superbad superdelegates
by Ari Holtz
Published: February 19, 2008
This isn’t the way it’s supposed to happen. Momentum from Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and the Super Tuesday states is supposed to carry a candidate to the nomination. It worked for George W. Bush, John Kerry and Al Gore. It’s essentially worked for John McCain. But for the Democrats in 2008? Heck no. This time around it’s all about the superdelegates, baby.
Superdelegates, the elected officials and Democratic Party members who are free to vote at the Democratic Convention for any candidate they like, make up 20 percent of the nominating delegates. Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama are currently locked in a close race for earned delegates, won via primaries and caucuses, with Obama up 1102 - 978 as of February 18, according to CNN.com. As contests in Wisconsin, Hawaii, Texas and Ohio come and go, the two are likely to remain close. It’s quite possible that neither will acquire the total number of earned delegates needed to win the nomination by the August convention. That’s when the superdelegates will wield their power. And if this is how it plays out, this is when American democracy will be on the business end of a steel-toed boot.
We vote for a reason. We vote to express our will and, if we’re in the majority, have that will be done. Americans tend to believe that their vote is their voice and that it counts. Sometimes, it does. Other times, obscure electoral institutions such as the Electoral College and superdelegates are roused from the depths to filter and subvert the people’s choice. Al Gore learned this lesson in 2000; in 2008 the Democratic Party may be similarly victimized. While superdelegates may eventually choose a nominee, if they go against the intention of the voters they will leave a hobbled party sure to lose in the general election.
The United States criticizes other counties for having watered-down versions of democracy. Tainted elections in Pakistan, Venezuela and Kenya, amongst others, have drawn our condemnation. President Bush used his 2004 inaugural address to lay out an ambitious agenda of spreading freedom and democracy. We are supposed to be the shining city on the hill, the model to the world of representative, democratic governance. Yet, in 2000 one vote in the Supreme Court chose a president despite his receiving 500,000 less votes than his opponent. And, in 2008, the Democratic nominee for president, who will likely be favored to win the office, may be chosen by party hacks and power brokers.
What sort of model is this?
The United States used to be an exemplar of civil liberties. Now we spy on our own citizens. We used to carry the moral high ground in war. Now we commit and attempt to justify torturing our enemies. We used to welcome the people of the world to our great land. Now the people of the world head to Europe and Canada to avoid our inefficient and sometimes abusive immigration process. We used to set the standard of compassion. Now we neglect our citizens as their city is ravaged by natural disaster.
No, superdelegates choosing Clinton or Obama to run against McCain is not equivalent to the travesty of waterboarding, the subversion of privacy via the Patriot Act or the national embarrassment that was the response to hurricane Katrina. But it is another drip in the increasing deluge of issues drowning America’s reputation as the world’s leader. When we are no longer the model for democracy, for civil liberties, for compassion and respect for our most vulnerable, what do we have left? Perez and Paris Hilton? Britney and Jamie Lynn Spears? The Whopper and the Big Mac? Starbucks’ new skinny lattes?
A nation’s principles must be shepherded and tended to. Whether that means confronting our leaders about unacceptable policies or adjusting our electoral system so it reflects the will of the public, it is our responsibility. The stakes? Only our national identity. No biggie, right? Maybe we’ll get to it after we finish that game of Wii tennis that we have on pause.
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