Just what the hell are "Super Delegates"?!
Well, they're the folks who make up 20% or so of the votes to decide who gets a party's nomination. The majority of delegates are given to candidates based on state allotments and percentages of votes received from the citizenry. The so-called supers are governors, elected officials, and state party reps who endorse a candidate (now I see why the Kennedy thing was such a big deal) and thereby "vote" for him/her to get the nomination.
Since the Democratic race is so damned close this year, these superdelegates' choices may just decide who gets nominated, not the voters of each state. It seems they're around to keep us dumb citizens from making the "wrong" choice at the convention.
Every day I find out some new soul-crushing thing about our so-called democracy. Yikes.
3 comments:
TR, there was a decent article in The Nation about superdelegates, if you're looking for more about the history. It's more of the same "elites don't trust the unruly masses" crap that makes life in these United States so affirming.
When I worked on the Jesse Jackson presidential campaign in 1988, this was one of many tactics used to scare people into changing their vote or not supporting Jackson at all: "you realize that Dukakis has the superdelegates already lined up, your vote for Jackson means nothing" et al. Not that Jackson could ever have been the nominee, but it would have been fun to see him go to the convention with a plurality of delegates and force the party to make a deal.
Long story, short summary: don't let the mainstream "conventional wisdom" talk you out of supporting a candidate or an idea. The mainstream self-perpetuates the status quo, but every now and then it can be nudged into a form of progress. Its say-so is certainly no reason to give up your electoral hopes and dreams.
Thanks, Fer. I wasn't planning on letting a bunch of "elites" ruin my Primary Voting Day; however, they did bum me out a little.
I realize there is no perfect system (Hello, Dubya's re-election committee calling...) but I do like to think that our democracy is more available to us than a table at the fuckin' Waverly Inn or some such.
I will say I am buoyed by the increasing numbers of people voting in the primaries. By those numbers you'd think Britney Spears was on the ballot!
Yes, we had to write in Ms Spears on the TN ballot, but I'm certainly feeling fulfilled as a result. When SHE of all people can be no worse than any of the other candidates, you know the political system is in need of an overhaul.
One more article on superdelegates you might find useful. Cockburn is grouchy but has an accurate recollection of history and where it takes us. He remembered the parallels to 1988, also, among other election years.
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