It's beginning to look more and more like the Clinton campaign is run by the Keystone Cops this year. From Philly.com comes word that Clinton failed to file a full slate of delegates:
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 this comes AFTER Gov. Ed Rendell ordered an extension for filing "due to weather".
"There are a number of Clinton delegates that did not file for reasons of illness or other issues," Democratic state chairman T.J. Rooney conceded yesterday after being questioned by the Daily News.
He initially said he was unaware of the fact, but confirmed it after checking with Clinton's state delegate petition organizer.
It appears Clinton came up 10 or 11 candidates short across a number of congressional districts, including two in Philadelphia.
That's close to 10 percent of the 103 delegates to be decided by voters.
It appears the shortage would've been double that if Rendell hadn't extended last week's candidate filing deadline by a day and a half, ostensibly due to bad weather.
For a campaign that's on the ropes, they KNEW this on February 6th, this is just incredible! They KNEW Pennsylvania was a state they had to win and yet this happens.
For a national campaign stressing competence, experience, "ready day one," one might expect a full slate in what could be a key state.
Especially given the backing of big-shot party leaders.
"The Clinton people had the support of the ward structure here in Philadelphia," says Philly attorney Seth Williams, Obama's eastern Pennsylvania coordinator. "We just had grass-roots volunteers."
If she can't get control of her campaign, how is she going to run the country?? Are they trying to lose?
UPDATE: This is not technically a big deal, because if she wins a congressional district she still gets delegates, but it is a rather big image problem and highlights the incompetence of the campaign.
2ND UPDATE:
Here's a bit more on how the Pennsylvania Primary works:
Pennsylvania's primary is essentially a beauty contest. The outcome of balloting for the actual presidential candidate has absolutely no bearing on the selection of delegates who run in separate races by congressional district. True, the top candidates in the presidential balloting can create a coattail effect for their delegate candidates, but a vote for a specific candidate for president is meaningless unless the voter also casts ballots for that individual's delegate candidates.
The process is a bit simpler for Democrats, whose party rules require candidates for delegate to the national convention to run "committed" and places the name of the candidate to which they are pledged beneath the delegate's name on the ballot. This gives voters a precise guide to which delegates they should vote for on behalf of their preferred presidential candidate.