Superdelegates...what good are they?

[cynatnite]

Superdelegates are seated automatically. This is based on their status in the Dem Party. They can vote for whoever they like, change their mind as often they like and their vote does not have to reflect the will of the American people. They can even endorse a candidate who has dropped out of the race.

This is in sharp contrast to delegates which are chosen or elected at a state level with the understanding they will support a particular candidate at the convention.

So, what good are superdelegates? Why keep them? Why not just get rid of the superdelegates?

[anonymous171]

1. We have so little confidence in our own system that we have to have some kind of saftey valve.

[cynatnite]

2. That is not a safety valve, IMO...that's a potential hijacking...

The one major thing that troubled me during this entire primary season was the power the superdelegates had. If majority of the superdelegates had endorsed Hillary, then we would be seeing her with the nomination.

I'm a Hillary supporter and she was my first choice, but I don't like the kind of power superdelegates have.

[anonymous171]

4. I don't like it either. nt

[boppers]

9. Hillary *started* with a majority of superdelegates who had endorsed.

It's one of the reasons she was thought to be inevitable.

If anything, I think this season shows us why super delegates matter. They're politicians, and have more ability to judge their peers, rightly or wrongly. In a tight race, they matter more. Sort of like House vs. Senate, they're a different group, with a different ethic.

[bhikkhu]

10. The power of the SD's was always hype.

If you look at the roll, they are all individuals with specific constituencies they are committed to serve.

In my state, for instance, there would have been hell to pay for any of the SD's who bucked the popular vote. As it was, some even waited for Obama to become the presumptive nominee before giving their endorsement. The costs of making a mistake were too high in this race, as were the costs of seeming to express a personal opinion out of place.

Not that I would make up the system we have, if we were to start from scratch, but what we have is not so bad really, as far as reflecting the complicated varieties of "the will of the people".

[sandnsea]

3. In case somebody tries to hijack the party

and pretend the state delegates that the people voted for don't count or something...

[grantcart]

5. Right now the Republicans wish they had a shit load of super delegates

so that they could pull the rug out from this disaster reboot and find somebody else.

[QC]

6. They are there to bring the little people into line

should said little people do something that the establishment does not want them to do.

Time for them to go.

[LordJFT]

7. no good, get rid of them

[Youphemism]

8. Along with dumping the SDs, let's close the primaries...

No sense allowing Limbaugh to mess with the Democratic campaigns.