Sen. Hillary Clinton's Illinois finance committee is circulating a letter they wrote today expressing support for Clinton's continued Presidential bid.
The letter, put simply, advocates the "scorched earth" option that I've always personally felt is really the path Clinton will take.
The letter is being circulated by Clinton finance aide Rafi Jafri. (Emphases mine.)
We, the Illinois Finance Committee, want to show our full commitment to and support for Senator Hillary Clinton, in the fight for her rightful appointment as the Democratic Party's presidential nominee at the convention this August.
We believe she is, by far, the best candidate of the three, and the candidate most able to turn the ailing economy around, solve the housing crisis, end the war in Iraq and defeat the terrorists in Afghanistan, bring universal healthcare to our citizens, and finally make our country energy independent.
We also know she is the Democratic candidate best able to beat John McCain in the fall. One thing we are certain of is that the Republicans are good at winning elections. We, as Democrats, allowed them to win the last two contests, and we cannot afford to let that happen again.
Senator Clinton is ahead in the popular vote, and neither candidate can secure the nomination with pledged delegates alone. The automatic delegates can change their mind up until their vote at the convention, and that is why this nominating process must be resolved in August, and no earlier.
We Democrats will be united after our nomination process is completed, but only if that process is completed justly and in fair representation of the opinions of the members of our party. We believe nominating Hillary Clinton is the only way our party can guarantee victory in November.
I believe there is significant danger that this process will continue, even after Sen. Barack Obama collects enough delegates to put him over the top.
I have been in full favor of trying to court Clinton supporters with logic, reason and civility. However, this is not the same thing as courting Clinton supporters.
This is Hillary Clinton possibly pushing herself all the way to the convention, for little more than pure self-aggrandizement bordering on megalomania. "[Her] rightful appointment"? What unmitigated gall this statement demonstrates.
On this issue, we must not bend, we must not give an inch. We must continue to sound the alarms about such a tragic possibility. This is not demonizing Clinton. This is standing up to extreme Clintonistas' last frantic attempt to throw our party into the chaos of a brokered convention.
We had a brokered convention in 1968. We had a brokered convention in 1980. We got thumped in the general election both times. Yet Harold Ickes, the man responsible for Sen. Edward Kennedy dragging the 1980 primary to the conventon despite being down by 1,000 delegates, is looking to torture Democrats in the same way this year.
We need to stand up and say: NOT THIS YEAR. NOT THIS TIME.
Check out this list of undeclared superdelegates. If you have any in your state, e-mail them. Call their offices. Tell them we can't afford to let our chances in November be hijacked in June.