Tuesday, 03.18.08
Why Wait?
ETHAN MILLER/GETTY IMAGES
When momentum changes
13 February 2008
Matthew Yglesias says superdelegates shouldn't necessarily follow the pledged delegates.
Seated after all?
17 March 2008
Marc Ambinder says the Florida and Michigan superdelegates may be seated after all.
As if further proof were needed, this front-page piece on superdelegates in Sunday's New York Times confirms what everyone already knows: the Democratic primary fight is damaging the party. What's irksome about the piece (and the accompanying video) is not the point it makes, but the superdelegates themselves -- to be specific, the uncommitted superdelegates, who are forever alternating between pious concern about the damage inflicted on their party and boundless self-regard as they patiently explain their decision to "keep their powder dry" and withhold until the Democratic convention in August their Solomonic decision on which candidate to support.
This is nonsense. Superdelegates can worry about the party, or they can preen and carry on about the importance of their role. They can't do both. The only thing the Clinton and Obama campaigns agree on is that neither can secure the nomination with pledged delegates alone. So the uncommitted superdelegates wringing their hands in the Times are the same ones who will ultimately decide the nominee. Why wait until August? If they truly cared about ending the primary, they could do so in a matter of days or weeks. All they need to do is declare their allegiance now.
If all the 352 uncommitted superdelegates (CNN's number) chose Obama, he'd have 1970 delegates and need 55 more to secure the nomination. Slate's Delegate Counter says he could draw a paltry 35 percent of the vote in Pennsylvania and still secure that many. Once superdelegates declared, the race would be over, and the remaining primaries a mere formality. The party could focus on John McCain. The same holds true for Clinton. If the uncommitteds swung her way, she'd have 1,831 delegates to Obama's 1,618. She'd need only reasonable showings through May 6th to cross the delegate finish-line.
The split won't be that lopsided, of course. But by declaring now, rather than in late August, the superdelegates can arrive much sooner at the point where the winner is clear -- the only means of halting the damage to their party. In Washington, there's no happier situation for a politician than to be doing absolutely nothing and getting great press for it. But let's be clear about one thing: keeping their powder dry profits the superdelegates, but comes at the expense of their party. It shouldn't take Solomon to see that.
Better know a superdelegateSuperdelegates.com identifies the kingmakers. |
There at the startJim Hunt, an architect of the superdelegate system, defends it. |
The principled decisionJeff Greenfield ponders the criteria fair-minded superdelegates might use to guide their vote. |
Crowdsourcing and superdelegatesSarah Lai Stirland reports on how the Internet is enabling voters and grassroots organizations to identify and lobby superdelegates. |
The decidersGawker identifies the youngest superdelegates and mocks their Facebook photographs. |
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As Sen. Hillary Clinton has ‘managed’ to take the Pennsylvania state, the Democratic race for nomination is very much alive – and most likely to be decided by superdelegates. Indiana ,Idaho and West Virginia are still to come.
If you’re tired of waiting around for those super delegates to make a decision already, go to LobbyDelegates.com and push them to support Clinton or Obama
If you haven't done so yet, please write a message to each of your state's superdelegates at http://www.lobbydelegates.com
It takes a moment, but what's a few minutes now worth to get Obama in office?!
Sending a note to current Obama supporters lets them know it's appreciated, sending a note to current Clinton supporters can hopefully sway them to change their vote to Obama, and sending a note to the uncommitted folks will hopefully sway them to vote for Obama. It's that easy...
Clinton Supporters:
It takes a moment, but what's a few minutes now worth to get Clinton in office?!
Sending a note to current Clinton supporters lets them know it's appreciated, sending a note to current Obama supporters can hopefully sway them to change their vote to Clinton, and sending a note to the uncommitted folks will hopefully sway them to vote for Clinton. It's that easy...
