Tag: super-delegates

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What If We Abolished The Practice Of SuperDelegates?

Depending on the day, I can’t tell if Sen. Bernie Sanders doesn’t like the concept of Superdelegates or if he does.

Throughout the campaign he and his surrogates complained how having Superdelegates “rigs” the system. He did this mainly because he didn’t have many, and Hillary Clinton did.

He called for abolishing the idea.

NOW, however, his only possible path to the Democratic nomination is to somehow convince those  Superdelegates that have declared their support for front-runner Hillary Clinton to switch their allegiance to him.

Because folks always jump off the winning team?

The fact is, even if we didn’t have Superdelegates, Hillary would still be ahead of Bernie by 250-300 delegates depending on how you changed the rules.

The system isn’t “rigged” in Hillary’s favor. Sanders knew and competed with the same rules she did.

She just showed more class when faced with the inevitable math in 2008 when she found herself in a similar situation running against then-Senator Obama.

I hope, once we get past June 7th, Sanders doesn’t choose to drag the drama out all the way to the Democratic convention. It will only hurt the party and help Donald Trump.

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Bernie Sanders Says Democratic Convention Will Be “Contested”

Sen. Bernie Sanders says the Democratic convention will be a “contested” convention because Hillary Clinton can’t get to the 2.383 delegate total without super-delegates.

His view is that the super-delegates from the states he won should align with him, and not Clinton.

However, the rules for super-delegates is that they are not bound by any metric when it comes down to who they vote for at the convention. Hillary Clinton currently has 2,165 delegates (including super-delegates). Sanders has 1,357 (including super-delegates).

I’m not sure why Sanders believes Clinton’s supers would jump ship when she’s winning both the delegate count and the popular vote.

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Bernie Sanders: Super-Delegates Will Start Moving To Me And That’s How I’ll Win Dem Nomination

Sen. Bernie Sanders

Some politically-minded folks have begun asking if/when Sen. Bernie Sanders might consider ending his run for the Democratic presidential nomination in light of Hillary Clinton’s increasing lead in the delegate count.

While some call for Sanders to drop out now, there’s really no reason for him to do so; he has plenty of money, and as long as he’s in the race he has a voice.

But the Sanders team also has another gambit: super-delegates are going to start peeling off Clinton (the front-runner) and move to his column.

From The Hill:

Sanders currently trails Clinton in pledged delegates, 1,428 to 1,151. The count increases to 1930 to 1,189 when including unbound superdelegates. The former secretary of State needs just 435 more delegates to secure the nomination before the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia at the end of July.

Part of the reason why the Sanders campaign believes it’s still viable is his team says many of Clinton’s unbound superdelegates are getting ready to jump ship and throw their support behind the Vermont senator. Mook shot down that claim on Wednesday, saying it’s unrealistic.

I’m not sure what the logic is behind this “path to the nomination.”

Why would Democratic leaders in the party move away from the person with the most pledged delegates AND the highest popular vote count to move to the #2 guy?

Plus, don’t forget that just a month or so ago Sanders’ supporters bemoaned the idea of super-delegates saying the idea of them is unprincipled. Now he’s going to try and win based on super-delegates overturning the will of the popular vote?

Maybe I’m a little slow here, but I don’t see why anyone would do that.