Bernie’s Blue Dog backer: Sanders gains the support of an unlikely superdelegate

[Attorney in Texas]

Source: Salon

“I think the super delegates are going to have make a very difficult decision and that is, if a candidate wins in a state by 40 or 50 points, who are you going to give your vote to?” Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders asked over the weekend after winning three Western states by upwards of 40 to 70 points.... On Saturday, a most unlikely Sanders supporter appeared to agree with that sentiment, pledging his superdelegate vote in favor of Sanders as his home state of Minnesota had recently done. Rep. Collin Peterson told Forum News Service that his superdelegate vote will reflect the will of voters in his state who voted for Sanders 62 percent to 38 percent for Clinton.

“I’m voting my district,” Peterson said. “I’m going to vote for Bernie.”

While the founding member of Democrat’s Blue Dog Coalition, formed to promote fiscal conservatism, rarely attends the DNC, he said that if his superdelegate vote would make a difference, he would make the trip to Philadelphia to cast a vote for the Democratic Socialist despite their obvious differences on tax policy. “He’s got something going,” Peterson said of Sanders’s support with young voters. “He’s tapped into something.”

Read more: http://www.salon.com/2016/03/28/bernies_blue_dog_backer_sanders_gains_the_support_of_an_unlikely_superdelegate/

---

That was unexpected.

Cheers to Rep. Collin Peterson for honoring his constituents.

[onehandle]

1. So he's reflecting his district. Ok... Hillary still wins by millions of votes. nt

[Attorney in Texas]

2. Too late? The super delegates don't even vote until the convention and they are unlikely to defy

the will of the voters.

This is an interesting news item, but -- too late? -- hell, it's still months ahead of time (as who knows if he will stay with Sanders or flip between now and then; super delegates flip a lot as the voters will becomes clear).

[onehandle]

6. So superdelegates' perception is more important than millions of voters' votes?

Thanks for admitting that's all the 'Not Hillary' Party's got.

[Attorney in Texas]

7. I recognize all those words you typed by they don't make sense in that order.

[Lordquinton]

18. Oh how the tables have tabled

This has been an enlightening weekend.

[phazed0]

20. And to be fair..

We knew the first states would favor Hillary.. we know many of the upcoming states favor Bernie. Until everyone has voted or a significant "Win" is guaranteed... it's a moot point about millions of voters. There are still millions of voters, left to vote.

Obama didn't overtake Hillary in delegates until what? June? We see what happened there. This race isn't over and if either of the candidates think it is, my bet is they will be handed their hat.

[RoccoR5955]

31. Don't forget the TENS OF MILLIONS of voters who have yet not voted!

[libdem4life]

55. What a pretzel it takes to make a non-point. n/t

[RoccoR5955]

30. Yeah, but there are still TENS OF MILLIONS of voters to vote! Bernie still has a great chance! n/t

[chwaliszewski]

38. OMG! If Hillary is going to win by millions of votes...

then why doesn't Bernie just drop out right now and save us the heartbreak of the inevitable.

[rynestonecowboy]

43. I have a problem with this current talking point.

I've been guilty of doing the same thing but the fact of the matter is this argument is one of those half truths used by campaigns trying to make a point. There are two problems with it. As most on here have accurately pointed out, Sanders strongest states are towards the end of the schedule like the last half dozen huge wins. The other huge problem with that talking point is someone went online and grabbed numbers and added them up and called it a day, the thing is Sanders had dominated most the caucus states and the numbers posted online aren't "votes" but state delegates. There aren't good numbers of how many showed up and "voted" in these contests but we can assume that Clinton hasn't received "millions" of more votes.

[Silver_Witch]

50. Thank you

[hrmjustin]

3. I wonder if Alan Grayson will switch to Hillary now that she won his state and district.

Or is he just sticking with that internet poll.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

9. I'm sure he'll do the right thing.

[Plucketeer]

32. LOL

Alan will either do the right thing or the Right thing.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

33. I hear ya! Strange man.

[INdemo]

13. Alan Grayson is a progressive,Hillary is not

[Amimnoch]

17. Considering the OP, I do believe your hypocracy is showing here.

Pick one:
Should superdelegates support the will of the voters for their area or not?

And your side calls us camp weathervane. LOL

[George II]

4. If every superdelegate voted based on the logic of Rep. Peterson.......

.......Hillary Clinton would get somewhere between 450 and 500 superdelegates.

Seems good to me.

[Attorney in Texas]

8. If super delegates don't betrey the will of the voters, whoever gets the most pledged delegates will

also get the most super delegates.

That means the candidate with the most voter support wins. That's kind of the point of a democracy.

The alternative is if the super delegates vote contrary to the will of the voters; I'm not sure what that is, but it ain't democracy.

[ozone_man]

15. Not sure why we need super delegates in a democracy.

I guess we have to make the best of the corrupt system we have.

[aggiesal]

19. The Super Delegates are designed to ...

keep the grassroots from taking over the party.

