I've maintained all along that even if Bernie gets most..........

[socialist_n_TN]

of the delegates in the primaries, that the solid wall of super delegates voting for Hillary will deny him the nomination. I've seen nothing that would change my mind. Agree? Disagree?

The Democratic Party is NOT about democracy, it's about supporting the bourgeoisie. Of course Bernie ALSO supports the bourgeoisie, but not quite as strongly as HRC does which is why he will be denied the nomination by the super delegates.

[awake]

1. Or they may vote for someone else like Joe Biden or Kerry

[socialist_n_TN]

3. Yep. Also an option.......

Actually an expected option IF that outcome happens.

[daleanime]

5. If the people voted for one of those candidates.....

no problem. But since they're not even running that would be kind of hard.

[socialist_n_TN]

12. Someone that didn't run in the primaries would not be a problem....

That's called a draft. All the candidate who didn't run in the primaries would have to do was accept the draft and he/she would be the nominee.

[daleanime]

16. That...

would be very.....bad.

[peacebird]

2. That would create a schism that would destroy the party & lose the election

[socialist_n_TN]

6. Quite possibly .........

But most people forget that the entire purpose of the super delegates was to prevent another "McGovern", i.e. an insurgent candidate that's NOT acceptable to the owners. That would be Bernie at this point, so I'm not sure that that logic would matter.

[ieoeja]

38. But primaries by rank-and-file voting were a pretty new thing at that time.

The idea that they would just do it the way it had always been done before that one election did not seem like such a crazy idea. All these years later it most certainly does seem nuts. Even they have to see that.

[MrChuck]

8. ^this

And the Democratic Party would deserve it.
Not democrats but the party.

[closeupready]

24. +1. Very predictable outcome, IMO.

[Punkingal]

4. I fully expect Hillary would do that if she could.

[socialist_n_TN]

9. I don't think it's a matter of "if she could"........

As I recall about the rules for the super delegates, they are nonaligned and can vote for whomever they please. So if HRC gets a lot of delegates, just not as many as Bernie, the super delegates would put her over the top. That's the point of having the super delegates in the first place, to make sure the Dems have an "acceptable" candidate.

[Bluenorthwest]

26. Many of the uncommitted delegates have that status because they hold elected office, if they

vote against the will of their constituents they do harm to their own electoral standing. So they'd have to be willing to fuck themselves over to benefit someone else, a trait that is very rare in politics. 'I fall on my sword for you'.
The entire field of such delegates comprises one sixth the total delegates, 193 are House members, 47 Senators, 20 are Governors. 456 are elected Party officials, that's who might be in play. Out of about 4,760 total delegates.

[socialist_n_TN]

33. Not really fucking themselves over....

Most people don't even know there ARE super delegates, much less who they are specifically. And judging by the attention span of the American voter (lengthy as a gnat's) I don't think they would worry overmuch about being called on it. Plus, it wouldn't matter anyway. Most officeholders on both sides of the bourgeois political parties are just there to raise enough name recognition and/or gain enough contacts to find that cushy lobbyist or pundit sinecure anyway. So what if they're called on it? They probably won't be voted out and If they are, they go an lobby their former colleagues for Monsanto.

[daleanime]

10. If the primary was split badly enough to last until the convention.....

it wouldn't matter to those folks whether Bernie won popular vote or not. But there's no sense in worrying about something that hopefully won't happen, all we can do is work our tails off.

[FSogol]

7. Wasn't the argument that HRC would do that to prevent Obama from winning?

Did that happen?

The super delegates care about a Democrat winning the Presidency. If Sanders gains enough support to win, the super delegates will be on his side and that includes super delegates pledged to HRC.

[socialist_n_TN]

11. I'll disagree, but ........

we'll have to see. I also believe that Obama was a more "acceptable" candidate, in spite of his color, in 2008 than Bernie would be in 2016. Although, I could see that outcome happening IF Bernie made assurances to carry on in the tradition of Obama and HRC. THEN they might be persuaded to support him.

[emulatorloo]

36. I agree w Fsogle. Obama won the primaries, super delegates switched to Obama because of that

When Bernie wins the primaries I expect they will do the same. As you point out in your OP, Bernie supports the bourgeoisie despite some of the rhetoric thrown around about him.

I don't believe these people are ideologues.

So I don't think they would fuck the election up by making an idiot move like going against the wishes of primary voters and installing a candidate who is not running. IMHO that would so depress Dem turnout in the general that it would almost guarantee a Republican victory.

Bernie supporter here so I try to catch every interview he does. In general to me he seems to be a pragmatist. So on single payer for example, he's quite upfront in his interviews that it will be a huge struggle to get there from here. Practically speaking he will have to build on what the Obama admin has done.

JMHO of course, we will have to wait and see.

[bkkyosemite]

13. This if Bernie wins he won't get the nomination really

upsets me. If he wins and they try to deny him the nomination hell fire and damnation will entail.

[One of the 99]

14. Good point!

Does anyone know how to contact undecided super-delegates and urge the to support Bernie?

[Jim Lane]

43. How to contact superdelegates

One big category of superdelegates is current Democratic officeholders: Governors, Senators, and Congressmembers.

The other big category is the members of the Democratic National Committee. In a quick search I couldn't find a complete list. This page on the national party website has links to all the state parties. Perhaps your state party can provide you with contact information for your state's DNC members.

There's a handful of other superdelegates, such as people who formerly held various positions. Bill Clinton is a superdelegate but maybe you won't want to bother contacting him.

