Today, Hillary Clinton broke her promise to Iowa and New Hampshire.
Hillary Clinton previously signed a pledge. The pledge was NOT to campaign in Florida, which had broken DNC rules when it tried to move its Democratic primary before Iowa's and New Hampshire's.
But now, after a staggering defeat in SC, and the impending endorsement by Ted Kennedy of Obama, she broke her word. She went to Florida.
She not only went to Florida today, she is going to be in Florida on Tuesday night, the night of the illegal primary. HRC is also saying Florida delegates should be seated (the DNC had stripped Florida of its delegates for messing with the schedule).
Do you think the good people of New Hampshire would have cast their votes for HRC if they had known then she was going to break her word? Of course not.
PS. Re the history of the pledge, here's the first few 'graphs in the New York Times from September:
September 2, 2007
Clinton, Obama and Edwards Join Pledge to Avoid Defiant States
By JEFF ZELENY
PORTSMOUTH, N.H., Sept. 1 — Three of the major Democratic presidential candidates on Saturday pledged not to campaign in Florida, Michigan and other states trying to leapfrog the 2008 primary calendar, a move that solidified the importance of the opening contests of Iowa and New Hampshire.
Hours after Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina agreed to sign a loyalty pledge put forward by party officials in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York followed suit. The decision seemed to dash any hopes of Mrs. Clinton relying on a strong showing in Florida as a springboard to the nomination.
“We believe Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina play a unique and special role in the nominating process,” Patti Solis Doyle, the Clinton campaign manager, said in a statement.
The pledge sought to preserve the status of traditional early-voting states and bring order to an unwieldy series of primaries that threatened to accelerate the selection process. It was devised to keep candidates from campaigning in Florida, where the primary is set for Jan. 29, and Michigan, which is trying to move its contest to Jan. 15.
(Emphasis added). Full story here.