NPR: Are Dems Superdelegates Able to Change Support?

Are Dems Superdelegates Able to Change Support?

Reader Lisa Arnold asks a pretty pertinent question that a lot of Democrats probably want answered:

I am not clear on this, is it okay to contact Super Delegates and ask them to change their vote or to make arguments in favor of a particular candidate if they are uncommitted?

Ken Rudin, NPR's political editor and the guy who knows probably more about the process that the people who designed it, said you bet the candidates can continue to "work" the 825 superdelegates. They can try as much as they like to get them to switch their positions if they have declared their support for the other candidate.

(Ron Elving, NPR's senior Washington editor says there is lots of "courting" of those delegates happening right now.)

And those superdelegates can move their support back and forth as often as they like, including the moment they actually have to vote at a convention.

D.C. delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (a superdelegate who has not declared her support) says that there will probably be some sorting out about the role that superdelegates play after this election. She told Tell Me More that if there is a perception that superdelegates are in a "back room" deciding who the nominee will be, people will feel their votes didn't count in the primaries and caucuses. She also said some superdelegates may have trouble if they take a position that is different from the way the Democrats in their state voted.

"I'm not sure we ever thought this through the way we should," she said. "No one anticipated a possible tie."

2:53 PM ET | 02-11-2008 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

Funny how we Americans are always having to re-learn how our republic actually works.

Sent by George de Man | 3:57 PM ET | 02-11-2008

George,
I suspect because we mix our x's and our o's. Many of us in the States believe this to be a democracy.

Here's to the Great American Experiment.

Cheers.

Sent by platonicform | 7:22 PM ET | 02-11-2008

I may be off here - never heard any commentator draw this conclusion. But my impression is that since the superdelegates are Democratic party operatives and Bill and Hillary are so well connected, the nomination is bound to go to Hillary if the results are at all close, even if they're in Obama's favor. My impression is that unless Obama gets a decisive win in overall delegates, which appears unlikely, the nomination is Hillary's.

Paul - originalfaith.com

Sent by Paul M Martin | 10:20 AM ET | 02-12-2008

If one candidate has a meaningful lead amoung the voter-chosen delegates , and yet the nomination goes the other way, the Democrats will not elect a president for the next decade, including this year. Independents will
flee the stink and not soon return

Sent by Alan Gay | 2:29 PM ET | 02-12-2008

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