We can't have a grassroots candidate take the nomination,
so the idea is for the party elders/officials to keep the party
on the right track! (Pun intended)

[elljay]

37. We also have

candidates gaining delegates from caucuses that are designed to exclude many voters who can't get to one, primaries in states whose voters will matter not one bit in the national election because the President is elected not by popular vote but by the Electoral College, and 5 hour-long waiting to vote so thousands go home. If we saw this system in a third world country we would not call it a functional democracy, that is for sure.

[tblue37]

40. The Republicans WISH they had superdelegates, too, right now, to stop Trump.

Superdelegates are there ostensibly to prevent the voters from nominating (in their ignorance) the Democratic version of Donald Trump. I believe they were instituted back in the 1970s to prevent another anti-McGovern landslide.

And in fact the superdelegates could serve that purpose in a situation where voters in our party get too fired up to think clearly about a reasonable choice.

Unfortunately, though, now that the oligarchs have nearly finished cementing their hold on all levels of our politics and our economy, superdelegates can all too easily be used to protect the wealthy and powerful from the influence of the much more numerous plebeians in the party.

[George II]

22. "Whoever gets the most pledged delegates will View profile also get the most super delegates"....

.....is not necessarily true. The superdelegates aren't linearly proportional to the number of pledged delegates per state.

For example, the number of superdelegates in Massachusetts is higher %-wise (91 to 25, or 27%) than in Utah (33 to 4, or 12%)

So what is "the will of the voters"? If a candidate wins 60% of the popular vote does that mean that 60% of the superdelegates for that state should vote for that candidate?

If not, the "the will of (some of) the voters" will be betreyed.

[Attorney in Texas]

24. Any candidate in either party who goes into the convention with a delegate lead will come out with

the nomination or it will be the death of the party who defies the will of the voters.

That's true of the Republicans and true of the Democrats.

[George II]

28. That's not what you said the first time.

[tblue37]

41. True--but only IF the pledged delegate lead is significant. nt

[Plucketeer]

34. Yeah

the Super Delegates will see to it that the chosen one has an edge. After all, it's HER turn!

[BlueMTexpat]

52. This fact seems to have

been lost on many.

[Dont call me Shirley]

5. Cheers, Rep Peterson...

[billhicks76]

10. Let's Do Away With Super Delegates

Do people realize also the republicans still haven't set the rules for their convention. I see major rebellions on both sides if the rule of the people is thwarted. People died for the right to vote.

[Attorney in Texas]

11. I think this should be one of Sanders "cleaning the DNC house" goals.

[greiner3]

29. Hell, disasemble the DNC while he's at it.

[Loki]

39. Why?

The DNC supports Democratic candidates throughout the country in races where they need support. Without it and our support he wouldn't be able to have attempted an Independent run. He knew it and so he chose the Democrats instead of the Republicans. Now he bites the hands that feeds him. How honorable. He has done nothing for Democrats in the Senate or in down ballot races. Good luck with that. So flip delegates, but I expect all the delegates pledged to Bernie to flip their votes to Hillary if she won that district. That's fair.

[WishfulThinker]

25. I'm with you!

Do away with Super delegates! Do away with caucuses! They are completely in opposition to true Democracy. As precinct chair at my caucus this past Saturday, I personally had to turn away three people who had come to cast their votes but had no idea as to how caucuses worked and arrived too late to vote. How many people actually have two or more hours to go and spend time at caucuses??? Many working people- people who really deserve change and hope, in this country can't get away on weekends much less during the weekdays. Folks, there's no such thing as "one person-one vote" here in the U.S. Let's drop that high school history lesson notion RIGHT NOW!

[tblue37]

42. Did you see my FRUSTRATED post on the day of our caucus, about how being

handicapped made it impossible to make it to the caucus site on time because although I arrived early, there was not enough parking for the huge turnout, so I ended up having to park some distance away and then walk (very slowly and very, very painfully) to the caucus site, arriving there just about 4 minutes too late to join the line, because it had taken me over 45 minutes to walk the 4 blocks from where I had to part to where the caucus was being held:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511419890

Caucuses Really Do Disenfranchise the Handicapped--Like ME.

I missed the caucus deadline by 4 minutes because I couldn't find nearby parking, had to park 4 blocks away, and then couldn't walk fast enough to get there on time. It took me nearly 45 minutes to get from my parking spot to the caucus site, because I couldn't walk fast, despite pushing hard past the excruciating pain caused by bulging discs in my lower back, and by arthritis in my hips, and a muscle spasm in my thigh.

Our caucus is being held at a middle school in a residential district, with very little parking nearby. I walk with a cane, and often walking, standing, and sitting are very, very painful--and sometimes even impossible (bulging, deteriorating discs, severe arthritis in hips and knees, sciatica).

I spent extra time last night grading papers to free up a few hours today to caucus. Having caucused in 2008 in another revolutionary election, I knew it could tie me up for hours, so I wanted to get a bit caught up on my grading.

