagree with you if it is.
Bartoshevich voted for Hillary in our state primary.
She said that she wanted to learn more about Obama when he was given the nomination.
Instead of giving her that opportunity, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin went ballistic.
I think it was wrong of the WI Dems to alienate her, and thereby millions like her.
"She said that she wanted to learn more about Obama when he was given the nomination."
Not true. She pledged her support to John McCain.
Get your facts straight. She wasn't booted from the Wisconsin delegation until she publicly announced that she would be voting for McCain in the presidential election. The state Democratic party was well within their rights to remove a delegate who had pledged themselves to support the Republican candidate.
I can understand why Wisconsin Dems are so touchy about Debra Bartoshevich.
She wanted to go to the convention and vote for Hillary.
It's certainly possible that she may have been convinced to support Obama.
Instead, she's rallying Hillary supporters to vote for McCain.
Alienating her and other Hillary supporters has backfired on the Dems.
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
[A]sked whether she would support the party's presidential nominee, Bartoshevich said: "I'm still getting to know Senator Obama. . . . It's very difficult for me in two weeks, or less than that, to switch my support and be 100% behind somebody. . . . I would like to go to the convention and listen to Barack Obama."
"I didn't run to the McCain campaign; they called me," she said. She said her sister put her name on the McCain campaign Web site.
Hey, Deb! Guess what? Go ahead and vote for McCrusty. What will you tell your daughter when she asks why women in this country have lost their right to choose what they can do with their own bodies? What will you tell her about why we got more anti-science appointees who think global warming is a hoax?
You're a smart one, Deborah. You and all the other PUMAS. Great way to waste your vote and shit all over the ideal that is democracy. I have a new acronym for you all: KUNT. Krazy Uppity Nitwit Twats.
Mary, accept the facts for what they are. Bartoshevich was booted after publicly announcing her intentions to back McCain. Now we know what stupidity looks like..Debra Bartoshevich.
JSOnline Aug 24: "Bartoshevich backed Clinton in the primary, then publicly said she may consider backing McCain. When she did, the party booted her as a delegate. She is now backing McCain, who met with her during a Racine visit."
[Joe Wineke, chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin,] said “almost everybody I know who was for Hillary” is solidly behind Obama now. As for Bartoshevich, he said, “my suspicion is she doesn’t know what she’s getting into” because “the delegates to this convention will be very upset.”
Asked if publicly supporting the other party’s presidential nominee could affect a delegate’s convention status, Wineke said, “I never thought I’d ever get a question like this.”
After some preliminary checking, Wineke said he assumed Bartoshevich would remain a delegate.
But Friday night, after a story about Bartoshevich appeared on the Journal Sentinel’s Web site, he had apparently reconsidered.
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The fact is Wisconsin Democrats failed to appeal to Hillary supporter Bartoshevich and instead chose to alienate her.
It hasn't worked out too well for WI Dems. On a national level, booting Hillary supporters won't work out too well for the Dems in November. The tactics are counterproductive.
As for the ad hominem attacks, both the milder ones and the extremely demeaning and vulgar ones--
They reflect very poorly on Obama's supporters. Shameful.
Listen, I've read about this situation and I've talked to folks who may have more personal insight into it than I do, and I'm of the belief Deb Bartoshevich is just milking this situation for her 15 minutes of fame. If she were truly a committed Clinton supporter, she wouldn't switch her allegiance to McCain at the drop of a hat, especially given the fact that McCain's ideology in many respects runs directly contrary to the stated positions of Hillary Clinton.
The McCain campaign is milking this for all the publicity they can get, while Bartoshevich is simply maximizing her newfound "fame."
That's certainly a possibility. All I know is what I read and hear.
I think the matter of Debra Bartoshevich has been very revealing beyond her support for McCain and lack of support for Obama.
Some of the attacks on her and other Hillary supporters are truly despicable.
Inexcusable.
That Dems would react the way they have is really disgraceful.
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