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"Superdelegate" is an informal term for some of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention, the quadrennial convention of the United States Democratic Party.
Unlike most convention delegates, the superdelegates are not selected based on the party primaries and caucuses in each U.S. state. Instead, the superdelegates are seated automatically, based solely on their status as current or former elected officeholders and party officials. They are free to support any candidate for the nomination.
The Democratic Party rules do not use the term "superdelegate". The formal designation (in Rule 9.A) is "unpledged party leader and elected official delegates".[1] In addition to these unpledged "PLEO" delegates, the state parties choose other unpledged delegates (Rule 9.B) and pledged PLEO delegates (Rule 9.C).[1] This article discusses only the unpledged PLEO delegates.
The Republican Party also seats some party officials as delegates without regard to primary or caucus results, but the term "superdelegate" is most commonly applied only in the Democratic Party.
At the 2008 Democratic National Convention the superdelegates will make up approximately one-fifth of the total number of delegates. The unforeseen and unprecedented closeness of the race between the leading contenders Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama following Super Tuesday has focused attention on the potential role of the superdelegates in selecting the Democratic nominee, inasmuch as in the aggregate they could come to be kingmakers to a degree not seen in previous election cycles.[2] Such an outcome would result in the first brokered convention since 1952.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 History
* 2 Superdelegates in 2008
o 2.1 Pledged and unpledged delegates
* 3 Criticism
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 External links
[edit] History
After the 1968 Democratic National Convention, the Democratic Party implemented changes in its delegate selection process, based on the work of the McGovern-Fraser Commission. The purpose of the changes was to make the composition of the convention less subject to control by party leaders and more responsive to the votes cast during the campaign for the nomination.
These comprehensive changes left some Democrats believing that the role of party leaders and elected officials had been unduly diminished, weakening the Democratic tickets of George McGovern and Jimmy Carter. In 1982, a commission chaired by former North Carolina Governor James Hunt created superdelegates. Under the original Hunt plan, superdelegates consisted of 30% of the total delegate count, but when it was finally implemented in 1984, superdelegates consisted of 14% of the total count. The number has steadily increased until today, where superdelegates are approximately 20% of the total delegate count. [3]
In the 1984 election, the major contenders for the Presidential nomination were Gary Hart and Walter Mondale. Each of them won some primaries and caucuses. Hart was only slightly behind Mondale in the total number of votes cast, but Mondale won the support of almost all the superdelegates and became the nominee.[4]
In 1988, a study found that superdelegates and delegates selected through the primary and caucus process are not substantively different in terms of viewpoints on issues from each other. However, it also found that superdelegates are more likely to prefer candidates with Washington experience than outsider candidates.[5]
The superdelegates have not always prevailed, however. In the Democratic primary phase of the 2004 election, Howard Dean acquired an early lead in delegate counts by obtaining the support of a number of superdelegates before even the first primaries were held. Nevertheless, John Kerry defeated Dean in a succession of primaries and caucuses and won the nomination.
[edit] Superdelegates in 2008
Main article: Democratic Party (United States) Superdelegates, 2008
Superdelegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention include all Democratic members of the United States Congress, Democratic governors, various additional elected officials, members of the Democratic National Committee, as well as "all former Democratic Presidents, all former Democratic Vice Presidents, all former Democratic Leaders of the U.S. Senate, all former Democratic Speakers of the U.S. House of Representatives and Democratic Minority Leaders, as applicable, and all former Chairs of the Democratic National Committee."[1] There is an exception, however, for otherwise qualified individuals who endorse another party’s candidate for President; they lose their superdelegate status. In 2008, Senator Joe Lieberman was disqualified as a superdelegate because he endorsed Republican John McCain.[6], although Lieberman's status was questioned because of his status as being elected in the Connecticut for Lieberman party.[7] However, Lieberman was not listed as a superdelegate one month prior to the official disqualification. [8], and the count for Connecticut's delegates has always excluded Lieberman's spot[9][10].
