LEAKS: Clinton Camp Discussed Moving Primary Dates to Shut Out Challengers
Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign considered trying to push primary dates earlier to help her chances of winning, according to an email released by WikiLeaks Thursday.
In the email, Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook refers to a conversation he had with somebody identified only as “Berman.”
Mook wrote to Clinton aide Cheryl Mills and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta:
Had a great meeting with Berman today. We discussed him taking the lead on the strategy outlined in his memo: (1) Seeing if we can get MA and VT to push their primaries back, (2) Keep the big blue states (NY, NJ, CA, etc) from moving their primaries earlier and (3) Trying to get LA and WV to join Super Tuesday.
As we discussed in NY, keeping the red states early makes sense if she has a primary (as long as there isn’t a primary competitor winning significant AA votes), but also increases the likelihood the Rs nominate someone extreme.
We agreed that if she gets a significant primary challenger, we need to consider changing course and getting NY, NJ, and maybe others to move their dates earlier to give her hefty early wins.
This leaked info matches earlier reports that former Obama White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley, on behalf of Clinton’s campaign, asked to have the Illinois primary moved to prevent the rise of a more “moderate” GOP candidate. In return for moving the primary, Illinois was offered 10 percent to 20percent extra delegates.
“Berman” could possibly be Jeff Berman, a lobbyist, Clinton consultant and superdelegate for the DNC.
Sen. Bernie Sanders was ultimately Clinton’s challenger, and earlier this year, evidence emerged from hacked emails that the DNC and Clinton campaign possibly colluded.
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