REALLY easy to identify the superdelegates and reach out to them! It includes a list of names, addresses, and affiliations of superdelegates from each state including your state
Superdelegates, on the behalf of boths candidates Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton, I beleives that the most experience candidate should receive the nominee. Mr. Obama is an excellent man, cannot denied that, but at the same time he is not ready for what is about to approach him. We all need changes I do agree, but Mr. Obama notes and changes just keep on flapping and it is scaring the living day light out of me an others.
Fair is the game, you all know well, that Obama will never be the president, he may be the nominee against Hillary, but the president, I dont think so. If you the delegates uses selfishness to give Mr. Obama a slap on the risk pass, then comes November, shame will be you all reproaches, because you the superdelegates had made the wrong choice, because of variances.
Search your consciences and take a reality check and the answer will strike you between your eyes. (Superdelegates) Again Mr. Obama is a good man but he is not going to win, plus is liberalism motives is not of the democrats.
Superdelegates, please learn more about Mr. Obama and the offices he held before he started this race as a nominee.
Thank you, for considering Hillary Clinton as the nominee toward the general election, she is the better opponent against Mr. Mccain.
Mr. Obama is very frail to defend is territory. He is afraid to debate with Hillary, therefore he doesn't have a chance with Mr. Mccain, they are going to stifle him, because he cannot operate under pressure. As superdelegates i'm going to trust you all to do what is best for country and the people of this country. Put fun and games aside and get real, Mrs. Clinton is the only hope for the democratic party.
I' m over 40 years of age and I carry a ongregration of over 40's years of age and there language are just like mind. I've also spoken to the young people I see daily and they told me the only reason why they are going to vote for Mr. Obama is because he is black and history will be made, now is that good enough for our country, no? I'm a black woman and i'm telling you just as is it.
Majority of us black are voting for History making and I so hated that, because it not to be so. That not the reason to elect someone for president.
I don't care about HISTORY MAKING RIGHT NOW, I'M CONCERN ABOUT OUR COUNTRY AND THE CRISIS THAT WE ARE IN. We are in need of great help, superdelegates, so please reconsider you vote and make the right choice. Pleas do the right thing. God blesses you and our country that we love.
Today’s launch of www.LobbyDelegates.com for the first time empowers grassroots Democrats with the only 1-stop portal for influencing Super Delegates, the nearly 800 top party officials allowed to vote for any Presidential candidate they choose at the Nominating Convention. Super Delegates’ votes could be decisive in a continuing close race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Both candidates remain better than 600 delegates shy of the 2,024 “magic number" for clinching the nomination. Given this math, neither candidate is expected to win enough pledged delegates during the 10 remaining state primaries to clinch a victory before the August 25th convention in Denver.
This likelihood has led some Democratic leaders to recently suggest holding a special Super Delegate Primary in June to avoid the intra-party rancor anticipated from a brokered convention.
With such high stakes, many Democrats want greater Super Delegate accountability--by endorsing either the candidate who won their state primary, or the one winning the most delegates from all primaries nationwide. LobbyDelegates.com enables rank-and-file Democrats to communicate such grassroots views directly to these Super Delegates--who include party leaders, governors, mayors, state and Congressional lawmakers.
Users of LobbyDelegates.com can communicate with some or all of their state’s Super Delegates, who are categorized by whether they’re currently supporting Clinton or Obama, or have stayed Uncommitted. Users can thus tailor messages urging Super Delegates to switch candidates, or switch from being uncommitted to one candidate or the other. Users can even lobby Super Delegates to stay uncommitted until the Convention.
The LobbyDelegates.com website is strictly impartial and is not affiliated with any political party, candidate, campaign or advocacy group. LobbyDelegates.com was created as a public service under the auspices of the StateDemocracy Foundation. This tax-exempt nonprofit was established in 1999 to run www.StateDemocracy.org -- a civic engagement portal dedicated to delivering democracy to your desktop!
Posted by Ken Laureys | April 3, 2008 9:42 AM