Just as the Berners call for the end of Super Delegates and open pimaries the GOP is reconsidering

[liberal N proud]

Reeling From 2016 Chaos, G.O.P. Mulls Overhaul of Primaries

WASHINGTON — Leaders of the Republican Party have begun internal deliberations over what would be fundamental changes to the way its presidential nominees are chosen, a recognition that the chaotic process that played out this year is seriously flawed and helped exacerbate tensions within the party.

In a significant shift, Republican officials said it now seemed unlikely that the four states to vote first would all retain their cherished place on the electoral calendar, with Nevada as the most probable casualty.

Party leaders are even going so far as to consider diluting the traditional status of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina as gatekeepers to the presidency. Under one proposal, those states would be paired with others that voted on the same day as a way to give more voters a meaningful role much sooner.

But in a move that would sharply limit who could participate in presidential primaries, many party activists are also pushing to close Republican contests to independent voters, arguing that open primaries in some states allowed Donald J. Trump, whose conservative convictions they deeply mistrust, to become the presumptive nominee.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/25/us/politics/republican-primary-schedule.html?emc=edit_th_20160525&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=45299538&_r=0

______________________________
IMO, Super Delegates are a great thing and all the primaries should be closed to Party declared voters only. It is the Party choosing who is running in the General Election, if someone wants to have a voice in that selection process, they need to join the Party.

[Cha]

1. Super Delegates were initiated so we wouldn't have another George McGovern

/Richard Nixon disaster.. I feel safer with them in place.

I don't care what burnie whines about.. everybody's talking about how he only whines about the states he loses.. even the Sacramento Bee.

And, this is our party.. we're the ones who do all the work and are responsible for taking it to the White House. If anyone wants to be a part of that they need to join or get out of the way.

Thankfully Hillary is our Nominee in 2016!



Mahalo, liberal N proud~

[teamster633]

6. That's exactly right.

George McGovern was a war hero. He was a good man who stood for the right things. Still, a good man can't get anything done if he doesn't get elected. The primary duty of a political party is to get its representatives elected.

[Her Sister]

2. Yep I like the Superdelegates roles!

They are also more knowledgeable about the candidates as they have worked with them!

It's hard to know who plays well with others and who is an asshole to work with: Like Ted Cruz. All of this is important.

[LiberalFighter]

3. I agree that automatic delegates should remain and primaries shoud be closed.

But we can't do too much about the latter. The Party can do something else though. They could use a modified allocation of delegates based on the type of contest they hold. It could be based on their at-large and PLEO delegates. Maybe it would be enough to encourage them to change the type of election they conduct.

Iowa is a caucus state and has 29 district delegates, 9 at-large, and 6 PLEO delegates. If it is based on whether they are a caucus or open primary then because it is not a primary state it would lose their at-large delegates. If it was an open primary it would lose their PLEO delegates. It would be a step through procedure in which the further away they are from a closed primary the more delegates they lose.

For everyone's information, every state receives base delegates. They also may receive bonus delegates that is determined on when they conduct their election and if they are part of a cluster. See below.

Bonus Allocation

Bonus delegates are awarded to

Jurisdictions holding their First Determining Step (start their delegate allocation process) later in the cycle and
Neighboring jurisdictions who concurrently begin their process, a.k.a. clustering.

The bonus is awarded as a percentage of the pledged delegate base allocation in additional district and at-large delegates. The bonus does NOT apply to unpledged delegates.

The Presidential nomination cycle is divided into several stages:

