As if Jennifer Moore’s treatment of Jeff Noble (she’s still doing it) wasn’t bad enough, get a load of this.
Twenty people (delegates) have filed a complaint or challenge against Ruth Ann Palumbo and the Kentucky Democratic Party for failure to implement a plan approved by the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee. Both Chairwoman Jennifer Moore and Executive Director Jeremy Horton are named in the challenge.
Long story short, Jennifer Moore replaced three pledged male Clinton delegates with three females after being notified by the DNC that the gender balance of Kentucky’s delegation was imbalanced. Jennifer replaced one of the Clinton delegates (Todd Hollenbach) with a female Obama delegate, which doesn’t quite fly by the rules, as you might imagine. Jennifer’s own family is involved and named in the challenge.
It is time for Jennifer Moore to resign. The Kentucky Democratic Party is now the laughing stock of the nation. Our sources at the DNC reveal to us that the national party is more than pissed at Kentucky and sees this as a legitimate complaint. Way to go, KDP!
UPDATE: PolWatchers put together a story sometime after Page One and provides some additional details.
“The DNC certified the entire Kentucky Delegation and we are focused on going to Denver and electing Senator Barack Obama as our nominee. This year more than ever it is important to be unified as Democrats and we are ready to work hard to elect Senator Obama to the White House,” said the party’s statement released through spokesman Thom Karmik.
Olivia Anne Morris Fuchs, a key Kentucky organizer for Clinton, said she and those who are attending the Denver convention all seek the same thing: “a unified, energized, recharged Democratic Party” but not at the expense of the rulebook.
“The reason we’re doing this is that the only thing that separates us from the beasts is the rule of law. We have rules and there is a reason for them, and when we don’t adhere to them no one succeeds and we’re all diminished,” she said.
Thom Karmik’s (AKA “Dilweed Detector” on Bluegrass Report) remarks on behalf of the KDP are interesting. The state party doesn’t even bother to address the concerns of the TWENTY delegates and continues to ignore its own wrongdoing.
Read the rest and all the details after the jump…
From the summary of the challenge:
1. The Challenged Parties failed to implement an approved DNC RBC plan by: (1) presenting for certification to the DNC, a delegation that was not, as required by the Delegate Selection Rules, equally balanced between gender; (2) choosing to replace only elected pledged Clinton delegates, and not pledged Obama delegates and/or a mixture thereof, upon receiving notice by the DNC that the Kentucky delegation was not balanced between gender; and (3) failing to honor the presidential preference of those elected pledged Clinton delegates that were replaced (i.e., replacing pledged Clinton delegates with pledged Obama delegates instead of pledged Clinton delegates).
2. The Challenged Parties’ open and numerous violations of the 2008 Delegate Selection Rules, 2008 Regulations of the Rules & Bylaws Committee, and 2008 Call for the Democratic National Convention should not be tolerated. The Challenging Parties thus respectfully request that the DNC refuse to seat those recently named delegates such as Palumbo, whose known presidential preference is not for Clinton, and instead, replace the delegates from Kentucky that resigned due to gender inequality in the Kentucky delegation, with known female pledged Clinton delegates.
Juicy portions from the background portion of the challenge:
7. Here, the KDP failed to implement its 2008 Delegate Selection Plan as approved by the RBC. Specifically, on or about June 20, 2008, after being notified by the DNC that the composition of Kentucky’s delegation was not equal in its division of men and women as required by the rules because it had 3 too many men, the KDP sought to have several male delegates resign in order to replace them with female delegates. The three male delegates chosen, however, were all pledged Clinton delegates. Additionally, all the chosen Clinton male delegates were not included in the decision process as to who their permanent female replacements would be, and in some instances, were not even replaced with a permanent female delegate of the same presidential preference (i.e., Clinton) and/or same political subdivision in the state.
-SNIP-
Kentucky’s Clinton Campaign Chair (“Kentucky’s Clinton Chair”) received a call from At-Large, pledged Clinton Delegate Jeff Harney, who informed Kentucky’s Clinton Chair that KDP Executive Director Jeremy Horton, called him on Thursday, July 3, 2008, to inform him that he was “being removed” as a delegate and would be replaced by a female Clinton delegate.
9. Pledged to Senator Clinton, Mr. Harney felt and has expressed to the KDP and Kentucky’s Clinton Chair that he was unfairly singled out because of his openly gay status.
