Please note, both Sarah and Eleanor have asked for a clarification of the role of the Superdelegates in the nominating context, and I have responded with an explanation in the comments of the last post. If it's still unclear, let me know and I can try some more...
I should add to what I wrote there with just a slightly higher level view, for those who need it:
There are about 4050 delegates to the national convention. Most are selected through the primaries and caucuses - that's the process we're going through now. But roughly 800 of them are not. These are the Superdelegates - Party Leaders and Elected Officials, or PLEOs. They are your congresspeople, your senators, your governors, your big city mayors, your former ones of all of those, and your state party officials. They decide all on their own about for whom to vote at the convention. Every delegate at the convention - Pledged and Super - has one vote of equal weight.
By the way, I'm not sure at what point the pledged delegates become unpledged. In other words, we know that if no candidate gets a majority on the first ballot, there is a second ballot. And so forth. Perhaps it is after the first ballot...
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
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4 comments:
I was drinking my Dundo's coffee this a.m. reading Dan's breakdown on the Superdelegates, and I'm wondering if the Superdelegates are divided along party lines or if it is just a free-for-all. Also, do they declare publicly who they are placing a vote for? If McCain has an unbeatable lead, wouldn't McCain supporters place their vote for the least electable Democrat?
Ah, cowboy wisdom, an important point. This is a party-specific exercise - only Democrats need apply. So whereas Senator Ted Kennedy, Congressman Barney Frank, and Governor Deval Patrick are all superdelegates, Senator John Sununu, Congressman Duncan Hunter, and Governor George Pataki are not - they are superdelegates to the Republican convention. Did I understand your question correctly?
I believe all the votes at the convention are public, but I'm not sure. At the very least, they read out the totals state-by-state. And since these people are all supposed to be representing other people, it would be hard for them to justify keeping a secret.
I could use a little Dundo's before class myself...
The entire notion of Superdelegates is super sketchy. Given the hype they’ve received this cycle (despite the media’s lackluster attempts to fully explain how the nomination process works), I’m surprised there hasn’t been more talk about how anti-democratic the Superdelegate nomination process is. Of the Dem’s 4050 delegates, 800 (or roughly 20%) can ignore everyone and do whatever they want, since they’re not bound by a state’s primary results like your average delegate (sidenote: What exactly about that is super?).
That being said, there are rules to the process, and being a Superdelegate can be a super drag. For instance, just because you’re not bound by the state’s primary results doesn’t mean you can run across the aisle and support Huckleberry. I was tickled by this morning’s news that Senator Joe Lieberman was stripped of his Superdelegate status after doing just that, and the Democrats have just the rule to deal with this situation. Known as the Zell Miller rule (I’m not kidding), it was created in response to Miller’s endorsement of Bush in 2004. Rather than send these turncoats off to Azkaban, the Democrats have a rule that disqualifies any Democrat who crosses the aisle from having 'Super' status.
It gets crazier: Joe will not be replaced, so CT loses a Superdelegate and is now left with 11. After Obama’s surprise win there Tuesday night (and I thought CT was only good for Nantucket red critter shorts and the Merritt Parkway), 5 of the Superdelegates are supporting him while 1 is with Clinton and 5 are still neutral. At least for now...
R.I.P. Mitt…can anyone say McCain-Lieberman ’08?
follow up: that being said, doesn't the democrat's response to traitors merely perpetuate exactly what is so odious about the superdelegate process to begin with? That you're super so you can choose for yourself, but if we don't agree, we'll take away those privileges?
will joe at least retain regular delegate status?
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