Democrats call themselves the Democratic party; however, their concept of Super Delegates are anything but democratic! The party"s nominating process is at odds with grass-roots democracy. Voters don"t choose the 842 unpledged "super-delegates" who comprise nearly 40 percent of the number of delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination. And who are these delegates going to vote for? Hillary or the Barack-star?
The category of "super delegates" includes Democratic governors and members of Congress, former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, former vice president Al Gore, retired congressional leaders such as Dick Gephardt, and all Democratic National Committee members, some of whom are appointed by party chairman Howard Dean. Howard Dean?
Who came up with this format?
The wild card for the Democrats involves the super delegates. They are free to support any candidate they choose at the national convention, regardless of the outcome of the primaries. The AP has interviewed more than 90 percent of the superdelegates who have been identified by the party, and most have yet to endorse a candidate. Many say they will not make endorsements until after their states vote.
Sounds like a brokered convention to me!
Four years ago, Sen. John Kerry clinched the Democratic nomination on March 2 - the earliest date in modern times - with a string of Super Tuesday primary victories. In 2000, George W. Bush and Al Gore both clinched their parties" nominations on March 14, each sweeping a string of Southern primaries that day.
In a clear attempt to protect the party establishment, this undemocratic infrastructure was created following George McGovern"s landslide defeat in 1972. It was designed to prevent a nominee who was "out of sync with the rest of the party," or a "sort of safety valve." In other words, if the party thugs don"t like what the democratic party process produces, they can override the popular vote from all the primaries which will have then been for naught. So who cares about the South Carolina primary this Saturday?
This is democracy?
I"m sure that whatever the name of the third party that Michael Bloomberg starts won"t have to worry about such antiquated and un-democratic rules.
In 1988, Reverend Jesse Jackson (wanting the Martin Luther King, Jr. baton) challenged the notion that these appointed delegates be permitted to vote for the candidate of their choosing rather than the winner of the state"s caucus or primary. He was right to do so. Twenty years later, when the word "change" is being bandied about, isn"t it time for the Democratic Party to give real meaning to the word? Strengthen our democracy by reforming the super-delegate system so that the people, not the party establishment, choose their candidate.