Hillary's Delegate Endgame: Update

How far will Hillary Clinton go to make sure she gets the Democratic nomination? Readers of this column have already learned of her intention to try to seat Michigan and Florida delegates in her without a fair re-vote. The courtship of Super Delegates, too, has been a focal point for both Clinton and Obama, with many party insiders fearing an outcome in which Obama would win the pledged delegates, only to have that total overturned by the "Supers" at the convention.

Well, today comes word of yet another wrinkle in Clinton's increasingly uphill quest for the White House. The Politico reports that Hillary is prepared to enact a strategy to attempt to siphon away Obama's pledged delegates. Roger Simon:

Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign intends to go after delegates whom Barack Obama has already won in the caucuses and primaries if she needs them to win the nomination. This strategy was confirmed to me by a high-ranking Clinton official on Monday. And I am not talking about superdelegates, those 795 party big shots who are not pledged to anybody. I am talking about getting pledged delegates to switch sides.

So you see, if you thought that your vote actually mattered, you were mistaken. Turns out it was nothing more than a symbolic gesture. One that could be overturned in an instant depending on the whimsy of long-standing party alliances.

Pledged delegates are not really pledged at all, not even on the first ballot. This has been an open secret in the party for years, but it has never really mattered because there has always been a clear victor by the time the convention convened.

So how will the residents of a state like Virginia feel if their pledged delegates suddenly break for Hillary Clinton? While former Virginia mayor, Doug Wilder, predicted riots in the street should the Super Delegates trump the pledged variety, the question of what would happen if pledged delegates magically changed sides remains unclear.

But one neutral Democratic operative said to me: "If you are Hillary Clinton , you know you can't get the nomination just with superdelegates without splitting the party. You have to go after the pledged delegates."

By now it is clear that Clinton, ever the fighter, will play every last card in her deck before allowing Obama to wrest the nomination away from her.

UPDATE: Earlier today, both campaigns came forward and are now pledging that they will not try to "poach" pledged delegates from one another.