April 01, 2008

Paris-based "Hyper Delegate" Supporting Clinton

Obama won the first round of the Democrats Abroad primary, 4.5 delegates to 2.5 for Clinton.  But now, the second round of voting is taking place in what is known as the "International Waltz" of overseas voters. And the International Herald Tribune reports today that the decision by a "hyper delegate" from Democrats Abroad France to support Clinton could have a major impact on the results. 

This hyper-delegate has the 1/7th the weight of all pledged international delegates, and the seat has historically been controlled by a Frenchman in recognition of the special role that France played in the American Revolution. The bottom line is that this shift means a 3.5 to 3.5 tie in the overall Dems Abroad results.

The delegate in question, Henri R. R. Ennui, is a long-standing Clinton supporter, having met the then-First Lady when she was visiting France with Bill Clinton following the 1995 Paris Metro bombings.  Hillary has claimed on several occasions that she stayed on in Paris and played an instrumental role in ending the Algerian Civil War. Ennui today confirmed her account, which has been disputed by Nicolas Sarkozy, who insists that he brokered the settlement when he was Interior Minister.

In a wide-ranging interview with Ennui today on television station TF1 [audio clip], he said,

Somewhere, she played a very very important role in the fixation of -- this situation terrible.  I am very proud to say to all Americans, in France and elsewhere, thank you for this chance to support Senator Clinton. Vive L'Amérique!

For more details, and a transcription of the full interview, see here.

By Will Friedman in Humor/Satire | Permalink  | 

Comments

Quel ennui!

Posted by: George V. Reilly | Mar 31, 2008 10:44:47 PM

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