2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumOver/under on when a major Hillary supporter defects and supports Bernie!
I'd say we might get a few big fish swimming over in the next month or so.
HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)Not sure who that will be... "Biden" or even "Bloomberg" maybe but I'd say 20 to 30 days after plan B enters the race at least one super delegates will switch.
GitRDun
(1,846 posts)I would think they would push Biden in first.
Just my opinion.
tularetom
(23,664 posts)So I really doubt we'll be seeing any high profile defections in that direction.
I can believe that a major Hillary supporter might defect to the campaign of Jeb Bush or one of the other less openly nutty republican candidates, but to sign themselves with the candidate who overtly opposes everything the Clintons have ever stood for? No, I just don't think its in the cards.
Divernan
(15,480 posts)Last edited Sun Sep 13, 2015, 11:13 PM - Edit history (1)
I keep hearing how many Super Delegates have "pledged" to Hillary. Yeah, right! It may come as a shock to the Clinton camp, but a Super Delegate pledge does not constitute any kind of binding legal contract. Nor is it even a religious or morally binding promise like a marriage vow, i.e., I pledge thee my troth and will cling only unto thee, forsaking all others till death do us part. Here's the real deal, and it ain't good news for Hill.
Superdelegates have to consider how to use their votes carefully. They may:
Vote in step with how the voters in the majority of states voted
Vote in line with Democratic voters nationwide
Vote in favor of the candidate with the most pledged delegates, even if it is just a slim majority.
A superdelegate can also choose to vote his or her "conscience." This is one way of saying that a superdelegate may not vote the way the majority of voters do, but on the candidate he or she feels is best. "Superdelegates are supposed to vote their conscience and supposed to vote for person they think would make the best candidate and the best president," Howard Wolfson of Hillary Clinton's campaign said in February 2008 . This is what California Congressman Dennis Cordoza did when he officially switched his pledge from Clinton to Obama the following May, citing her "contentious primary campaign" .
Cordoza illustrated another characteristic unique to superdelegates -- they're allowed to switch their pledges from one candidate to another. They can also pledge and switch long before the national convention. Most commonly, a superdelegate rescinds his or her pledge based on his or her constituency. In the 2008 primaries, Georgia Rep. David Scott changed his pledge from Sen. Hillary Clinton to Sen. Barack Obama. Around 80 percent of the Democratic voters in Scott's district voted for Obama, and Scott changed his pledge .
Ohlemacher, Stephen. Superdelegates are flocking to Obama. Associated Press. February 23, 2008. http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080223/D8V007M80.html
napi21
(45,806 posts)I didn't know anything about them and that info helps a lot.
Senator Tankerbell
(316 posts)I bet there will be some members of congress willing to come out for Bernie if his poll numbers continue to improve and he does well in the debate. It doesn't really seem like he needs their help though.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)It was a forgone conclusion of conventional political wisdom that having super-delegates
"locked-up", and having billionaires in your corner would create such an overwhelming
advantage from the get-go, that it would make Hillary the "inevitable" presumed nominee.
And while this may have the ring of truth & inevitability to it, Bernie is demonstrating how
very far off-base and obsolete this conventional 'wisdom' has become; because voters
across-the-board are pissed, and many of them know exactly why they're pissed, and so
does Bernie.
Go Bernie Go!!!!
reformist2
(9,841 posts)brooklynite
(95,168 posts)...what do you consider a "major Hillary supporter"?
And do you really believe that any of Hillary's support will dissolve before a single vote is cast?
morningfog
(18,115 posts)enough. Any one of her super delegate padding would count.
jfern
(5,204 posts)brooklynite
(95,168 posts)...at least, that's what I keep being told.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)brooklynite
(95,168 posts)morningfog
(18,115 posts)oasis
(49,551 posts)Sad, so sad.
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