July 17, 2024
BIDEN'S "SOFTIE" ILLINOIS CONVENTION DELEGATES ARE MUM AND MUZZLED
It is said that when you do or say something really dumb, the best response is to never explain and never apologize – or just outright lie and deny. That might not work so well with a spouse or boss. But politicians and journalists, or those collectively known as THE MEDIA, do it all the time.
Of course, those who do have some particle of wisdom understand that if you don’t say or do something stupid then you don’t have to explain, apologize, deny or lie afterwards. There is a movement afoot among national Democratic elites to dump Joe Biden because he is looking like a loser to Trump.
After the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump that may now be a certainty. Since 3,905 of the 3,949 elected Democratic delegates ran pledged to Biden, then his re-nomination should be a certainty.
But is it? According to Jacob Kaplan, executive director of the Cook County Democratic Party (CCDP), party rules mandate that if one runs pledged to a specific candidate and wins, then they must vote for that candidate on at least the first convention ballot in “good conscience.” But it is said rules are made to be broken.
As a retired lawyer I believe that not voting for whom one is pledged would be “fraudulent misrepresentation.” But they would not be breaking any law if they did. It might be frowned upon, but you’re not getting jail time.
So I decided to find out if some local Biden-pledged delegates were ALL-IN FOR JOE – whether they would vote for Joe on the first and all subsequent ballots. Attached is a CHART listing the Biden-pledged delegates from the Lakefront/Northwest Side/northwest suburban 5th, 9th and 3rd congressional districts, a total of 21 delegates.
I have had contact over the past decade (or more) with Alderman Gilbert Villegas (36th), state senator Sara Feigenholtz (D-6), MWRD commissioner Marcelino Garcia and attorney and Park Ridge school board member Aurora Austriaco. They know me. They know what I do. They know why I called, as I explained in my multiple voice messages. Are you with Biden? All the way? Or are you just a lackey for the Democratic Party and J.B. Pritzker, who runs and funds the state Dems? Are you going to vote like you’re told? Or vote the intent of the voters who elected you?
It is said that blessed are those who expect nothing, for they shall not be disappointed.
The delegates did not disappoint. Each said NOTHING. I called each numerous times between Friday (7/12) and Monday (7/15). I got a human office staffer voice 3 times and left many voice messages. Not a single return call.
And while stonewalling me doesn’t really bother me, each should have eagerly leaped to Biden’s cause and in his defense.
None did.
They proved by their non-response that their support of Biden is not just SOFT, but squishy-soft.
They were likely told by their handlers not to talk to me. Each is a practical, ambitious politician who understands that being muzzled is preferable to being ostracized.
Their task and that of their colleague delegates is not to think independently but simply vote as instructed. Being mum and muzzled is part of their job description.
It should be remembered that a delegate is chosen for their loyalty, much like a presidential elector. And their reward is a week-long fest of free food and booze, limitless around-the-clock hospitality suites paid for by special interest lobbyists, state delegations and current and future candidates.
It is an opportunity to network, gossip, plot, socialize, renew friendships and, for some, fund-raise or make fundraising contacts. And hotel accommodations are footed by state parties. Plus there’s a lot of swag, meaning giveaways and free souvenirs About the only expenses are airfare and taxicab fare.
I know this personally. My late mother Marcella Stewart was a Ford delegate to the 1976 Republican convention in Kansas City. Reagan had challenged Ford in a titanic battle for the nomination.
Ford was thought a loser after Watergate and Nixon’s departure. Reagan presented himself as a winning alternative. Every convention vote was critical. The Ford campaign paid for her airfare and ex-governor
Richard Ogilvie intervened with my mom’s employer, a local bank, to insure to got her full pay for the week. She spent not a cent.
Conventions are usually coronations – with the notable exceptions of 1968 (D) and 1976 (R). The nominee is usually decided in the pre-convention primaries, which this year were all won by Biden.
There were 3,905 and Biden won them all by 87.1 percent, garnering 14,465,519 votes. Isn’t that democracy-in-action? But the Democratic Establishment, which was complicit in covering-up Biden’s declining cognition for 4 years, and cleared out the 2024 field, now reaps what it sowed – which is a losing Biden-Harris ticket.
Can Biden realistically be dumped? Of his 3,905 delegates, over half would have to abstain on the first ballot, or vote for somebody else. That’s just not going to happen. The only way to get Biden out is for Biden to voluntarily get out. Here’s a look at the 21 Biden delegates in the CHART who were picked for their loyalty to the state and county party, not to Biden.
5TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: It extends from Lincoln Park and Lakeview all the way west to Lake Zurich. It contains all or parts of 18 Chicago wards, including 42/43/44 on the Lakefront and 32/47/50 farther inland, and then moves on through 38/39/40/41 on the Northwest Side into Des Plaines, Palatine, Mount Prospect, then Barrington Hills and finally Lake Zurich and Inverness. In a Democratic primary only the East End “progressive” vote matters.
Delegates Feigenholtz and Croke are from the 44th Ward, Knudsen and Moog from the 43rd, and Garcia from the 42nd. Austriaco is from the close-in suburbs. Mike Quigley (D) is the congressman. Anyplace beyond Mannheim Rd. is totally disenfranchised, as was intended by the Democrats’ 2021 gerrymander.
9TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: It extends from Evanston, base of 80-year old congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, all the way west to Cary, Crystal Lake, Long Grove and Wauconda. This used to be Republican, but its vote is swallowed by the progressive Democratic vote in the lower-tier North suburbs of Evanston, Skokie, Niles, Morton Grove, Glenview and northern Wilmette; it then moves through Arlington to McHenry County. The Chicago vote, contained in 6 north Lakefront wards – 40/46/47/48/49/50 –is aggressively Woke/Left. Another gerrymander.
The Biden delegates are all mainstream and include a state senator (Fine), 2 state reps (Huynh and Gong-Gershowitz) and a county commissioner (Morita). They will vote as Pritzker tells them.
3RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: It has a 47 percent Latino population but the Latino vote is barely 30 percent. The congresswoman is Woke/Leftist Delia Ramirez, who demolished Villegas in the 2022 primary. Ramirez won because the Chicago vote in Latino-majority in wards 26/32/33/35/36/38 overwhelmed Villegas’s vote in the suburbs. Those include Cicero/Berwyn/Riverside to the west, Oak Lawn and Palos Hills to the south, and faraway Romeoville and Lockport in Will County. Another gerrymander.
Biden’s delegates include those not aligned with Ramirez and “democratic socialists” Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, Jessica Fuentes and Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, all Chicago alderspersons. They include Villegas, a state Senator (Delgago) and a state rep (Jimenez).
The Democratic convention starts Aug. 19 in Chicago. Pro-Hamas demonstrators will be flooding the area around the United Center. Virtual voting by delegates is the second week in August. The Dump Biden dumpers have just 3 weeks to get their act together. As Biden said himself, “It’s not gonna happen.”
Read more Analysis & Opinion from Russ Stewart at Russstewart.com
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