Some of Sen. Clinton’s donors, upset with Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) stance on the role of superdelegates deciding the presidential primary, threatened to withhold financial support for House Democrats unless the Californian reconsidered. A letter to Pelosi, which the Clinton campaign was aware of and did not move to stop, failed to move Pelosi and was characterized by many close to the Speaker as extremely counterproductive. The former first lady’s campaign has been understandably frustrated at the media’s handling of the Clinton-Obama contest and when crossed, Clinton aides have leaked — or threatened to leak — e-mail exchanges with reporters to other media outlets. The Clintons have not taken kindly to presidential contenders who have backed out of the race and subsequently endorsed Obama. After New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) backed Obama, Clinton family friend and strategist James Carville likened the former Clinton administration Cabinet official to Judas. Mark Penn, then a senior strategist with the Clinton campaign, later said the Richardson endorsement was not significant. When Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) publicly backed Obama, Dodd described his conversation with Clinton about the endorsement as “not comfortable.” For much of 2007, Clinton led Obama in congressional endorsements by dozens. On Friday, Obama took the lead for the first time. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) endorsed Obama on Thursday. He told The Hill, “The Clinton folks are saying, ‘Wait until June 3 so the rest of the states can play out, then we’ll do what we can to seat the delegates from Florida and Michigan.’ I think that’s a very complicated case to make.” Obama’s appearance on the House floor Thursday was seen by some as a victory lap. Like a sports star after a game, Obama was mobbed by Democrats of all stripes: Clinton backers, Obama supporters and neutral members. The good news for Clinton is that neither Pelosi nor Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has publicly called on Clinton to quit. Pelosi, who has said the superdelegates should not overturn the will of Democratic voters, said this week that the race should go on. Publicly neutral but viewed by some as favoring Obama, Pelosi defended Clinton’s narrow victory in Indianapolis. “A win’s a win,” she said. Yet Pelosi stressed that after the last primary on June 3, the race will be over. The House Speaker, who will serve as the chairwoman of the Democratic convention this summer, has gone out of her way to make it plain that Democrats will be united going into the convention and there will not be a messy floor fight. But Clinton advisers do not see it that way. On Friday, Clinton’s senior advisers said they are willing to push the nomination fight beyond the last contests in early June if neither candidate reaches the delegate requirement that includes Michigan and Florida.
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