The 2008 Democratic National Convention will have approximately 794 superdelegates,[11][12] although the number can change up to the beginning of the convention (Call to the Convention Section IV(C)(2)). Delegates from state caucuses and primaries will number 3,253, resulting in a total number of delegate votes of 4,047. A candidate needs a majority of that total, or 2,024, to win the nomination.[11] Superdelegates account for approximately one fifth (19.6%) of all votes at the convention. Delegates chosen in the Democratic caucuses and primaries account for approximately four-fifths (80.4%) of the Democratic convention delegates.[11][13] Note: All numbers in this section assume that Michigan and Florida delegates are not counted per current Democratic National Committee rules. If those rules are changed before or during the convention, the numbers above will change as appropriate.
The media commonly cites 796 superdelegates[14] [15] but due to the death of Representative Tom Lantos and the move from Maine to Florida of former Maine Governor (and Distinguished Party Leader) Kenneth Curtis, the total is now approximately 794.[16]
The Politico found that about half of the superdelegates are white men, compared to 28% of the Democratic primary electorate.[17]
In the Republican Party, as in the Democratic Party, members of the party’s national committee automatically become delegates without being pledged to any candidate. In 2008, there are 123 members of the Republican National Committee among the total of 2,380 delegates to the 2008 Republican National Convention.[13] There are three RNC delegates (the national committeeman, national committeewoman, and state party chair) for each state, except for the ones who had primary contests before Super Tuesday. [18] Despite this similarity in procedure, the term "superdelegate" is generally used only about Democratic delegates, although there are exceptions.[19]
[edit] Pledged and unpledged delegates
The Democratic Party rules distinguish between pledged and unpledged delegates, with the selection of the former being based on their announced preferences in the contest for the presidential nomination.[1] In the party primaries and caucuses in each U.S. state, voters express their preference among the contenders for the party’s nomination for President of the United States. Pledged delegates supporting each candidate are chosen in approximate ratio to their candidate’s share of the vote. In some states, the delegates so chosen are legally required to vote for the candidate to whom they are pledged, at least on the first ballot at the convention. By contrast, the superdelegates, selected by virtue of their status as current or former elected officeholders and party officials, without regard to their presidential preferences, are all unpledged delegates. Many of them have chosen to announce endorsements, but they are not bound in any way. They may support any candidate they wish, including one who has dropped out of the presidential race.[20] There are also "unpledged add-on delegates" selected under Rule 9.B and "pledged party leader and elected official delegates" selected under rule 9.C.[1]
The process of selecting delegates is described here and here. To sum up, the Democratic Party's delegates fall into seven categories:
* District-level delegates
* At-large delegates
* Unpledged party-leader delegates
* Unpledged elected-official delegates
* Pledged party-leader delegates
* Pledged elected-official delegates
* Unpledged add-on delegates
Both the Democratic and Republican party have a number of state level unpledged delegates that are chosen by each state's party through convention, caucus, or state party leader vote (depending on how that particular state-party body has decided to choose them).[21] The state level unpledged delegates tend to vote for the candidate who received the most votes from their state (although they are not required to and some state parties give them more leeway than others). Many state Republican party delegations are made up entirely of unpledged delegates which gives them the distinction "winner take all". Even with these traditions, unpledged delegates are allowed to change their vote at any time before the national convention. This is why both the Republican and Democratic parties have the potential for a brokered convention. This is far less likely for the Republican party where the traditions are more strict and there are far fewer unpledged delegates who are given a free hand.
