Former Barack Obama Campaign Manager Downplays ‘Preposterous’ Talk Of Brokered Convention


During Wednesday’s Democratic Party presidential debate in Las Vegas, Nevada, moderator Chuck Todd asked the White House hopefuls to say whether the candidate with a plurality — but not a majority — of the delegates should win the Democratic nomination. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont — the national front-runner — was the only person to answer affirmatively.

Given that the Democratic primary field remains crowded, it is highly likely that no candidate will emerge with more than 50 percent of the delegates, which would result in a brokered convention. This has stoked fears among those who back Sanders, given that such a situation would allow the so-called superdelegates to ignore the will of the people and hand the nomination to a candidate of their choosing.

Per Newsweek, former Barack Obama campaign manager David Plouffe is pushing back against this suggestion.

In an interview with MSNBC broadcast on Saturday, Plouffe said that the idea is “preposterous” in and of itself.

“I have to say about this ‘contested convention’ conversation we’re having, in my view, it’s preposterous,” he said, adding that if Sanders “has 1,400 delegates and somebody else has close to 1,400, then I think the convention could get interesting.”

According to Plouffe, if Sanders continues to march on, winning primary races across the country, future pledged delegates will likely switch their support to him, especially if he manages to win hundreds of delegates on Super Tuesday, when 14 states will vote.

Noting that there is no evidence to suggest that Sanders is less “electable” than any other candidate, Plouffe warned that taking the nomination from him would alienate young voters.

“The other thing, [Sanders is] dominating the young vote, so the notion that we’re going to say ‘You got the most delegates, maybe a majority, but the party leaders have decided that the person who has gotten all that support from young voters — the future of the party — guess what, we’re going to give it to somebody else based on electability.”

Stressing that the Vermont senator is exceptionally popular among young and Latino voters, Plouffe pointed out that Sanders has managed to build a diverse, multi-racial coalition of supporters, which suggests that backers of other candidates will start switching to him as he continues winning primaries.

Plouffe’s statements about party figures meddling with the electoral process to prevent a Sanders victory contradict reports from late 2019, which allege that Obama has signaled willingness to intervene in the Democratic primary in case Sanders comes close to winning the nomination.

In a recent interview, Sanders said that he expects Obama to back him if he wins the nomination, according to The Hill.

Share this article: Former Barack Obama Campaign Manager Downplays ‘Preposterous’ Talk Of Brokered Convention
More from Inquisitr