-SNIP-
12. In regards to the two remaining delegate positions that would need to be replaced with female delegates, KDP Chairwoman Moore informed Kentucky’s Clinton Chair that her uncle (Jesus Menendez) who was also a pledged Clinton Delegate, would resign and be replaced by her aunt (Shirley A. Menendez). KDP Chairwoman Moore further stated that in regards to the third delegate, yet another Clinton delegate – Clinton PLEO Todd Hollenbach would resign and his spot would be filled by a pledged Clinton female.
-SNIP-
17. Upon learning of the recent alleged female Clinton delegate replacements, Kentucky’s Clinton Chair informed KDP Chairwoman Moore that the replacement of Mr. Hollenbach with Palumbo, a known, state-wide Obama supporter, was not appropriate under the Delegate Selection Rules and Kentucky Delegate Selection Plan. Kentucky’s Clinton Chair also informed Chairwoman Moore that unless the replacement of Mr. Hollenbach with a known pledged Clinton supporter occurred, a challenge would be filed with the DNC.
Click here (PDF Link) to read the entire challenge.
We call on Governor Steve Beshear and the Kentucky Democratic Party’s State Central Executive Committee to clean house at KDP Headquarters immediately.
22 responses so far ↓
1 KYJurisDoctor // Aug 14, 2008 at 6:44 pm
I gotta hand it to you guys, like me you call it like you see it.
2 vernon // Aug 14, 2008 at 8:25 pm
It amazes me that the Governor continues to let this bunch of clowns tear down the reputation of the Ky Democratic Party. How long will it take to re-establish creditability at the KDP after this sorry bunch leaves? A person would be silly to donate to the KDP with such sorry management practices not counting the way they deal with other Democrats. Just what does it take to get the Governor to act?
3 *** // Aug 14, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Lundergan has been threatening this for a while. Anyone see the coincidence in waiting until after his daughter lost her bid to be Kathy Stein’s replacement in the House?
4 jake // Aug 14, 2008 at 10:10 pm
It’s not a coincidence and it has nothing to do with Jerry.
This is all about the crap Jennifer and her crew have pulled.
Most of the folks who have been talking about this have never even met Jerry Lundergan. It’s been the hot topic for several weeks.
5 Republican gadfly // Aug 15, 2008 at 12:28 am
How hard will I be allowed to laugh if this plan to put Hillary’s name in nomination galvanizes a bunch of the superdelegates into realizing how tarnished and tainted and unelectable Barack H. Obama really is and Hillary somehow wins the nomination because the Democrats wise up and realize she is a better candidate to run against McCain?
Not that I want any of the three to win, mind you. Someone from one of the other third parties is going to have to give me a really good reason not to vote for Bob Barr.
6 3CardNana // Aug 15, 2008 at 7:45 am
How about “I’m not Bob Barr”?
7 Republican gadfly // Aug 15, 2008 at 9:15 am
I’ve already decided I’m not voting for McCain. And my conscience won’t allow me to vote for Obama, although in many ways I think a one-term Obama presidency would be good for the conservative movement and ultimately the entire country. So I’m left with voting for Barr as the most conservative candidate in the race, unless there’s a better third-party choice.
8 BHG // Aug 15, 2008 at 9:51 am
I note that this mess apparently got started at the same convention where the controversy over Mr. Noble got started. Apparently no one at KDP can count?????
9 Oh My // Aug 15, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Reading the complaint made my eyes cross. Is the writer an attorney? Either she is or a lawyer ghost wrote it for her.
What the heck is going on at KDP headquarters?
With due respect, Jake, there are few, if any, active Democrats who don’t know who Jerry Lundergan is. They may not have been formally introduced, but he is a rather large figure in Democratic politics (okay, there may be some younger Dems in urban settings who missed his royal processions).
10 jake // Aug 15, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Of course people know who he is. But the current crew that have been discussing it privately for a few weeks aren’t affiliated with Jerry in the least. Many of them have never even consumed the delicious treats from Lundy’s.
Yeah, Olivia is an attorney in Louisville. I’ve called her politics crazy in the past, but she’s a bright attorney no matter what I’ve had to say.
11 Jerry's cell mate // Aug 15, 2008 at 3:50 pm
How bout you McCain democrats take yer boy Lundergan and go hang out at the GOP convention?
Those of us who live in the Bluegrass state have had enough of the corruption and compromise of the blue dogs. Time for you to exit the stage.
12 jake // Aug 15, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Uh, you’re preaching to the wrong crowd, princess. We’re not exactly what I’d call “McCain democrats” OR Lundergan Democrats.
