poppycock

Superdelegates: the barbaric face of the Democratic party

Back in early January pendulumpolitics predicted the crucial role the superdelegates would play in the outcome of the Democratic race. Specifically, we predicted that Hillary and Obama would be neck and neck for the entire race until the superdelegates made up the difference down the stretch:

"The numbers in the first two primaries as well as the general polls seems to indicate that the race will be tight, which will give the advantage to Hillary...My early guess is Hillary and Obama will be neck and neck for much of the race until the super-delegates push Hillary ahead down the stretch run."

On the eve of Super Tuesday, once again pendulumpolitics reiterated this key role superdelegates would play:

"Expect the superdelegates to sort the Democratic race out. Hillary and Obama will continue to race neck and neck, and it is a strong possibility that whoever the majority of superdelegates endorse will win by a photo finish."

Now that our prediction has held its water, the issue of superdelegates is gaining massive airplay on both television and radio. So, what is a superdelegate exactly, and why the controversy?

Briefly, superdelegates consist of prominent members of the Democratic National Convention, Democratic governors, US Congressman, and other former Democratic politicians. Each superdelegate's endorsement is equivalent to one typical delegate except they are not pledged votes, which is to say, the Democratic party has an odd, undemocratic element of oligarchy intertwined within its voting system.

Despite justifiable calls to return the nomination process back to the people, Democrats persist in such elitism. In fact, over the years the Democratic party has proliferated the number of superdelegates to the extent that 20% of the votes cast at the Democratic convention this July will be by superdelegates. While that's a significant number, take a look it from another vantage point. Superdelegtes comprise 40% of the total number of delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination!?! Forty-percent!!

Place those numbers into the context of the current race and its easy to see why a controversy of this undemocratic element of the Democrats primary system is brewing. Hillary and Obama are separated by a total of just nine pledged delegates, 840 to 831. That's a difference of just over 1%. However, when including superdelegates, and with a near 2:1 advantage in superdelegates, Hillary's lead increases to 10%, 1033 to 937. The controversy of course is that the difference right now between the two candidates is not being determined by voters, but a select few elitists within the party itself.

Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, has attempted to defend the use of superdelegates:

"These superdelegates are all part of their state delegation, so that state will speak. Superdelegates work out their preference, working with the people of their state. So, again, I don't think that members of Congress, governors and senators are not attuned to what's happening in their states and in their districts."

Pelosi's point is to argue that superdelegates base their endorsement or vote on the preferences of their states and districts. Unfortunately, this is far from the case, and merely an attempt by Pelosi to skirt the issue without ever addressing it. The fact of the matter is that superdelegates do not have to give any consideration to the preferences of their home state or district. If this were the case, then why give them unpledged status in the first place?

The truth is there is no means of justifying such elitism, and Pelosi knows it. And just how elitist are these superdelegates? Well, on Super Tuesday over 14 million votes were cast in the Democratic primary, and over 1,500 delegates awarded. This is to say, then, each superdelegates vote is equivalent to over 9,000 normal American votes!?!

So, to answer my own question, this is absurdly elitist. Do the elites within the Democratic party really think that their own opinion is worth the opinion of over 9,000 American voters? This is a relevant question that needs answering by the Pelosis of the Democratic party. And let's be frank, the power that superdelegates wield in this election is a crude violation of the basic element of democracy, that being equality regardless of merit, and certainly, it leaves a foul stench of elitism wherever it reveals its barbaric face.