[edit] Criticism
The Democratic Party has been criticized for conducting its nominating process in an undemocratic way,[4][22][23] because superdelegates are generally chosen without regard to their preferences in the presidential race and are not obligated to support the candidate chosen by the voters. Television commentator Dan Abrams has called it "troubling" that the superdelegates might decide the race, arguing, "Each of the superdelegates' votes is now equivalent to about 10,000 Democratic voters."[24]
There have been repeated calls to eliminate the superdelegates from the nomination process to more accurately reflect the popular vote, including an online petition.[25]
Delegates chosen in primaries and caucuses may not exactly reflect the votes cast, although party rules require proportional allocation rather than winner-take-all.[26]
[edit] See also
* Democratic Party (United States) Superdelegates, 2008
[edit] References
1. ^ a b c d e Democratic National Committee (August 19, 2006). "Delegate Selection Rules for the 2008 Democratic National Convention". Retrieved on 2008-02-08.
2. ^ Nagourney, Adam; Hulse, Carl. "Neck and Neck, Democrats Woo Superdelegates", The New York Times, 2008-02-10.
3. ^ Nather, David (February 25, 2008), "Leaping Voters In a Single Bound", CQ Weekly: 482,
4. ^ a b Berman, Ari. "Not So Superdelegates", The Nation, 2008-02-18.
5. ^ Are "Superdelegates" Super? Herrerra, Richard, Political Behavior, Vol. 16, No. 1. (Mar., 1994), pp. 79-92.
6. ^ Pazniokas, Mark (February 6, 2008). Lieberman No Longer a Super Delegate. courant.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
7. ^ http://blogs.courant.com/capitol_watch/2008/02/obama-leads-cli.html
8. ^ http://graphics.boston.com/multimedia/politics/2008/superdelegate_list/superdeleg.pdf
9. ^ http://www.ctdems.org/documents/2008planv4FINAL.pdf
10. ^ http://demconwatch.blogspot.com/2008/02/everybody-wrong-on-lieberman.html
11. ^ a b c "The Primary Season: 2008 Democratic Calendar", The New York Times, 2007-01-07,
12. ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/13/everything-youve-ever-wa_n_86335.html
13. ^ a b Election Center 2008: Delegate Scorecard. CNN.
14. ^ http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct=us/13-0&fp=47c86d832767ae19&ei=FezIR6raCo7eqgO9ivDPCQ&url=http%3A//www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/02/25/superdelegates/&cid=0
15. ^ http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct=us/10-0&fp=47c89ea33f9bd60c&ei=LuzIR7OyEZ6arAPppczgCQ&url=http%3A//www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/now/stories/2008/02/27/1_OHIO_PRIME_ART_02-27-08_D1_869EDH0.html%3Fsid%3D101&cid=1137561861
16. ^ http://demconwatch.blogspot.com/2008/02/superdelegate-from-maine-moves-to-fl.html
17. ^ http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8535.html
18. ^ http://www.gop.com/images/2008_Call_FINAL.pdf
19. ^ Marcus, Ruth. "Looking Beyond Tsunami Tuesday", The Sacramento Bee, 2008-01-17.
20. ^ "Romney suspends presidential campaign", CNN.com, February 7, 2008,
21. ^ "Maine Caucus Results", The New York Times.
22. ^ Snell, Teddye. "A Presidential Primer", Tahlequah Daily Press, 2008-01-09.
23. ^ Chaddock, Gail Russell. "If Superdelegates Pick Nominee, Democrats Face Backlash", Christian Science Monitor, 2008-02-20.
24. ^ Abrams, Dan (February 8, 2008). "Voters Not Superdelegates". The Huffington Post. Retrieved on 2008-03-01.
25. ^ "Democrats for Democracy Superdelegate Petition"
26. ^ Cook, Rhodes, The Presidential Nominating Process: A Place for Us?, Rowman & Littlefield,
[edit] External links
* Democratic Convention Watch - lists which superdelegates have and have not endorsed a candidate
* List of Democratic superdelegates
* "Delegate Selection Rules for the 2008 Democratic National Convention" - official Democratic Party rules (note: this is a redirect from the link www.democrats.org/page/-/dem_convention/rules.pdf, on http://www.demconvention.com/how-to-become-a-delegate/)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superdelegate"
Categories: United States presidential nominating conventions
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