Simple hypothetical: candidate A gets more votes, candidate B more pledged delegates

[morningfog]

Candidate A gets more popular votes while Candidate B get more pledged delegates.

Neither have enough pledged delegates to secure the nomination. Who should get the nomination? How should the super delegates cast their votes?

[dchill]

1. It's all about delegates.

That's the rule, that's how the campaigns are strategized.

[HerbChestnut]

2. Didn't Clinton win the popular vote in 2008? n/t

[morningfog]

3. Only if you included FL and MI, which were uncontested by Obama.

And penalized for moving up in the calendar.

[revbones]

4. I'm sure she would say she did, but that doesn't help your point does it? ;)

[HerbChestnut]

20. My point is that even if she doesn end up winning the popular vote...

She could still lose the nomination, and there would be a precedent for doing so.

[reformist2]

5. You can't lump together the votes from caucuses and primaries, so you have to go with delegates.

[drray23]

6. well in this case its not even the issue

Hillary has both more pledged delegates and popular votes.

[morningfog]

7. That's not how you do a hypothetical.

[drray23]

8. yes i know

Just thought I would throw in a cheap shot.. could not resist. Anyhow, in all seriousness, I am not sure what the answer should be. Given the rules, I would guess that the super delegates would have to vote their conscience. Whatever they feel is appropriate for the party.

[CalvinballPro]

9. New rule! New rule! One bird is worth 1000 superdelegates! nt

[drray23]

10. dont give tad devine any new ideas

After all, he did help shape the existing super delegate rules. Maybe he would push this new rule through. That could be the new campaign strategy.

[Gwhittey]

15. the must thought you meant the other hypothetical

[NuclearDem]

11. Simple hypothetical: candidate A gets more votes, candidate B loses the pledged delegate count

Why on earth would superdelegates want to switch to candidate B?

[morningfog]

13. That's not the hypothetical of this OP.

But I'll answer yours, they wouldn't.

[Codeine]

12. Pledged delegates.

That's the currency used in this particular transaction.

[morningfog]

14. I agree with your concise answer.

[jmg257]

16. Whomever the party feels has the best chance of winning the GE.

Its the party's convention after all.

[morningfog]

17. Okay. Say Candidate A got more pledged delegates,

won the popular and won more states, but didn't secure the nomination with pledged delegates alone.

Same answer?

[jmg257]

18. They SHOULD lean towards the will of the people, but...

Trump will be in a similiar situation (without the supers).
The party has its own interests.

[thesquanderer]

19. Pledged delegates are more important than popular votes, by design. But...

...the single most important thing, if it actually is a close enough contest to fall to the super delegates, is to select the candidate with the best chance of winning the general election.

I'd say that's really the essential function of the super delegates. There's a reason the rules don't simply say, whoever has the most delegates wins, or whoever has the most delegates of the last two standing wins. If a delegate wins 2,383, the nomination is theirs. If a candidate was not able to generate that level of support, if you have a closely contested race or one where no one achieved a majority, the SD are supposed to choose who they think will be the best candidate, and I would say that the first criteria would be who is most likely to win. If the Super Delegates are not supposed to be able to select someone other than the person with the most delegates, then they have no reason to exist, the party could simply automatically nominate the candidate with the most delegates. But that's not the system we have.

I would say that, if neither candidate is clearly more likely to win in November, they should stick with the delegate leader.

(And one of the advantages of the calendar this year is that the Dems will know who the Republican candidate is before possibly having to make any choice.)

[DrDan]

21. candidate A gets more votes and pledged delegates - Candidate B gets less votes and pd's

How should the supers vote?

That is the more probable scenario.