June 12, 2008 - 11:33
News: Maryland

Maryland DNC delegate won’t commit to vote for Obama in November

[img_assist|nid=2567|title=Mary Boergers|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=126|height=170]Says Clinton’s Name Must Be Put In Nomination At Convention

Former house delegate and state Sen. Mary Boergers (D), a pledged delegate to Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), told PolitickerMD.com today that she has not committed to voting for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in the November election, saying she first wants to see what "action's (Obama) takes to unify the party."

Boergers, who represented the people of Montgomery County in the House of Delegates from 1982 to 1990 and in the Senate from 1991 to 1994, also said she would vote for Clinton at the Democratic National Convention in August.

"I'm a pledged Hillary delegate," Boergers said. "That's what I was elected to do."

"I'm shocked that other people think that's a question," she said in reference to reversing her pledged support. "I can't figure out what's going on."

While technically not releasing them, Clinton has been urging her delegates to cast their ballots for Obama at this summer's convention in Denver.

In addition, Boergers said that if the Democratic Party "does not allow (Clinton's) name to be put in nomination at the convention" there "will be an eruption in the party."

She said Clinton deserved a roll call vote at the convention, saying she couldn't understand "why the party would not want to celebrate her groundbreaking and historical campaign."

Boergers also warned that if the party does not "embrace Hillary and her supporters" then they are "in serious trouble" in November.

Asked if she would vote for Obama in the general election, Boergers said, "That remains to be seen."

She said she could envision a scenario where she does not vote for Obama, referring once again to the need to put Clinton's name into nomination at the convention.

When asked if she could potentially vote for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz), Boergers said, "I haven't even begun to make that kind of judgment."

"The ball is in Sen. Obama's court," Boergers said.

The former state senator also said she had "mixed feelings" about the idea of Clinton joining the Democratic ticket, saying she would "personally rather see her in the U.S. Senate."

"But I hear some say that they will only vote for Obama if Clinton is on the ticket," Boergers added. "So, for the sake of winning the White House-I would support that."

In a recent e-mail attributed to Boergers on the blog of commentator Taylor Marsh, Boergers described a Clinton conference call that took place Monday night with her delegates.

Confirming to PolitickerMD.com that the statement was "absolutely accurate," Boergers said, "I was on that conference call and there was nothing in Hillary's comments to indicate that she was releasing her delegates and urging them to vote for Obama on the first vote in Denver. In fact, what Harold Ickes said was that the campaign would like to keep Hillary's delegates together so that she can more effectively fight for issues like universal health care to make sure it is included in the party platform."

Asked today if Clinton should release her delegates to Obama, Boergers said, "Why would she? Nobody does that."

"I don't think people get that Hillary is a hero to us," Boergers said. "She's not any old candidate."

Kevin Agnese can be reached via email at noreply@politicker.com.

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