Can someone explain to me Obama's position on superdelegates?

[Nine]

First, I hear delegates are "supposed" to vote in the same way the pledged delegates vote (which makes me wonder why we even have superdelegates). What exactly does that mean? Should a congressman vote the same way as his/her state? congressional district? What about superdelegates that are not congressmen, senators, or governors? Or are they just supposed to vote to match the majority of pledged delegates?

And if superdelegates don't count, why does Obama keep announcing the ones that support him? Please explain it all to me.

[stahbrett]

1. In a nutshell

the superdelegates *can* do what they want (no one is proposing that the rules be changed for this election). BUT... the superdelegates *should* look to the will of the voters in the various primaries and caucuses that were held correctly, following the rules of the DNC, and barring some massive implosion (a so-called "macaca" moment, or the proverbial live boy/dead girl revelation) it makes little sense to overturn the will of those voters by a few hundred party insiders - and those party insiders know that. There's no way they'll slap the voters like that - "hey voters! Thanks for taking time to carefully consider our candidates and voting. While this candidate has the most delegates (and states, and likely popular vote total), we've decided to go with this OTHER candidate instead. Please forget about this in November! Thanks!"

[Nine]

5. The will of which voters?

If I'm a congressman and Candidate X wins my district and Candidate Y wins my state and Candidate Z gets the most pledged delegates overall, how do you think I should vote?

And why does Obama tout superdelegates he's "won"?

[ozone_man]

8. A congressman should probably vote for his/her district winner.

They are not obligated to, but it would be good practice. Also, there is re-election to consider. ;)

There are state level party leaders and Senators, etc., who would probably decide to go as the state does, in proportion that is. All in all, there shouldn't be a great disparity between pledged and super delegate ratios. Otherwise, the electorate may feel cheated.

Super delegates can switch at any time. I think of it as a ratification of the voter's decision. If they go against their decision, then they might not support that candidate in the general. They may stay home or vote 3rd party.

[Nine]

10. but you still didn't answer about Obama's committed superdelegates (nt)

[ozone_man]

11. There are no committed super delegates.

They can switch their support at any time. A number have already thrown their support to either Clinton and Obama, while most haven't.

Only the pledged delegates are committed, selected during the primary or caucus process.

[Nine]

12. I know they can switch.

I meant superdelegates who have indicated they intend to go one way or the other.

[stahbrett]

13. Congressmen vote their district, statewide officials vote the overall winner of the state (nt)

[Nine]

15. Are you just making this up as you go along?

Seriously. On what are you basing this?

What about the superdelegates who aren't officeholders?
What is the purpose of superdelegates if they're not supposed to have free will?
And why is Obama touting the superdelegates whom he says intend to vote for him?

[stahbrett]

17. That was my opinion on how superdelegates should vote

I'm not in favor of changing the DNC rules to mandate that for this election.

Obama wants as many delegates as he can get - why wouldn't he tout superdelegates?

[Nine]

26. Because I keep hearing superdelegates shouldn't "override the will of the people" from BO supporters

and that Hillary should drop out because she can't win on pledged delegates and it's somehow unfair to count the superdelegates. But then I keep seeing threads bragging about superdelegates going for Obama so I'm confused.

[stahbrett]

27. I'll explain it more clearly

Opinions on what *should* happen is not the same thing as calling for rules to be changed, to begin with - not that you explicitly mentioned this, but it's a common refrain that I see/hear.

If someone's opinion is that the superdelegates should not overturn the majority opinion of the pledged delegates, then obviously it's good news to hear that the candidate with the most pledged delegates has gotten the endorsement of another superdelegate.

So to recap - superdelegates that support the winner of pledged delegates = good, superdelegates that choose to not support the winner of the pledged delegates = bad. :D


By the way, on a related topic - A friend of mine ran the numbers, and says that if superdelegates were awarded in the same way as the electoral college works (winner-take-all by state), Obama would have 334 superdelegates and Hillary would have 321. And I *think* that is giving Texas to Hillary, even though it appears possible/likely that Obama will wind up with more pledged delegates.

[Nine]

29. So you think it's a moral imperative...

...for a superdelegate to match his/her vote to the pledged delegate majority?

But Obama was not assured that he would be the pledged delegate winner until this week. Yet he accepted superdelegate endorsements before then. Isn't that a contradiction?

[stahbrett]

32. I'll leave the morality to the individual superdelegates

I just think it makes logical sense for the superdelegates to go along with the voters, unless there is some urgent reason not to (if Obama were to be incapacitated or so damaged by some unpredictable scandal as to make him completely unelectable).

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

7. Makes sense to me.

[yourguide]

2. joking but the Obama campaign's stance is:

all your superdelegates are belong to us. someone set us up the bomb.

:rofl:



and before anyone accuses me of anything, this is a joke referencing this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_your_base_are_belong_to_us

[thevoiceofreason]

3. Barack has said

That Supers should listen to/consider the votes of their elected body (so a representative should consider how that representative's district voted). That's all -- consideration.

[jillan]

4. Except for Kennedy, Kerry and Duval - they can vote for Obama.

[thevoiceofreason]

19. Do I have to define the word "comnsider" for ya, sport?

It means they should think about it. Permissive, not mandatory. Hillary is the only autocrat in this race.

[Nine]

21. So what if some superdelegates *consider* the voice of their "elected body"...

...(if they have one - many superdelegates do not) and still decide to vote for someone else?

[jillan]

31. You are right - I have NO idea was comnsider means.

[stahbrett]

28. If all superdelegates vote the way their states did, Obama wins

He's won more states, more districts, etc. He's got it by any reasonable way of looking at it, other than if you say, "only states won by Hillary count".

[Bigleaf]

6. We also have to remember that not all Supers are office holders.

[gravity]

9. Obama's position is that they should vote for him

Just like Hillary's is that they should vote for her.

Their justifications will change with the political winds

[AtomicKitten]

14. He said they should not overturn the will of the American people.

[Nine]

18. So he thinks they should all vote for the candidate with the most pledged delegates?

Again, then what is the point of having them at all?

And wasn't Obama touting "his" superdelegates before he reached 50% of pledged delegates? Was he intending to ask them to switch to Hillary if she ended up with more pledged delegates?

[AtomicKitten]

22. I'm not going to speculate on your flurry of questions but would suggest you email his campaign.

[Nine]

25. It's not a flurry.

I'm just trying to clarify his position. Since when do DUers say "go to the candidate's website" when asked a legitimate question?

[sniffa]

16. Just go to his website to answer your concerns

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/whysuperdelegatesonlycountiftheybackme

[Nine]

24. I fell for it :)

But are you really an Obama supporter who just finds him disingenuous on this issue or...?

[KittyWampus]

20. Hillary's The One Who's Padded Her #'s From The Start With Supers. She's The One Pretending They'll

go to her at the Convention.

[Perky]

23. Umm get as many as possible???

[Barack_America]

30. "The more the merrier"?

Lol. We think alike.