Super Delegates 359-8?!? Can the dem party steal this thing?

[Nightjock]

I was just flipping through tv channels and stopped on Msnbc and saw Hillary has all those "super delegates".

Can the more informed political junkies here help me out with how this happens? I sat on the fence a LONG time before I chose to support Bernie. I truly feel he is going to erase many of Hilary's leads in upcoming states. I have even mentioned (here and to friends) that I feel like we are living through a future Ken Burns documentary.

Please understand I am NOT saying Hillary Clinton would "steal" this thing. I just don't trust the people in charge of the Dem party right now and I am completely dumbfounded that ONE state has had a primary and she has this crazy edge.

[NorthCarolina]

1. It's Hillary's only REAL firewall.

eom

[roguevalley]

10. + zillion

[onecaliberal]

2. Yeah she would

[Motown_Johnny]

3. He also had the Iowa delegate count at 30 - 21,

8 of that 30 were superdelegates.


It was a horribly biased report. The Superdelegates don't cast their votes until the convention. The reason they exist is to avoid a brokered convention. If 3 candidates split earned delegates the SDs could put one candidate over the top (presumably the leading candidate).


I think it is extremely unlikely that the SDs will overturn the will of the voters. The candidate with the most earned delegates will most likely be the nominee. If not, the nominee will be seen as illegitimate.

[Renew Deal]

22. They could also create a brokered convention

Because of the candidates are close, the delegates could swing the election one way or another. A candidate would win the election by hundreds of delegates and lose at the convention.

Imagine the chaos if it's close and it is clear that super-delegates pick someone else.

[Motown_Johnny]

24. Politically unlikely.

The SDs have an investment in the success of the party. Creating an illegitimate nominee is not in their best interest.

[Senator Tankerbell]

4. Superdelegates are free to change their support at any time prior to the convention.

If Sanders is able to win more delegates in primaries and caucuses, they will not go against the will of the people. They know it would be a disaster for them in the general election if they did that. They are mostly elected officials. They may prefer Hillary but they aren't stupid enough to alienate half their voters.

[cascadiance]

7. Then WHY do they even bother stating a preference now?

That's like standing in front of a voting booth and saying "You should vote for so and so." SAME difference!!!

[Senator Tankerbell]

11. It's really no different from an endorsement.

The way the Clinton campaign counts them as part of her delegate count is really misleading. And they know that.

[roguevalley]

13. they are mostly asked by Bill Clinton and he can be persuasive. Expect a lot of

talk about them and the electoral college between now and the end.

[PeaceNikki]

12. Because that's where they are currently pledged. When and if they change, that'll change, too.

It's nothing new and only deemed nefarious because they're not pledged to Sanders.

[cascadiance]

16. I think it's one thing to say they've endorsed them, and another to say that the vote has been cast.

... which is what is happening here when they post those as totals.

It's like saying you've already had the privilege at early voting before everyone else and have done so already, when as noted, these votes could change if the rest of the votes go more for Bernie later, and they don't want to be viewed as voting outside of what most Americans want, especially when their "votes" as delegates count for far more than just another voter's "vote" counts.

[John Poet]

5. Superdelegates....

I think there's TOO many superdelegates under current party rules..... They have too much influence in proportion to the party's rank and file. What is it now, roughly a third of the total number required for the nomination?

[cascadiance]

6. The way the party tries to be the UNDemocratic Party, by promoting UNdemocratic votes!!!

[HooptieWagon]

8. There's not much of a party worth fighting over.

Just a rotted corrupt corpse poised in front of a corporate feed trough. Sanders is the last shot at restoring traditional Democratic values and bringing fresh blood in. If we fail him, it's all over.

[JudyM]

23. Yeah, well (if graphically) put. We really have to work even harder than usual to get out the vote.

[leftofcool]

9. That's the way things work.

The Democratic Party has had super delegates forever.

[wyldwolf]

15. And the people expressing shock and out rage have been Democrats for like five minutes

[bettyellen]

17. like the kids at the caucus, not knowing that MOM voters could flip their votes.....

so they yelled at the old guy with the cane. That was brilliant.

[SheilaT]

14. The super delegates have always wound up going with the candidate who does best

in the primary season. And, no, we haven't had them forever. Only since 1984.

Plus, as has already been pointed out, they are free to change their mind. They are not pledged in the way the delegates selected via caucus or primary are pledged.

[cascadiance]

18. When you look at this page in the New York Times, ask yourself which party appears to want democracy

... more, Republicans or Democrats, when they say that Clinton has "won" all of those super delegates already, and there are NO superdelegates "won" on the Republican side.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/us/elections/primary-calendar-and-results.html?_r=1

THIS SHIT TURNS OFF VOTERS FOLKS!!!! It looks blatantly like the system is rigged!

[Vinca]

19. Super delegates can change allegiance. It's not written in stone.

Once Obama picked up steam they fled Clinton. Secondly, should the Democratic party super delegates overturn the popular vote of rank and file Democrats, it would be the end of the Democratic Party. I would run, not walk, to change my affiliation to Independent.

[moondust]

20. Superdelegates...

[Renew Deal]

21. It goes to the question of whether the super-delegates have a right to vote the way they wish

If they can then it is not a theft. If they can, the race is likely over already. If people feel they can't, then anything is possible.