Response: Super Delegate Vote
Thank you for contacting me about my endorsement of Hillary Clinton. I know you feel strongly about this matter and wanted to respond to let you know why I have chosen to support her for President.
I endorsed Hillary Clinton last May because I believe she will be our best foot forward this fall, and ultimately will make the best President of the United States. That has not changed.
I feel strongly that Hillary Clinton is the most qualified and capable candidate to be President; just as strongly as Bernie Sanders supporters feel about him. We have two heartfelt beliefs that are crashing together.
I also believe the presidential nominee has a responsibility to the Democratic Party to help elect down ballot candidates. To implement real change, we need to take back control of the House of Representatives and the Senate. I have more confidence in Hillary Clinton to work for the Party. She understands this and has a long history of supporting the Democratic Party. In fact, she has not only pledged to help down ballot candidates, but raised nearly $15 million for the Democratic National Committee and state parties during the last fundraising quarter.
In contrast, Bernie Sanders will not commit to helping down ballot candidates by using his impressive fundraising structure to benefit the national or state parties. As someone who is running as a Democrat in the House of Representatives, that is extremely concerning to me. It tells me that I can't rely on Bernie Sanders to help get the House majority back.
I also want to point out that super delegates don't cast their votes until July 27th at the National Democratic Convention. That is over three months away. Between now and then, millions of people will vote or caucus and 1647 pledged delegates will be cast.
I believe Hillary Clinton will be our nominee. The reality is that Hillary Clinton has a significant lead among pledged delegates (not including super delegates). She currently has 1,289 pledged delegates, 251 more delegates than Bernie Sanders, and a larger lead than Barack Obama had at this point in the process when he first ran for President. She has earned 2.3 million more votes than Sanders. And she has built a broad coalition of supporters that reflects the Democratic Party.
That said, the candidate that wins will be the candidate who worked the hardest, ran the best campaign, and earned it.
No matter who wins the nomination, I hope we can all come together and support that candidate. I believe in the Democratic Party and our vision for this country. Now more than ever, we need to fight the hate, bigotry, and dangerous policies that we hear from the GOP candidates. If Bernie Sanders wins the election, I won't hesitate to support him wholeheartedly. I hope you will do the same if that candidate is Hillary Clinton.
Let's commit to moving our country forward - together.
Rick
