Superdelegates 101

In the wake of Super Tuesday, the Clinton/Obama faceoff is more confusing than ever. But an "X" factor could change the shape of the race: So-called "superdelegates," Democratic party insiders who are the free agents of the primary season. Could the delegates throw the convention into disarray? The Nation political correspondent Ari Berman, expanding on his recent piece about the delegate race, breaks down who these "superdelegates" are, and what they mean to the Clinton/Obama race.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080218/berman

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• commentary
• analysis
• superdelegates
• obama
• clinton
• 2008
• Election
• subversion
• of
• justice
• and
• democracy

[revjmike]

Good historical review. 

Will the Superdelegates nominate Hillary if Obama wins? If so there will be a major revolt of "we the people."

[chesterandreduction]

something tells me they aren't going to fight crime or fly...something else tells me they're going to screw us.

[intrepidxxx]

DR.RON PAUL

[tweezwanen]

It's time the DNC think hard what they will do about this democratic election process, and change it, if they want voters to stick with their party. How fair is it that poor people have to give their money to this process just to ensure that the right presidential candidate is in place? This is all a money making venture for the politicians, media, etc, whilst the poor man in the street goes hungry. This is capitalistic democracy, where only the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer.

[tweezwanen]

Superdelegates are like yoyos. Most of them are disloyal and selfish politicians who are only voting for the winner to gain something. Once they make a choice it should be a final choice, whether in public or at the convention. They should not be allowed to change their minds, that is why voting at the convention is the best thing for them. The delegates should be respected during the election, because their people's voices have been heard.

[tweezwanen]

I think that the Democratic party need to revamp their election process and do away with the superdelegates. There should be only a number of uneven delegates allotted for all the states, which get a chance to vote, and the presidential candidate who wins the most votes becomes the nominee. If there's a tie, then the DNC can have that final vote for the presidential candidate, which will be a vote fair and square. Superdelegates are a waste of time, and have no real value in this election proces

[tweezwanen]

I'm not surprised that most male superdelegates will vote for Obama. This is all about sexism, and there're men out there who're worried about a woman becoming the president. What are they be afraid of? Give Hillary a chance to prove that she's more capable of doing the job. She has the backing of millions of voters. Don't their voices count? The DNC reminds us of the government of Zimbabwe who's as corrupted as you can get. Something is fishy & the voters will not let this pass so easily.

[shoobydoowow]

get rid of superdelegates! Its unfair and undemocratic!

Hope those guys feel special.

[MotownMoleman]

This concept of "superdelegates" has to go. The DNC should hold a series of regional elections and get the job done. Today's approach is HIGHLY inefficient, it does NOT fairly represent the will of the people and it stinks of corruption. DNC - please change NOW because you have NO HOPE of changing when candidates are all ready tainting the system a year+ before the primaries....

[chulahagh]

There is no such thing as the Democratic Party. You don't call Republicans, Republics either. It's called the Democrat Party...

I really get tired of correctly government educated people.

[chulahagh]

It because they are racists that can't trust their own voter base.

[chulahagh]

Democrats use superdelegates because they are racist. They can't trust their minority base to vote "correctly".