I am a political junkie. Every night a primary or caucus is underway, I study exit polls, refresh CNN’s “up-to-the-minute” election results and pore over the political blogosphere in hopes of finding “insider” information on the results. It is pathetic, I know. But for a while, I – who humbly claim to know my fair share about politics – was confused about what I saw. Every news network is reporting different delegate totals for each candidate. Even now, CNN reports that Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., leads Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., 1,319 delegates to 1,250 delegates – but ABC has Obama leading Clinton 1,362 delegates to 1,266.5. The discrepancy between these totals exists because each network has to estimate the total number. The Democratic nomination process allocates delegates proportionally – based on the percentage each candidate receives in a state’s contest. But because some states do not officially award delegates until later, delegates are not legally required to support either candidate and delegates do not actually vote until the convention in August, each network can only ballpark the total number. There are 3,253 of these pledged delegates, according to CNN’s numbers. Superdelegates – also known as unpledged or automatic delegates – are selected members of the Democratic Party allowed to cast a vote at the Democratic convention. Many of these delegates are current politicians – senators, representatives and governors – some of them are past politicians and others are selected members of the Democratic National Committee. Regardless of how their constituency voted, these superdelegates are not bound by any rules to vote for either candidate. They can switch their support at any time. There are around 800 superdelegates. I cannot say exactly how many because, again, there are conflicting numbers. CNN reports there are 796 superdelegates, but SuperDelegates.org reports 795 superdelegates. To win the nomination, a candidate needs to bag 2,025 of the total pledged and superdelegates. Usually, a candidate has been able to reach 2,025 simply by winning enough states’ pledged delegates. But this time, neither Obama nor Clinton are likely to snag enough pledged delegates to win the contest outright, and the nomination could potentially be in the hands of those few superdelegates. And this is where the process could get really ugly. The fight for superdelegates’ support will be a fight that leaves voters out. Both candidates’ campaign committees “have donated at least $890,000 to the campaigns of superdelegates,” according to a Feb. 14 article by The Associated Press. Obama has bribed by far the most, giving $694,000 to various superdelegates’ campaigns. While undoubtedly both campaigns would claim the money was not part of a strategy to receive support from superdelegates, this behavior is disappointing. But the candidates are not totally at fault. This system is inherently flawed and undemocratic, and it encourages the candidates to make backroom deals and defacto bribes. In addition, the superdelegates are poorly representative of the electorate. Predictably, most of these superdelegates are old, rich white men. Only 19 superdelegates are under the age of 36, and only one of those is actually 21, according to Politico.com. Our generation, which has played a large role in the nomination so far, will be snubbed. Furthermore, if Clinton wins the Texas and Ohio nominating contests on March 4, both candidates will have a reasonable argument for the superdelegates’ support. Obama will, presumably, have the edge in pledged delegates and the popular vote. Clinton will have won the larger states, including Florida and Michigan – two states that were stripped of all their pledged delegates for, well … it’s a long story. The complexity of the Democratic primary is ridiculous, and its seemingly Orwellian desire to leave voters out at this crucial state is frustrating. Unfortunately, we have no choice but to trust that these elite and powerful superdelegates will make the decision that most benefits the country and the party – and yes, preferably in that order.
Contact Nate Monroe at [email protected]
Superdelegate system is super flawed
By Nate Monroe
February 25, 2008