I reached the site by car with an hour to spare. I meant to get down there earlier, but my left hip and lower back locked up painfully today, perhaps because of hours of grading last night, especially since this is a busy time of the semester, so I have been putting in a lot of time on student papers. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to tolerate the caucus process if I didn't do something about the pain and immobility, so I took some medicine and tried a bunch of different methods--hot bath, sports cream, stretching, heating pad--to try to loosen things up a bit. Unfortunately, the stretching caused my right thigh to cramp up, so I ended up worse off rather than better.

But I really wanted to participate, so I decided to go anyway.

I was finally able to get out to the car and drive a few minutes before 2:00, but I live just a couple of minutes from the site (by car), so I got there by 2:00 (caucus registration was to close at 3:00). The line was extremely long, and there was no place to park anywhere near the site, so I drove around for a few minutes hoping to find something within a couple of blocks. No luck.

I finally drove down to the courthouse, which is on 11th Street. (The caucus site is on 15th.) Four blocks doesn't sound too bad to most people, but when you can barely walk at all, so it is both painful and very slow going, 4 blocks might as well be 4 miles. It took me over 45 minutes to make it to the site, but the guys with the "caucus closed" signs were already there at the end of the line (which still reached pretty far outside the building), because it was 4 minutes past the 3:00 registration closing time.

The school is in a residential district, a few blocks from our main downtown street. The insufficiency of parking, especially handicapped parking, was entirely predictable, because a huge turnout was expected (after all, Lawrence is a college town).

In 2008 we held our caucus at the Douglas County Fairgrounds (where there was a huge, comfortably accommodated Bernie rally just 2 days ago). I had no trouble finding parking in 2008, because the fairgrounds are designed for large crowds. The middle school and its parking arrangements are not.

Caucuses are from a time when communities were much smaller. They are simply not suited to elections where thousands of people show up to participate, and of course they render it impossible for everyone who wants to participate to have a chance to be heard.

I know Bernie will probably take all the delegates from our caucus, so my absence won't make any difference--except to me. I suffered more pain than you can imagine trying to get to the caucus site, only to be closed out anyway. I am 65 years old, and I have always participated (in primaries when we had them, and in caucuses)--until today. I feel frustrated, angry, and disenfranchised.

Fortunately, A nice woman heard me talking to the young man holding the "caucus closed" sign, so she and her husband gave me a ride back to my car. If they had not, I am not at all sure I would have made it in less than another 60-90 minutes, because every tiny step was sheer agony.

[JDPriestly]

45. You are so right. Very good point!

[Ligyron]

46. A lawsuit should be filed. eom

[Cryptoad]

12. How many SuperDelegates does that make now, 34?

[INdemo]

14. How many Superdelegates has Hillary actually earned?

[Plucketeer]

35. Hell - just to show how fairly this is done

The Queen had a huge number of these folks indicating they'd back her even before the Iowa caucuses were done! So tell me how THAT is fair to any contenders??? Hey - we're talkin' about a REVOLUTION here - not an appeasement rally!

[Attorney in Texas]

23. No, it makes zero. Super delegates vote at the convention. Counting them now is like pretending a

poll conducted months in advance of election day is the same as the election day ballot box total. It ain't.

[jmowreader]

56. Thirty

[jwirr]

16. From MN - I usually do not agree with Rep. Peterson but I

give him a lot of credit for this one.

I think that IF we keep Super-Delegate they should be able to vote down their own state.

[WishfulThinker]

21. I sent e-mails to 3 WA super delegates yesterday!

I asked them to consider the will of the majority of us Democrats in WA and that I would remember the super delegate vote they cast when it comes to their own re-elections in the future. I told them that I would actively seek to remind their constituents of this as well.

[Optimism]

44. Thanks for reminding me ...

I'm about to e-mail four of my own (Gov Inslee, Sens Murray and Cantwell, Rep McDermott). How can they justify committing to vote against the will of 3/4 of their state's caucus voters? If switching right up to the convention is fine, then at a minimum they should not be in the pledged for Hillary column that the media is using to say the race is basically over.

[rhett o rick]

57. I will send four, 2 senators, my rep and the governor. nm

[Judi Lynn]

26. So good. Someone with a conscience. Thank you for this post. n/t

[Vote2016]

27. kick & rec #75

[Jitter65]

36. We all knew the rules before the primaries. Fight like hell to change the rules if you want to but

it won't be for this election season. 2020 Only certain kinds of people want to change the rules in the middle of a game when they are losing.

[Darb]

47. He must have college age children.

Or a brother-in-law who can't hold a job.

[DhhD]

48. The Tapping Effect: Super delegates are up for reelection (unless retiring). Their name will be on

the down ticket every two years.

[MrMickeysMom]

49. That's all a delegate should do... "vote their district"....

In other news... water is fluid.

[Faux pas]

51. That's how

it should be!

[heaven05]

53. the BDC

didn't help Obama one iota over the last 7+ years, that for damn sure. Fuck the BDC, won't influence who I might vote for as my nominee, ever.

[MrMickeysMom]

54. That's an example of a person making a right decision and having the backing of voters in the state!