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Democratic delegates could decide nomination |
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Thursday, 06 March 2008 |
 | Obama
Delegates
Pledged: 1,321
Superdelegates: 199
Total: 1,520 |
by JEFF KOEHLER
Intern News Reporter
Because of the near tie in delegate totals between Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.), the Democratic Party’s superdelegates could play a critical role this year in the party’s nomination contest, said Dr. Phillip J. Ardoin of Appalachian State University’s department of political science.
“It’s unlikely either [Obama or Clinton] will win enough delegates to achieve victory,” Ardoin said.
In the event that this happens, the selection process will be in the hands of the superdelegates, Ardoin said.
Ardoin
described these Democratic superdelegates as party elites, whose ranks
include governors, U.S. Congress members, and seasoned party activists.
They also have far more freedom when it comes to selecting the party’s
nominee than normal delegates.
“Primary and caucus delegates have to vote according to caucus results,” Ardoin said. “Superdelegates can vote however they want.”
 | Clinton
Delegates
Pledged: 1,186
Superdelegates: 238
Total: 1,424 |
For much of United States history, the nomination process did not involve any sort of popular
selection, Ardoin said. Democratic National Convention delegates chose the nominees without input
from the people, and the nation accepted their judgment.
“The elites used to play a much larger role,” said Dr. Adam J. Newmark, professor of political science.
This changed after the 1968 Democratic National Convention. In that convention, the Democratic
Party’s delegates selected pro-Vietnam War candidate Hubert Humphrey over anti-war candidate
Eugene McCarthy, Ardoin said.
“Young people pulled for McCarthy,” Ardoin said. After Humphrey was selected, angry citizens rioted in
Chicago, where the convention was being held. To avoid such results in the future, the Democratic
Party created the McGovern-Fraser Commission in order to reform the nomination process.
Newmark said these reforms led to the current system of nominee selection, which gives regular party
members a greater voice in the selection of the party’s nominee through the primary and caucus
system.
The current system allows primary and caucus votes to influence Democratic delegates’ candidate
selection, proportional to the amount of votes the candidate receives.
“The goal of those reforms was to open the process, and make it more democratic,” Newmark said.
Party elites still have substantial sway in selecting the nominee, however.
Newmark said around 800 of the 4,049 total delegates are superdelegates, and a candidate needs a
simple majority of 2,025 delegates total in order to win the nomination.
Newmark said Clinton currently holds the lead in the total superdelegate count, but Obama has a larger
overall number of regular delegates.
“If the superdelegates cast their votes for Hillary Clinton and popular sentiment is still with Obama, we
might see a repeat of the 1968 Democratic National Convention, which was violence and student
protests,” Ardoin said.
In the Republican field, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has won enough delegates to secure that party’s
nomination, Newmark said.
He said while McCain has not been getting as much exposure as the embattled Democratic
contestants, he can let Clinton and Obama trade blows against one another, and use their attacks
against the eventual winner of the Democratic nomination.
Newmark said although McCain has been able to save money while the Democrats struggle for the
nomination, he will now have to raise more.
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