Want to see how our own Democratic party works against us ?

[kelligesq]

Super delegates count for 40%. Take a look at who the super delegates are and why the democrats changed the system to work against the people's choice.

what do you think we democrats should do about it?
I'm serious.


" How Many Super Delegates Are There?

There are 852 super delegates, roughly 40 percent of the amount of delegates needed to win the nomination. The category includes Democratic governors and members of Congress, former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, former vice president Al Gore, retired Congressional leaders such as Dick Gephardt and all Democratic National Committee members, some of who are appointed by party chairman Howard Dean.

There are 3,515 pledged delegates that are selected by the primary and caucus system.

Why Super Delegates?

Many see the system as undemocratic. It was set up as a safety net for party leaders to correct a "mistake" by the voters. It was a reaction to the McGovern nomination in 1972, and partly the Carter nomination in 1976. McGovern was seen as someone outside the mainstream. Party leaders wanted a way to influence the nominating process and rescue the party from a nominee they didn't think could win. They also felt Jimmy Carter didn't have the name recognition or experience; so if they had the system, then they probably would have attempted to block his nomination

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:RIAQVeWSc2MJ:www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011408J.shtml+John+Edwards+delegate+count&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=us

[ursi]

1. yep, it's disgusting

[kelligesq]

2. DC dems see Obama & Hillary inside the "mainstream" - in the club -I've said it b4 if

Edwards isn't the nominee, with Pelosi's manipulations behind the scenes supporting Obama and Hillary, AFTER the primaries I'll switch to Independent.

I'm not going to be manipulated by the media or Pelosi, Reid, and super delegates who are DLC

[kelligesq]

3. kciking because this is important for us to understand abt Super Delegates

:kick:

[Common Sense Party]

4. Do the Repukes also use SuperDelegates?

(And do they wear capes and spandex tights?)

Seriously...not that I'm saying it's no big deal that we do it if THEY do it too...

I'm just wondering if it's just OUR party that has this stupid system.

[kelligesq]

7. Good Question. Dont know the answer but pugs have always fallen in line to party bosses - so

they might not have other than party whips etc...like DeLay and Gingrich in his time...repugs have always acted like robots - democrats tend to be mavericks, think for themselves and dislike people like Pelosi, Reid, and that crew trying to make us fall in line with what they want.

I think Pelosi and Reid will certainly pay the next time they come up for election.

Democrats are switching to independent like never before., thanks to Pelosi " No Impeachment" - who the hell is she to buck the wish of the people , both dems and pugs want him impeached.

[Common Sense Party]

9. "pugs want him impeached"? Have you ever met a 'puke that

is calling for *'s impeachment?

I haven't--and I'm SURROUNDED by them.

[kelligesq]

10. Some do. You dont think 70%disapproval is all dems dya?

:eyes:

[Common Sense Party]

12. There's a huuuuge gap between "disapproval" and

"impeach him!"

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. They used to call them party bosses. But, "superdelegates" is so much more... dainty.

[MonkeyFunk]

6. actually

superdelegates are about 19% of the total number of delegates. And I don't know of any case where the superdelegates were the deciding factor in the choosing the nominee.

[leftofthedial]

8. another reason not to support their annointed ones

this country is beyond fucked.

[Bright Eyes]

11. Thats f'ed up.

I didn't realize the "super-delegate" thing was so recent (something the never even mentioned in civics class).

Government for the people, my ass.

[kelligesq]

13. Neither did I. "voters mistake" really fired me up - lots of talk of a third party &

it's looking better and better. The DLC has moved the entire party so far to the right that we cant tell the difference between dems and republicans. Dems used to be for the people. Only Edards is taking that part now.

That Hillary and Obama are picking up on our anger and talking the talk imitating Edwards, but they'll never walk the walk, once they get in.

It well could be a third and even a fourth party. Liberals who have been locked out and Independents who are sick of all of them.

[bean fidhleir]

18. "Voters' mistake" is what Kissinger said about Chile - to justify the coup

Remember the DNC member from Wisconsin during the 2004 convention who blew the whistle on who runs the Democratic Party? I can't remember her name, but she was very clear that the DNC is nothing but a figurehead group that's expected to rubberstamp decisions they're not even told about beforehand, much less involved in.

I guess one need not be a democrat to be a Democrat.

[Emit]

14. Regarding delegates in general

I just posted this same response to a similar discussion, but it fits here as well:

At the NV caucus, the delegates that are nominated are to subsequently attend the County Convention(In Washoe County, NV in Feb) and carry their preference group's chosen candidate's name to the next level. I discovered recently that the delegate is not bound to the preference group's choice of candidate. This came up in a caucus training where we were discussing nominations of precinct delegates and if a group doesn't have enough people who want to be a delegate, then the party chooses a delegate to fill that precinct's delegate position (I think they still have to live in that precinct).

So, a delegate can be nominated from, for example, an Edwards' preference group, but when that delegate gets to the County Caucus, he/she could, in reality, submit a choice for Obama or Hillary or Kucinich.

How the final results compare to the numbers we will see coming out of the caucus results tomorrow may be hard to follow.

edit wrong word

[kelligesq]

15. Thanks Emit. Interesting to learn how this works..apparently none

of the delegates anywhere are held to the vote they are supposed to represent.

Time to change this country to one person, one vote and to hell with this caucus crap and electorate crap.

[Emit]

16. NV followed Iowa's caucus model, and we've had people from Iowa here for months now

Here's how wiki explains this stage of the process for the Iowa Caucus:

~snip~
The delegates chosen by the precinct then go to a later caucus, the county convention, to choose delegates to the district convention and state convention. Most of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention are selected at the district convention, with the remaining ones selected at the state convention. Delegates to each level of convention are initially bound to support their chosen candidate but can later switch in a process very similar to what goes on at the precinct level; however, as major shifts in delegate support are rare, the media declares the candidate with the most delegates on the precinct caucus night the winner, and relatively little attention is paid to the later caucuses.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_caucus

edit typo

[dmosh42]

17. Thanks for the post! Just another party of 'corporatist'!

Both parties battle to satisfy the corporations, and it shows in Washington DC.