by Christi Parsons
As Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama publicly court votes in Tuesday’s contests, their campaigns are also beginning to test the future rules of engagement behind the scenes.
This morning, Obama advisors held a telephone conference to decry word that the Clinton campaign might be thinking about courting delegates Obama has already won — not superdelegates, who are free to vote as they wish, but pledged delegates, who are chosen in primaries and caucuses and expected to vote a certain way when they get to the party convention.
Campaign manager David Plouffe didn’t claim to have firsthand knowledge that the Clinton team was cooking up such a strategy, but the conference was called to discuss a Politico piece suggesting the Clintons might consider that an option down the road.
More Top Picks Turkey Fryer
Phil Singer, a spokesman for Clinton, said the New York senator is up to no such thing.
“We have not, are not and will not pursue the pledged delegates of Barack Obama,” Singer said. “It’s now time for the Obama campaign to be clear about their intentions regarding our pledged delegates.”
Asked that very question, Plouffe simply said the campaign is “focused on winning pledged delegates” in the scheduled contests that still remain.
But he and David Wilhelm, another Obama advisor, made it clear they think it’s a poor tactic that voters would respond to negatively.
So is it fair to go after the pledged delegates? Maybe the answer depends on how badly one needs to do so.