Pardon me....but WTF is a Super delegate??

[RethugAssKicker]

This shit gets more complicated every election !!

[RL3AO]

High ranking members of the Democratic party

who can choose whoever they want.

That is the simple definition.

[underpants]

1. Some can breath fire others have the power of flight

and really SUPER ones can vote like their corporate masters tell them to

[ananda]

4. Well, AFAICT, corporations and the MSM..

.. are deciding and manipulating this election.

[Leeny]

27. Yes, but ...

... do they wear capes??:crazy:

[asthmaticeog]

2. It's some bullshit the national party uses to keep control out of the voters' hands. nt

[Rosemary2205]

3. It's a tool to rob you of your own choice.

Dem insiders wanted to be able to tell you to go F yourself and override who the Dem voters chose.

[TechBear_Seattle]

5. Superdelegates have been around for a long time

Basically, the Democratic Party is terrified of actual democracy so they rigged a system that allows party insiders to have a good chance at overriding an "inappropriate" caucus/primary vote for the Presidential nominee. The Republican Party does not have superdelegates.

[PDittie]

11. Since 1972, IIRC

when the people picked McGovern, and the overlords were sorely pissed, so they changed the rules.

[TechBear_Seattle]

23. I was five years old; to me, that was a long time ago

I'm old, but I'm not THAT old. :hi: Yet.

Thanks for the info.

[Guava Jelly]

6. a party hack

in a nutshell

[dmosh42]

7. Meets the formula- DLC+Big Corporations=Superdelegate n/t

[K Gardner]

8. SD = A Way to Make Certain the Establishment Candidate Wins, despite what the people want.

[Tarc]

9. Now for a serious response, and none of the asshattery that has come so far

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superdelegate

to win the Democratic nomination, a candidate needs 80% of the total delegates. 80% come from the primaries we all vote in, while 20% are the superdelegates; Democratic members of Congress, governors, some mayors, DNC leadership, past party leaders and chairs, etc...

There's a lot of bellyaching and bitching about it all...chiefly from Obama supporters because they trail in this area...but to suggest that it is undemocratic is a bit absurd. Barack Obama knew full well how the political process works and what he had to do to win the nomination; that some of his supporters did not is more of a reflection on them, and not of him.

A rough analogy would be to how Congress is split; a 435 member group's say is equaled by one with only 100 voices.

[RethugAssKicker]

13. Thanks.... but IMO .. this SD shit sounds like alot of BS to me

...and it sounds very elitish and undemocratic.

[kirby]

19. It is still an establishment tool of party discipline

Just like the 'founding fathers' designed the Senate to be slow and difficult to change, Super Delegates are a tool that gives the party establishment significant control.

[Orangepeel]

10. The vast majority are elected officials

Democratic Senators, Governors, etc. State party chairs might be superdelegates, I'm not sure.

[PDittie]

12. That's correct, and the number sometimes includes

members of the DNC who aren't elected officials, and state representatives and senators too.

The ultimate insider. No accountability to anyone. The fact that you have to ask tells you all you need to know about how secret they like to keep it.

[Tarc]

14. It isn't secret. Please stop lying

That someone didn't know about it doesn't translate to anything more than that. The lkes of you trying to paint it as some secret Skull & Bones society is fucking ridiculous.

[PDittie]

15. Really?

Please post here the full slate of superdelegates from your state only. Names and titles. Thanks.

(I cannot find Texas' anywhere, so if you have access to their list, a link perhaps I would really appreciate it.)

[meow mix]

16. id like to see the list too

soounds interesting..

[Tarc]

20. Two links

One;

http://demconwatch.blogspot.com/


but this seems more direct;

http://superdelegates.org/SuperDelegates

no specific "by state" page, but a few clicks will get you whatever info you want. For NH;

Gov. John Lynch (NH)
Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (NH)
Rep. Paul Hodes (NH)
DNC Raymond Buckley - NH Chair (NH)
DNC Anita Freedman (NH)
DNC Gaeten DiGangi (NH)
DNC Hon. Martha Fuller Clark (NH)

[PDittie]

22. Thank you so much.

Very helpful and informative.

[VenusRising]

24. Here's a link...

http://www.superdelegates.org/Main_Page

Super Delegates for Hillary
http://www.superdelegates.org/Hillary_Clinton

Super Delegates for Obama
http://www.superdelegates.org/Barack_Obama

[Recursion]

17. After 1972, Carter and a few others changed how we nominate

1) They moved the Iowa caucus forward and enshrined it as the first in the nation
2) They changed from a system like what the GOP uses now (mostly statewide more-or-less winner-take-all plebiscites) to one where delegates were won per-precinct
3) Having increased the number of delegates per-state (look at the delegates at stake per party; it's almost 2 to 1), they also let the party power structure have a say and decided every current and former Representative, Senator, Governor, and President from our party, as well as the main leaders of the DNC, can each act as a delegate at the convention. This over-represents heavily Democratic regions and under-represents the places we need to fight hardest to win. I know, it doesn't make sense to me either.

Essentially, it was an attempt to prevent another McGovern, or, more cynically, an attempt to nominate Carter

[Pathwalker]

18. Donna Brazille is a Super delegate. Says a lot.

She's one of CNN and ABC's talking heads. Her vote counts more than all of us put together - how very Democratic, eh?

[Tarc]

21. Your Senator's one vote carries more weight than your Representative's vote

is that Democratic?

[Indenturedebtor]

25. No it's BS

And if this nomination is handed to a candidate by the Super Delegates there are going to be BIG problems for the Democratic party. Honestly that could keep alot of people from voting.

[Tarc]

26. If you don't like the party rules, then go form your own?

:shrug:

This was a known quantity going into the race, and to say that the superdelegates can put someone into office that tghe people do not support is patently ridiculous. They only make up 20% of the vote.