(no subject)

[yesthattom]

Huffington Post article by someone that feels we shouldn’t fear the superdelegates.

(which is a reply to this article.

What they both forget is that the superdelegate concept is a NEW thing, added in the 70s, to keep out candidates that the DNC establishment didn’t like. They successfully kept Gary Hart from getting the nomination, and at the time the DNC considered that to be a demonstration that superdelegates were a success.

Comments

[barking-iguana.livejournal.com]

Sort of.

1. The superdelegates are almost as old as the Democratic public picking the delegates at all. In 1968, most delegates were still chosen by party insiders. In 1972, it was all open to the public via caucuses and a vastly increased number of primaries. In 1976, they introduced superdelegates.
2. I't not really about the DNC per se, it's about the state parties and elected officials (often but now always machine hacks) who have a lasting interest in the Democratic brand, as opposed to the presidential candidates who from others' perspectives may be too exclusively focused on right now.
3. Mondale won a plurality of pledged delegates and primary votes, as well. The superdelegates pushed him from a plurality to a majority, but Mondale earned the nomination.