The pre-window begins with Iowa (no earlier than 1 February 2016 [Rule 11A]), New Hampshire (no earlier than 9 February 2016 [Rule 11A]), Nevada (no earlier than 20 February 2016 [Rule 11A]), and South Carolina (no earlier than 27 February 2016 [Rule 11A]).
Stage I begins on 1 March 2016 [Rule 11A.] and runs through 31 March [Call Article C.1.]. No "late start" bonuses are associated with these dates.
Stage II runs from 1 through 30 April 2016 [Call Article C.1.]. States beginning their process during this period receive a 10% bonus to the base allocation split between the district and at-large delegates [Call Article C.2.a.].
Stage III runs from 1 May through 14 June 2016 [Call Article C.1.]. States beginning their process during this period receive a 20% bonus to the base allocation split between the district and at-large delegates [Call Article C.2.a.].
Beginning on the 4th Tuesday in March, Tuesday 22 March 2016 [Call Article C.2.c.], a 15% bonus to the base delegate allocation is awarded when clusters of 3 or more neighboring states begin on the same date. For jurisdictions with electoral votes, Puerto Rico, and Democrats Abroad, the bonus is applied as district and At-large delegates. For American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands the bonus is applied as At-Large delegates since these jurisdictions have no district delegates. [Article I.C.2.b.i]
Maine is considered a neighboring state of Vermont and Massachusetts. [Reg 5.1.A Article I.C.2.b]
Alaska and Hawaii are considered neighboring states of Washington and Oregon. [Reg 5.1.B Article I.C.2.b]
American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are considered neighboring states of each other. [Reg 5.1.C Article I.C.2.b]

The bonus is computed as (Base × percentage) then rounded to the nearest whole number.

Example: If a state has 10 Base Votes and receives a Stage 3 bonus (20%) and a Cluster bonus (15%), the state would receive a 35% bonus-- 4 additional delegate votes.

District and At-Large Bonus = round(10 base votes × 0.35)
= round(3.5)
= 4

Splitting bonus delegates between the District and At-Large categories.

The Bonus for At-Large Delegate Votes = Bonus × 0.25. Fractions 0.5 and above are rounded to the next highest integer. Should the rounding result in 0, set the Bonus for At-Large Delegate Votes to 1.
The bonus for District Delegate Votes = Bonus - Bonus for At-Large Delegate Votes. Hence, the rounding favors the statewide At-Large allocation.
There may be exceptions to the above-- in 2008, South Dakota's bonus delegate was awarded as a District rather than an At-Large delegate. In 2012, Kentucky's 10 bonus delegates were awarded as 8 District and 2 At-Large rather than 7 District and 3 At-Large. Rhode Island's 6 bonus delegates were awarded as 5 District and 1 At-Large rather than 4 District and 2 At-Large. Oregon's 10 bonus delegates are awarded as 8 District and 2 At-Large rather than 7 District and 3 At-Large.

[BootinUp]

4. Lots of people have supported outsiders at one time or another

and from that perspective the superdelegates may seem wrong. But for the Party to have stability and to stand for something it is making more and more sense to have them. This year is a perfect example of why they are needed. Better for the Party to Evolve than to be subject to a messy revolution that would only weaken it for many years.

[yallerdawg]

5. The Democratic Party is truly a Big Tent.

Our greatest strength comes from the unity of the many factions within.

We can have Hillary "centrists" and Bernie "democratic socialists" all together with one single guidepost - "We are stronger together!"

[liberal N proud]

7. No doubt, it is a big tent and everyone is welcome

But everyone should be required to join the party and everyone should be required to do it before a set deadline. All these rules are designed to prevent a Trump like candidate taking control of the entire process.

They can call the system rigged, but it is rigged so that people don't switch sides at the last minute and effect the outcome adversely.

[yallerdawg]

8. I live in a state with no party registration...

and open primaries.

78-19% for Hillary in the primary! 309,928 votes out of 398,164 cast!

A Democrat is a Democrat is a Democrat!

[liberal N proud]

9. What is wrong with declaring a party ahead of the primary?

If a Democrat is a Democrat then they shouldn't have any problem doing that to support the Democratic candidates.

Primaries are where the Parties select their candidates, not the general public voters, but the party voters.

[yallerdawg]

10. Each state has their own reasoning.

Put 'em all together, and you have the Party!

[NastyRiffraff]

11. Republicans are no doubt wishing

they had Super Delegates.

As for primaries, I have never understood why non-Democrats get to help select a Democratic nominee. It's not like people can't declare themselves Democrats if they do it before the published deadline. If they're too pure (unlike Bernie) to declare as a Democrat then no, they shouldn't vote in a Democratic primary.

[liberal N proud]

12. Exactly