Bloglanta

Dear Congressman Lewis,

As Obama and Clinton move through the delegate process, it’s clear you are under tremendous pressure to switch your Super-delegate vote from Clinton to Obama.

Don’t do it. In fact, leave it completely open. Being an unaffiliated super-delegate has plenty of advantages for you, the district, and the country.

Let’s go backwards. Here is why not supporting either one is what you can do for your country: it lets the voters decide. It lets the people who participate in the process make the decision, and that is as it should be.

For the district, it lets you ask questions publicly and apply leverage. If you a not affiliated you can ask in an unbiased way about the Candidates’ positions on urban development, inner city education, transportation issues, and many more. Your district includes a potent Jewish community, large African American community, and is increasingly full of DINKS who are living in all the new Condo towers. Each have specific needs the solutions to which you can leverage from the candidates.

Finally, not deciding helps you. The voters may let you off the hook and since your vote on this will in no way affect your re-election, you would be free to vote your conscience. If, however, the super-delegates are going to decide it, then you have to look within yourself and see who you believe can actually get the most accomplished for the 5th Congressional district and for the nation as a whole. Again, if you wait, your undecided status lets you leverage support for Piedmont Park, the City, and our various transportation projects. Commit now, and no one will come courting.

Yes, people from all sides will be screaming at you, but most of your Constituents will be far more interested in how you arrived at your decision rather than what the content of the decision will be. Regardless of what you decide, making a good argument here is essential. Persuade the voters that your decision is smart and just and your voters will keep giving you the margins to which you’re accustom.

Sincerely Yours,

Bloglanta

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 at 9:31 am and is filed under Politics, as Usual. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.