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MoveOn director blasts superdelegate harassment

The Washington director of the progressive advocacy group MoveOn.org, which voted to endorse Bernie Sanders earlier this year, denounced strongly on Wednesday efforts by un-allied Sanders supporters to threaten superdelegates backing Hillary Clinton.

“I have to say we should leave harassment of superdelegates to the Republicans. They seem to have that market cornered. But frankly, there’s no place for harassing anyone, really in either party in American politics. This should be a contest of ideals and issues," said Ben Wikler in an interview with CNN's "New Day."

Over the weekend, NPR reported on a man named Spencer Thayer who launched a website on April 4 initially titled "Superdelegate Hit List," soliciting contact information for Clinton superdelegates in order to get in touch with them and persuade them. The website's title was changed on April 6 to simply "Superdelegate List." "The intent of the branding was to parody the famous Clinton Hit List, this was a tongue–in–cheek attempt at parody which I thought would encourage resharing," Thayer told NPR. "The branding began to detract from the campaign's purpose, so it wasn't a hard decision to make the change once it was clear it wasn't working."

"Now I will say I think that superdelegates and MoveOn members across the country, I think most Americans would agree, superdelegates should support the winners of the primaries and caucuses. It shouldn’t be the case that a small group of insiders can overturn the choice of the public," Wikler said. "But at the end of the day, it shouldn’t be about lobbying insiders one way or the other. Ultimately, this is a contest that should be decided by the American electorate. That’s the system we should have. That’s the system that I think most Americans expect us to have. It’s a little weird and outdated that the handful of superdelegates could potentially tip the balance against the choice of the American people.”

Asked whether Sanders should be more forceful in calling out such actions from his supporters, Wikler said that the Vermont senator has on past occasions publicly called on his backers to be civil and respectful.

“I think everyone should come out in opposition to bullying. I would love to see that from Sanders. You know, Clinton has been speaking about it. Unfortunately, Donald Trump engages in bullying directly from the campaign stage," he added. "This website was not affiliated in any way with the campaign or with any of the allied groups supporting Bernie Sanders, but I hope the person that created it will think wisely about what kind of behavior he’s encouraging. Everyone has a voice and the right to make their voice heard."