Hillary's handicap: including super delegates in state totals at this point

[morningfog]

Desparate to maintain the illusion that Hillary is out front with a formidable lead, the inclusion of unpledged super delegates (especially by state with the pledged delegate totals is akin to a poorly performing bowler needing a handicap. Handicaps in bowling give the poorly performing bowler a number of pins before the game begins to leve the playing field and make it competitive.

Don't fall for it as delegate counts are talked and reported moving forward. The pledged delegates matter. If it is ultimately decided by super delegates, ho boy, watch out. I don't expect that to happen though.

[KittyWampus]

1. LOL! All you have to do is look at the numbers of super delegates already pledged to Clinton

to see the HUGE margins Sanders needs in Every.Single.State.

Which he won't get.

[HooptieWagon]

4. They can unpledge just as easily.

That's why they're correctly called unpledged delegates. Clinton also had a huge lead in superdelegates in '08, how did that work out? The superdelegates will fall in line with the elected delegates during the convention. Otherwise, it will be a civil war and a bloodbath for all Democratic candidates in November.

[Lucinda]

20. I believe she kept hers didn't she? Wasn't it Kerry and Edwards delegates that

gave it to Obama? It's been a while and I'm not sure about that...

[KittyWampus]

22. Why would they do that to a candidate who has trashed the Democratic Party for decadess?

Not going to happen.

[HooptieWagon]

2. Media is just trying to portray her as inevidable.

[DarthDem]

3. Hate to Break This . . .

. . . but the SDs matter and Hillary is out front with a formidable lead.

[gcomeau]

5. SDs bluntly do not matter, for one simple reason.

Barring absolutely extraordinary circumstances their early endorsements mean squat. By convention time they will line up to give the contest to whoever wins the pledged delegate count.

Anything else is party suicide. You cannot have all the Democratic voters in the country go through a year+long campaign to pick their candidate then have a few hundred elites tell them at the end that no, they're going another way, but thanks for your input.


SDs are an emergency contingency. if a candidate won the primaries then between then and the convention got exposed as a serial killler... yeah, the SDs could swing things to a different nominee.

Barring that, they'll fall in line with the popular vote.


The only relevance they have right now is optics.

[DarthDem]

16. The Point Is

. . . they matter right now. Sure, if after tonight's NH win, 100 or more of them suddenly change over to Sanders, then that's a big deal. But that isn't going to happen.

[gcomeau]

18. No, the point is they don't matter right now.

Except as a prop.

[Qutzupalotl]

17. ...or, say, got indicted. n/t

[HooptieWagon]

6. They don't matter until the convention.

And it's unlikely they'll go scorched earth and overturn the elected delegates.

[madokie]

8. I guess they just need something to hang on too

they being Hillary supporters.
If our system is as they're trying to portray it in this post we as a democracy is long over.

[madokie]

7. So in other words the system is rigged

just like Bernie is trying to tell us. Is that what you're saying?

Only one state has voted and its voting now but yet hillary has all these super delegates. How is that a democracy

[cosmicone]

9. Superdelegates matter and they are DEMOCRATS

They will not participate in the destruction of their party by outsiders.

[HooptieWagon]

11. Most of them are elected officials.

They'll be looking to see how their constituents voted, lest they be tossed out.

[cosmicone]

12. They know their constituents were manipulated

and the youngins won't come to the rescue the next time.

[HooptieWagon]

14. If they want a scorched earth civil war in August...

...then they'll be mighty disappointed in November.

[morningfog]

19. Why do you hate democracy?

[Vinca]

10. Super delegates aren't cast in stone. They can change their allegiance.

I remember one southern, black delegate in 2008 who created quite a stir when he suddenly changed his support from Clinton to Obama. I bet the Clintons still aren't talking to him.

[Roy Ellefson]

13. super delegates

I would expect that if the super delegates swing the nomination to the candidate with fewer electorally pledged delegates than I there is no way in hell the Democratic Party retains the presidency...

[HooptieWagon]

15. And there will be a down ticket bloodbath as well.

[MineralMan]

21. Still 48 states to go.

I think there will be clear majority of pledged delegates some time before the convention. At that point, it's game over.

[morningfog]

23. Yep and at that point the supers won't matter.

Before then they don't matter either.