Published: August 25, 2008 11:42 pm            

Flatwoods native travels to Denver as delegate

DENVER — Tyler Murphy admits that it would “take a miracle” to prevent Barack Obama from receiving the Democratic Party’s nomination for president.

Nevertheless, the Flatwoods resident and first-time delegate to this week’s Democratic National Convention says he will be casting his vote for Hillary Clinton in Denver.

Even if Obama has received enough votes to win the nomination, Tyler, 20, says , “I will vote for Hillary no matter how many ballots there are. I am totally committed to Hillary Clinton.”

As a pledged Clinton delegate, Murphy said, “I was sent here (Denver) by the people of Kentucky to reflect their votes, and Hillary Clinton overwhelmingly won the majority of votes in Kentucky’s May primary.”

But Murphy, a junior at Transylvania University in Lexington and Russell High School graduate, said his support for Clinton goes beyond the borders of Kentucky.

“My vote for Hillary will not just be for the voters of Kentucky but for the 18 million Americans who voted for Hillary Clinton in the primaries, more than any other candidate in the history of this country. I plan to stand up and reflect the votes of these people.”

Murphy, a frequent contributor to The Independent’s “In Your View” letters, said he is disappointed in the national leadership of the Democratic Party. “I believe they have failed the rank-and-file voters.”

Murphy thinks the party should have counted the votes cast in the primaries in Michigan and Florida.

“Michigan’s primary was a fair and free election,” Murphy said, adding that it was Obama’s decision not to have his name in the Michigan ballot, but that choice should not erase the Michigan votes cast for Clinton.

“To do that is to disenfranchise those voters,” Murphy said. In Florida, names of both Clinton and Obama were on the ballot, and neither candidate campaigned there, Murphy said. Therefore, he thinks Florida should be treated like any other primary state.

Because Florida and Michigan had moved their primaries to late January, the Democratic National Committee announced before those primaries that it would discount the votes cast in those two states.

Murphy said he is upset that the Democratic National Committee is allowing superdelegates in Michigan to cast ballots for Obama. “I don’t think Obama should be awarded delegates in a state in which he wasn’t even on the ballot,” he said.

Murphy said he also is concerned about the possible “inappropriation of delegates in the caucus states.”

Most of Obama’s delegates are in the states that held caucuses instead of primaries, Murphy said. “Caucuses exclude large groups of people, including the elderly who can’t get out, those who work or are sick,” he said. “The number of people who vote in caucuses is small compared to the number who vote in primaries, but the party gives caucuses just as much weight.”

In the days leading up to the May primary in Kentucky, Murphy was on Clinton’s staff in Kentucky and active in her campaign in the central part of the state. He said he is largely responsible for getting both Bill and Hillary Clinton to attend a rally at Transylvania on the eve of the May primary.

Murphy said he never thought Obama would choose Hillary Clinton as his running mate and he didn’t want him to choose her.

“I don’t think the most experienced candidate and the one who received the most popular votes should play second fiddle to a political newcomer,” Murphy said. Instead, he said he would like to see Clinton as majority leader of the Senate, replacing Harry Reid of Nevada.

So will Murphy support Obama in November? He says he is undecided.

Murphy said he is “totally committed” to seeing Democrat Bruce Lunsford defeat Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and to electing the other Democratic candidates in Kentucky. But he said Obama is putting his previous avid support for nearly all Democratic candidates “to the test.”

“As you know, Hillary Clinton is supporting Senator Obama, and I respect that,” Murphy said. “But I am pledged to Hillary Clinton and I will support her for as long as I can.”

Other delegates to the Democratic National Convention from northeastern Kentucky — all pledged to Hillary Clinton — are Bill and Lois Combs Weinberg of Hindman, Tim Wireman of Salyersville and Sarah Allen of Prestonsburg, and alternate Clinton delegates Joyce LeMaster of Morehead and Justine Cline of Owingsville.

        

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