This is about the rules, people. Regardless of who filed the challenge with the Democratic National Committee. Jennifer Moore and the Kentucky Democratic Party clearly violated the rules. No amount of complaining and spinning can change that fact.
Why not read the challenge before commenting, people?
13 JJW // Aug 15, 2008 at 8:57 pm
I know first hand about the problem(s) listed in this article, Trust me! The current people at the KDP headquarters were arrogant as well as misleading. As far as I know, some of people listed as resigning their positions as a delegate did not resign at all. Then replacing a Clinton delegate with an Obama one? Then Moore mentions a deal involving Sen. Neal, but then turns around saying it’s too late to make changes? I agree, it’s time to clean house!
14 Bruce Maples // Aug 16, 2008 at 10:57 pm
I try, I try, to believe the best of people. And, it’s possible that this is all just a poorly-managed delegate process, with well-meaning people doing the best they could to follow the arcane rules of the DNC.
Or … not.
At the very least, it is a tale of fumble-fingers and ham-handedness that just increases the reputation of the Bluegrass State as inept, if not corrupt. The only way to top this would be to fly them all Denver in the Ernie Fletcher jet.
Sheesh.
15 vernon // Aug 17, 2008 at 9:49 am
These mistakes could have easily been avoided if the Chair had included the By Laws Cmte in planning the convention and assuring the rules were followed. There were so many rules violated concerning this convention that it will go down as one of the most screwed up Demo conventions in history, They couldn’t even get the notices right and even tried to keep Alternates from being elected for the convention in violation of the By Laws. This was corrected after much insistance by the By Laws Cmte. The Chairlady and the General Counsel made all the decisions on the rules at the convention. It is no wonder this is the mess that it is. Experienced leadership would have prevented these kind of problems. These clowns need to to go.
16 James R. // Aug 17, 2008 at 12:03 pm
If the Democratic Party has rules then they need to be followed. It is the job of the Democratic Party Chairman to follow the rules.
If you do not like the rules it does not matter, you still must follow the rules.
This is not about Obama or Clinton, this is about following the rules that were laid down at the beginnning.
17 thetownecrier // Aug 19, 2008 at 1:34 am
Agree with James R. Rules are rules. Follow ‘em. Why is that soooooo hard??? So embarassing when the regular folks expose the supposedly smarter ones who are breaking the rules.
18 paul lukasiak // Aug 19, 2008 at 10:26 am
It should be noted that Hollenbach, as a statewide elected official, should never have been asked to resign. Under the Democratic Party Delegate Selection Rule 9c-1 (see http://a9.g.akamai.net/7/9/8082/v001/democratic1.download.akamai.com/8082/pdfs/2008delegateselectionrules.pdf page 11) state parties are required to prioritize the allocation of its PLEOs, and statewide elected officials (along with big city mayors) are at the top of the list — well above “state legislative leaders, state legislators, and other state, county and local elected officials and party leaders.”
The challenge itself is flawed because it does not consider the implication of Rule 9c-1, and rather than request that Hollenbach be replaced by a female, it should have demanded that Hollenbach be reinstated per the rules, and that a male PLEO at the bottom of the priority list be replaced by someone supporting the same candidate.
19 Forks of Elkhorn // Aug 19, 2008 at 11:36 am
Vernon is right. But look at the old By-Laws Committee. Who was on it? The Chair - Blackburn - gone - refused to work with these people. The Vice Chair - Holbrook - gone - defeated by the slate’s candidate. And Noble - gone - under suspicious circumstances still not resolved after almost three months. And the other member? Wells - he took a job in the administration. At the state convention, the ByLaws chair wasn’t even allowed to make the ByLaws report. The ByLaws report was given by the Chairwoman. Seems like an intentional gutting of the ByLaws Committee.
20 jake // Aug 19, 2008 at 11:38 am
The Noble thing isn’t just suspicious anymore… well, not since we’ve written about the threats the Chairwoman has made to Mr. Noble and continues to make.
21 You're Kidding, Right? // Sep 10, 2008 at 7:01 pm
You don’t really expect the dems to start following their own rules. They make it up as they go along and then when the gop does something similar they scream to high heaven how it is unfair and possibly criminal. Ain’t that right Mr. Stumbo?
This is all a moot point now. The KDP is going to lose in KY and they know it. Hillary on the top of the ticket was the only slim chance they had. Now they are pointing fingers and screaming sour grapes.
Let ‘em self destruct. It might just bring better government to this place.
22 jake // Sep 10, 2008 at 7:03 pm
This isn’t a moot point because the KDP is going to lose… but because this story is a month old and there have been several updates since then.
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