Shenanigans Super-saver for the Democrats?

Author: Alex Garlick

The Democratic nomination race will be very close. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are fighting for every last delegate in their primary contests, desperately trying to get to the magic number of 2,025. This is a breath of fresh air for political fans, accustomed to seeing the nomination locked up by Groundhog Day. States have seen record turnout, and the country saw the closest thing to a national primary it has ever had when almost half the states participated in Super Tuesday. However, unless Barack or Hillary pulls away in the coming months, a clause in the Democratic Party regulations could take the nomination out of the hands of the people and into the hands of 796 elected officials and party insiders. These people are called superdelegates, and despite the fact that superdelegates may challenge the democratic legitimacy of the process, they may actually save the Democrats from themselves.

Remember what the purpose of the primary process is - to pick a nominee that satisfies the party and has the best ability to win in November. If Barack and Hillary end up going all 15 rounds in their metaphorical boxing match, John McCain will have more than a puncher's chance in the General Election. The Democrats' potential problem is exacerbated by the way they scheduled their convention. In 2004, the Democratic National Convention was in Boston in mid-July, almost six weeks before the GOP's Labor Day affair. This ended up costing John Kerry when his allocated money had to last six weeks longer than George Bush's. Therefore, instead of having a "100 Days Party," the Democrats will be dropping the balloons in Denver in late August. If the two candidates stumble into the convention with an air of uncertainty, then the Democrats will be wishing they had copied the Middlebury Senior Committee's "100 Days" plan, although probably without the markers and white tee shirts. Meanwhile, this whole time John McCain will be running in a one-sided race, which is quickly becoming a Republican love fest. On a side note, did anybody else see Mitt Romney looking very vice-presidential at McCain's side last week? It's only a couple weeks since, in Jay Leno's words, Mitt threw in the monogrammed towel, and already he's looking longingly into John's eyes.

Anyway, what does this have to do with superdelegates? Well, the 796 supers make up 20 percent of the total, and even if they have publicly sided with a candidate, they are not bound to either, and could swing the vote in either direction. Therefore they can break any sort of deadlock, and give the eventual nominee a little momentum before facing McCain. You may ask, shouldn't the primaries produce a man (or woman) of the people? As Thomas Mann pointed out in Friday's The New York Times, superdelegates are public personalities that are more accountable for their actions at the convention than voters are in the comfort of their own voting booth. They have their finger on the pulse of public opinion. So fear not, the people's voice will be heard. So far, the superdelegates seem to be split, just like the voters. Hillary has the ghosts of the old Clinton Administration in her corner, while Obama has shown an ability to make inroads in the Democratic establishment, as evidenced by his endorsement by Ted Kennedy and John Kerry (which is a good thing, right?).

For you Democrats out there hoping to beat McCain in November, superdelegates may be your best hope of avoiding an embarrassing and divisive convention, only a few weeks before the start of the debates. Otherwise, the best chance for the Democrats may have to be an outsider, preferably one with wild popularity and national experience. I can hear it now: "Paging Al Gore, could Mr. Gore please make his way to the stage."

Alex Garlick '08.5 is a Political Science and Economics major from Needham, Mass.