I have to ask myself this question more and more. The Democratic primary is a heated race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. As of the latest count I’ve seen, there are 307 uncommitted “superdelegates” and the difference in the delegate count is 133. Even though there are more primaries to come, I think there are many who wonder if the “wisdom” of the Democratic Party has silenced their voice.
In 1968, the DNC changed their policies on seating delegates to take some of the control away from party leaders and return it to the citizens. This sounds like a great idea. Knowing that Wikipedia is not a be-all-end-all source for the truth, it was interesting to read about the McGovern-Fraser Commission to see how this change came to be.
If you read the Wiki entry on Superdelegates, it’s interesting to note that the Democrats feel this decision weakened the ticket of George McGovern, who was one of the chairs of the McGovern-Fraser Commission. In 1982, they felt it necessary to give back some of the power to party leaders.
The more I read, the fewer answers I have about this topic. I can’t find anything that leads me to believe that this is a fair system. Let’s face it, whoever wears the most Chapstick to prevent their lips from drying out on the backside of the superdelegates could very well wind up becoming the nominee.
