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If we can count electoral votes in November, we're going to count superdelegates in June.
"I think they're writing about us on the internet..."
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If you want to play according to the strict rule of the process, we shouldn’t celebrate on November 8 when the Democratic nominee defeats Donald Freakin’ Trump in a rout. Constitutionally, it’s still a contested election even after all of the votes have been cast. Going strictly by the rules of the process, it’s premature to celebrate until December 14 when our nominee officially defeats Trump in the electoral vote—a purist would want to wait even longer, until January 6 when Congress counts and certifies the results.
But we don’t do that. We declare a winner by the end of voting on election night because we know the outcome even though the final, official votes haven’t been cast. Since those unbound electors have told us how they’re going to vote, we can say with almost 100% confidence that the so-called “super-electors” are not going to change their minds in the short window between the election and the meeting of the electoral college.
The same goes for the Democratic convention. Barring some unexpected, epic landslide in Bernie’s favor on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton will come out of this primary with the most votes and the most pledged delegates, and it won’t even be close. She’s leading by double-digits in the popular vote, and she’s likely to end the day with a pledged delegate lead of more than 300 over Bernie Sanders. Even without the results tomorrow, her current lead in votes and delegates is many times larger than then-Sen. Obama’s lead was at any point back in 2008.
Most of the superdelegates have told us how they’re going to vote. They’re going to vote for the person they believe is the best for the job, which, for most of them, is also the person who won the most votes and the most delegates by a wide margin. The superdelegates aren’t going to swing the nomination barring some earth-shattering event, just like those 236 unbound electors in the electoral college will likely never swing the election barring some crazy circumstances.
If we can declare a president-elect on election night in November when he or she is projected to win 270 electoral votes, even when a full 43% of those electors can vote for whomever they prefer, you bet we’re going to recognize our presumptive nominee on June 7 when she is projected to have won 2,383 delegates to the convention. It wouldn’t be any other way for any other candidate.
But we don’t do that. We declare a winner by the end of voting on election night because we know the outcome even though the final, official votes haven’t been cast. Since those unbound electors have told us how they’re going to vote, we can say with almost 100% confidence that the so-called “super-electors” are not going to change their minds in the short window between the election and the meeting of the electoral college.
The same goes for the Democratic convention. Barring some unexpected, epic landslide in Bernie’s favor on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton will come out of this primary with the most votes and the most pledged delegates, and it won’t even be close. She’s leading by double-digits in the popular vote, and she’s likely to end the day with a pledged delegate lead of more than 300 over Bernie Sanders. Even without the results tomorrow, her current lead in votes and delegates is many times larger than then-Sen. Obama’s lead was at any point back in 2008.
Most of the superdelegates have told us how they’re going to vote. They’re going to vote for the person they believe is the best for the job, which, for most of them, is also the person who won the most votes and the most delegates by a wide margin. The superdelegates aren’t going to swing the nomination barring some earth-shattering event, just like those 236 unbound electors in the electoral college will likely never swing the election barring some crazy circumstances.
If we can declare a president-elect on election night in November when he or she is projected to win 270 electoral votes, even when a full 43% of those electors can vote for whomever they prefer, you bet we’re going to recognize our presumptive nominee on June 7 when she is projected to have won 2,383 delegates to the convention. It wouldn’t be any other way for any other candidate.
More: http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/6/6/1534917/-If-we-can-count-electoral-votes-in-November-we-re-going-to-count-superdelegates-in-June