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In reply to the discussion: Even MSNBC, Clinton a Flawed Candidate, Indictment Pending: LEE CAMP 'Redacted Tonite' [View all]SouthernDemLinda
(182 posts)104. Democratic party decides its nominee in a massively undemocratic way.
www.theguardian.com
Many people on Twitter expressed surprise that Hillary Clinton basically walked away with the same amount of total delegates as Bernie Sanders after the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday night, despite the decisive 20-plus-point rout by Sanders.
It highlights the longstanding but little-discussed superdelegate system that could play a huge role in who wins the Democratic nomination this year. It turns out, the Democratic party decides its nominee in a massively undemocratic way and is a ticking time bomb for the party and its voter base if Sanders keeps winning.
The Democratic partys nomination will ultimately be decided by more than 4,700 delegates at its nominating convention in the summer. Most of those delegates are allocated based on votes in each states primary or caucus. However, the party also assigns what are known as superdelegates 700 or so people who arent elected by anyone during the primary process and are free to vote any way they want at the convention. They are made up of members of Congress and members of the Democratic National Committee which is made up of much of the establishment that Sanders is implicitly running against.
According to University of Georgia lecturer Josh Putnam, superdelegates exist solely to allow DNC elites to better control who ultimately becomes their nominee. The reason superdelegates came into being in the interim period between the 1980 and 1984 elections was to allow the party establishment an increased voice in the nomination process, he wrote on his blog in 2009.
While they only make up about one-sixth of the total delegates, they are more than enough to swing the election either way even if a candidate clearly wins a majority of votes and regular delegates during the primary season.
In other words, it could make the primary elections meaningless. Bernie could end up decisively winning the popular vote but still have the nomination stripped away from him at this summers convention.
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Even MSNBC, Clinton a Flawed Candidate, Indictment Pending: LEE CAMP 'Redacted Tonite' [View all]
appalachiablue
Jun 2016
OP
So the DNC will 'give' the nomination? An interesting claim. Stay around, learn.
appalachiablue
Jun 2016
#2
Why bother with voting and primaries, democracy's overrated. The corrupt message..
appalachiablue
Jun 2016
#52
This kind of corruption and arrogance exercised by the DNC is why so many people do not vote.
avaistheone1
Jun 2016
#65
Yep, and they certainly seem Not to care if people vote. A very bad sign for democracy,
appalachiablue
Jun 2016
#121
Democratic party decides its nominee in a massively undemocratic way.
SouthernDemLinda
Jun 2016
#104
Well, the "Hastert Rule" in the house says that only the majority of the majority party
Akamai
Jun 2016
#15
No he doesn't. First, he has only 44% of the vote so far, and that vote count includes...
George II
Jun 2016
#17
Well, if what we've seen around here is any indication, the talk is that once Sanders....
George II
Jun 2016
#68
It sounds to me like you do not have any idea what this campaign is even about.
pangaia
Jun 2016
#55
Analysts have estimated the "popular" vote in caucus states and added that....
George II
Jun 2016
#77
This is a lie that should not be accepted, tolerated or allowed to persist.
SouthernDemLinda
Jun 2016
#95
Do you really think Biden is any more palatable to Bernie's supporters than Hillary is?
djean111
Jun 2016
#18
Sanders bashed the Democratic Party his whole life, only joining it to use it for his Pres. run.
SunSeeker
Jun 2016
#44
All Arlen Specter had to do was change the letter after his name from "R" to "D",
bvar22
Jun 2016
#92
He can't run as an independent now because he doesn't have time to get on the ballot
jmowreader
Jun 2016
#82
Lee's political talents, humor and wit at their best tackling this serious unravelling story.
appalachiablue
Jun 2016
#21
Yeah, but then they started allowing people to cite MSNBC, so why play favorites?
MisterFred
Jun 2016
#51
Somehow I don't think one appearance by JFK, Jr compares all that well to Alex Fucking Jones
Major Nikon
Jun 2016
#107
Sure, because getting your information from Putin is the gold standard of not-bullshit
Major Nikon
Jun 2016
#119
One hopes that Republican talking points will vanish from this site on Tuesday. n/t
NNadir
Jun 2016
#29
You can't win a trolling war against people who don't need to be paid to troll!
SouthernDemLinda
Jun 2016
#114
When We Stand Together No Citizen Need Settle For The Lessor Of Two Corporate Evils - Go Bernie Go
cantbeserious
Jun 2016
#34
Aesop Rock has also parodied "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" in his song "Coma" from Labor Da
SouthernDemLinda
Jun 2016
#115
of course, you're right. But I was responding to the Putin stupidity. nukes are being pushed up
ish of the hammer
Jun 2016
#113
"If it weren't for Trump...," Clinton couldn't sell corpo-militarism to us as a good thing...
Peace Patriot
Jun 2016
#61
She's responsible for these serious actions and we're the ones who will suffer
appalachiablue
Jun 2016
#66
In May the Inspector General's Office of the State Dept. issued a report
appalachiablue
Jun 2016
#103