Superdelegates

The NY Times has a good story about how superdelegates be the one who decide the Democratic nominee. Superdelegates are party insiders and office holders who automatically get an independent vote in the nomination process. Unsurprisingly, Hillary has the lead in superdelegates. So she thinks they should vote their conscience and Obama thinks they should vote the will of the voters of their states.

Obama says: "“My strong belief is that if we end up with the most states and the most pledged delegates from the most voters in the country, that it would be problematic for the political insiders to overturn the judgment of the voters. I think it is also important for superdelegates to think about who will be in the strongest position to defeat John McCain in November and who will be in the strongest position to ensure that we are broadening the base, bringing people who historically have not gotten involved in politics into the fold.”

Hillary cleverly says: “Superdelegates are, by design, supposed to exercise independent judgment. But, of course, if Senator Obama and his campaign continue to push this position, which is really contrary to what the definition of a superdelegate has historically been, I will look forward to receiving the support of Senator Kennedy and Senator Kerry.”

Personally, I think the whole idea of superdelegates - the notion that the will of the voter cannot be trusted, that somehow we need to have all-knowing insiders temper the ignorant populace - is anti-democratic and, hey, isn't "democratic" the name of the party. What an enormous contradiction!

So I am with Obama on this one. This whole system is stupid and needs to be changed. But beyond this, if Obama wins the popular vote and the superdelegates over rule the populace, it will tear the party apart in a way that will not be healed for a long time. I can tell you right now that if Obama is ahead in elected delegates and does not get the nomination, I will vote for John McCain. And so will a lot of other people. And that's what these party insiders need to be worried about. Because McCain does very well with Independents and Democrats. But also because this should be the Democratic party's year. It has always been a party that snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. Let's hope they don't do it this year.

In other news, Obama is projected to win Nebraska and Washington State as of now. Here's hoping he wins Louisiana too.