Courtesy of Salon:
The Democratic Party’s superdelegate system has come under attack this presidential election, as critics blast it as undemocratic. There are hundreds of superdelegates, unelected party elites, who can sway the primary election, undermining the candidate democratically chosen by the party’s mass base.
Critics have begun to ask why this undemocratic system exists. CNN’s Jake Tapper posed precisely this question to Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, an ally of Hillary Clinton who co-chaired her former presidential; campaign, in a Feb. 11 interview. She responded with shockingly blunt honesty.
“What do you tell voters who are new to the process who say this makes them feel like it’s all rigged?” Tapper asked the DNC chair.
“Unpledged delegates exist really to make sure that party leaders and elected officials don’t have to be in a position where they are running against grassroots activists,” Wasserman Schultz calmly explained.
That answer has caused a great deal of blowback towards Wasserman Schultz and the DNC.
Which of course is understandable.
But is it fair?
After all the idea of Superdelegates was formed after the Democratic convention of 1968 in order to take some of the control out of the hands of party leaders and put it back into the hands of the voters.
However now there is fear that it might do just the opposite.
It should also be pointed out that though Howard Dean gained the support of a number of superdelegates before the primaries began in 2004 he was still ultimately defeated by John Kerry, and in 2008 when Hillary seemed to have the majority of them locked up, Barack Obama was still able to win the nomination.
Having said that there does exist the possibility of superdelegates playing a deciding factor in this 2016 nomination process.
So the ultimate question is, if that indeed happens, will many Bernie Sanders supporters see Hillary's nomination as legitimate? And if not will that ultimately have a truly negative impact on the future of the Democratic party?
Source http://ift.tt/1Tjootw
The Democratic Party’s superdelegate system has come under attack this presidential election, as critics blast it as undemocratic. There are hundreds of superdelegates, unelected party elites, who can sway the primary election, undermining the candidate democratically chosen by the party’s mass base.
Critics have begun to ask why this undemocratic system exists. CNN’s Jake Tapper posed precisely this question to Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, an ally of Hillary Clinton who co-chaired her former presidential; campaign, in a Feb. 11 interview. She responded with shockingly blunt honesty.
“What do you tell voters who are new to the process who say this makes them feel like it’s all rigged?” Tapper asked the DNC chair.
“Unpledged delegates exist really to make sure that party leaders and elected officials don’t have to be in a position where they are running against grassroots activists,” Wasserman Schultz calmly explained.
That answer has caused a great deal of blowback towards Wasserman Schultz and the DNC.
Which of course is understandable.
But is it fair?
After all the idea of Superdelegates was formed after the Democratic convention of 1968 in order to take some of the control out of the hands of party leaders and put it back into the hands of the voters.
However now there is fear that it might do just the opposite.
It should also be pointed out that though Howard Dean gained the support of a number of superdelegates before the primaries began in 2004 he was still ultimately defeated by John Kerry, and in 2008 when Hillary seemed to have the majority of them locked up, Barack Obama was still able to win the nomination.
Having said that there does exist the possibility of superdelegates playing a deciding factor in this 2016 nomination process.
So the ultimate question is, if that indeed happens, will many Bernie Sanders supporters see Hillary's nomination as legitimate? And if not will that ultimately have a truly negative impact on the future of the Democratic party?
Source http://ift.tt/1Tjootw