[kenfrequed]

15. Only if the numbers are really close will they do this

If Bernie has a majority of non-superdelegates then some of the superdelegares will defect. The Democratic party is not so foolish to try to overrule the majority of Democrats.

[emulatorloo]

37. Agreed.

[MineralMan]

17. That seems doubtful. I believe Sanders will get a minority of

delegates from the primaries, given current polling in states with large blocs of delegates to be chosen. I don't think the superdelegates will be deciding this nomination. Not this year.

[cherokeeprogressive]

18. What I envision is a Clinton surrogate will file a lawsuit attempting to deny Sanders even a SINGLE

delegate. The reasoning will be that he's not a registered Democrat and therefore deserves NONE of the party's delegates.

Then, if it's successful, they'll claim that O'Malley's delegates notwithstanding; their victory (delegate-wise) in the primary was nearly unanimous.

[artislife]

35. They do that, then I will be voting for Jill Stein.

And who knows how I would vote down ticket.

That is because the Democratic Party would have lost the democracy meaning in its name. They could very well think about winning the battle while losing the war. I wouldn't put it past them.

[PowerToThePeople]

19. We will see.

My crystal ball is not working.

[socialist_n_TN]

25. Hey part of the fun of any election campaign...........

is trying to predict the outcomes. This is no different. Could I be wrong in this particular analysis? Sure I could, but I DO know that one of the reasons the super delegate system was put into place was to prevent an insurgent campaign like McGovern's in '72 from winning the nomination. Bernie's campaign qualifies as an insurgent campaign, albeit mild as milquetoast, so I think it's a legitimate subject for discussion.

[brentspeak]

20. If Bernie receives the popular vote but the super delegates negate their choice

It will decimate the Democratic party for years to come.

[JI7]

21. lol

[tularetom]

22. If that happens it will deserve the name Democrat party

Because as you point out, there won't be anything democratic about it.

There is no doubt in my mind that the Clintons are willing to destroy the party in order to advance and enrich themselves.

[99Forever]

23. If they even attempt to try that..

...this life long Democrat will never vote for a Democrat again, for ANY office.

They will have resigned from all The Democratic Party stood for.

[Renew Deal]

28. The question is whether they are entitled to vote the way they want

And if not, why do we have them?

[Kentonio]

41. Why indeed..

[Renew Deal]

27. I've been thinking about this too

He needs to win every primary 60-40 to overcome them. Should they be expected to roll over? What's the point of having super-delegates if they are supposed to mirror the voters?

[Rebkeh]

29. It's not about democracy but

it is supposed to be. And the only reason it isn't about democracy is because we've allowed it to become distorted. This means it's on us, it always has been. I, for one, aim higher.

Come on, are we Americans or not?

[INdemo]

30. If that should happen there would be a revolt

Actually Hillary the campsign tried to pull this shit in 2008 and we know how that turned out
The Hillary Clinton campaign has become a Republican style campsign and she has wanted this for 23 years and she has the attitude that she will
not be denied.So she will try anything.
For those that remember 1968,if Hillary would to steal the nomination from Bernie the 2016 revolt would make 1968 look like a Sunday School Picnic

[Motown_Johnny]

31. Disagree

If the establishment over rules the will of the voters, that nominee will be seen as illegitimate and doomed to fail.

The damage to the party from this loss will be devastating and they know it. I believe that if Bernie has more delegates going into the convention he will be our nominee. It is in the best interests of the career politicians to not pick a fight against their constituents even if the big donors don't like it.

[madokie]

32. 2008 comes to mind

there was no way that a black man could beat Hillary if I remember right. Thats what all the pundits and Hillary supporters were saying back then. Last I checked President Obama has a year today to go in his second term.

these kinds of post brings out the laugh factor in me when I read them.
Its not just you but anyone who post stuff like this gets the same reaction from me.

Bernie Sanders will be who will be inaugurated a year from now. He'll bring with him a wave of Democratic congress critters like we've not seen before too. And that my friend is how we will win this and begin the journey of bringing this country back to her feet as a Government of and for the People.
Anything less is not acceptable.

[socialist_n_TN]

34. You have much more faith in the charade of American politics.........

than I do. The candidacy of Trump has shown what it always was, a scripted "reality" show, with narrow parameters of "choice" in candidates.

It is true that Bernie IS a supporter of the bourgeoisie though and I'm sure if he gives enough assurances to the owners that he will carry on the Obama and HRC policies while in office, they might be persuaded to give him the nomination.

[madokie]

39. That is called delusion

a lot of things Bernie might be but an ass kisser is not one of them.
Bernie will win this nomination and go on to win the General election one way and one way only. He'll win at the ballot box. No one is going to give him anything. When I type 'No One' I'm referring to the PTB not us who support and ultimately will be voting for him.

You are making me laugh my ass off with what you're implying there. Stop it

If Bernie was as you imply he'd have a much larger worth than the 330 thousand he currently has.

[socialist_n_TN]

40. Well, we'll see what's delusional...........

Bernie is a candidate of the bourgeoisie. I'm a revolutionary socialist so I have absolutely NO faith in electoral politics to bring us any candidate other than a supporter of the bourgeoisie. Even a workers' party, which is DESPERATELY needed, would be a supporter of the bourgeoisie at first. The advantage to an actual workers' party is that it COULD conceivably be won to socialist revolution, but it would start as a bourgeois party.

And why do you think that the votes would actually be accurately counted in a general election? You're making a lot of suppositions about the fairness of electoral politics that have not been proven true. Quite the contrary in fact. Good luck with that. Laugh all you want, but my original assertion still stands. Bernie won't be the nominee, no matter how many delegates he wins.