The will of the people and the best interests of the people are not always easy to define (Reply #163)

In the discussion thread: Superdelegates do not have to listen to the Voters in their States [View all]

Sun Mar 27, 2016, 08:04 PM

mythology (9,527 posts)

163. The will of the people and the best interests of the people are not always easy to define

For example even in the deep red states, raising the minimum wage polls well and thus can be seen as the will of the people, who then vote for Republican candidates who run against raising the minimum wage, thus indicating that the people don't really care about the issue. Likewise, Congress as a whole has an abysmal approval rating, but everybody gets reelected.

And who defines what is in somebody's best interest? Can the super delegates decide it's in the people's best interest to vote for a particular candidate?

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181 replies	Author	Time	Post
Superdelegates do not have to listen to the Voters in their States [View all]	bravenak	Mar 2016	OP
Good link!	DemonGoddess	Mar 2016	#1
Maybe they can stop thinking the supers owe THEM their votes.	bravenak	Mar 2016	#2
Neither do I owe MY vote	Mike__M	Mar 2016	#119
I somehow don't see that :(	DemonGoddess	Mar 2016	#139
I'm a dreamer...	bravenak	Mar 2016	#142
One could politely tell those elected officials who are superdelegates	Liberty Belle	Mar 2016	#3
The candidate with the most popular votes already has their support	bravenak	Mar 2016	#6
State By State... fella... So They Should respect The WILL As Expressed By Their Constituents OR...	CorporatistNation	Mar 2016	#89
Some of the super delegates are not currently serving so cant vote them out.	Thinkingabout	Mar 2016	#103
But the election is not over yet.	Liberty Belle	Mar 2016	#175
I am perfectly fine with that.	bravenak	Mar 2016	#176
America utilizes representative democracy, not direct democracy. How do you not know this?	CalvinballPro	Mar 2016	#11
JFC...	ljm2002	Mar 2016	#56
Yep. It's the media I have a problem with.	SusanCalvin	Mar 2016	#61
It's dishonest for Sanders to decry the super-delegate system yet employ the man that designed it.	CalvinballPro	Mar 2016	#122
Where has Sanders decried the superdelegate system?	ljm2002	Mar 2016	#124
Many, many of the superdelegates aren't elected officials...	SidDithers	Mar 2016	#126
That is not true.	LiberalFighter	Mar 2016	#164
I don't see DUers calling on Alan Grayson to switch his vote to Hillary.	hrmjustin	Mar 2016	#4
Of course not!!!!	bravenak	Mar 2016	#5
If she has the popular vote at the end of the primary	unapatriciated	Mar 2016	#14
An honest poster.	hrmjustin	Mar 2016	#17
Does your reply mean if	unapatriciated	Mar 2016	#113
If he won the popular vote i would say he should be the winner.	hrmjustin	Mar 2016	#117
thank you	unapatriciated	Mar 2016	#118
Yes, exactly.	SusanCalvin	Mar 2016	#63
Right now superdelegates tend to keep their endorsements...	ljm2002	Mar 2016	#65
You will when McDermott, Murray and Cantwell are pressured to see the error of their ways. n/t	lumberjack_jeff	Mar 2016	#90
Yeah, I'm waiting for that to happen...	MoonRiver	Mar 2016	#173
A super-delegate for Sanders from Nevada is on the record saying she won't vote as her state did.	CalvinballPro	Mar 2016	#7
Oh hell yeah	bravenak	Mar 2016	#8
Well Dr. Dean from Vermont has said the same thing...	ljm2002	Mar 2016	#69
No. I believe the poster was referring to the Bernie-supporters' ...	1StrongBlackMan	Mar 2016	#91
Um, I'm one of those "Bernie-supporters"...	ljm2002	Mar 2016	#98
Then, the hypocrite label does not apply to you ...	1StrongBlackMan	Mar 2016	#104
I think Sanders is a hypocrite. He was against super-delegates, until he needed them.	CalvinballPro	Mar 2016	#123
Link, please?	ljm2002	Mar 2016	#125
Which is how superdelages work. Not how democracy works.	Tierra_y_Libertad	Mar 2016	#9
It is the system	bravenak	Mar 2016	#10
It's the "system" than many of us want to rid ourselves of.	Tierra_y_Libertad	Mar 2016	#16
Not enough of 'us'	bravenak	Mar 2016	#18
Yet.	Tierra_y_Libertad	Mar 2016	#21
Screw the system...it doesn't work for regular people, just elites.	Punkingal	Mar 2016	#30
Rhetoric	bravenak	Mar 2016	#33
Truth.	Punkingal	Mar 2016	#35
The DNC can change their rules. Just not midway through a Primary	Sheepshank	Mar 2016	#107
I understand the rules can't be changed now. But they need to be after this election.	Punkingal	Mar 2016	#108
Democracy and the democratic rule of elections are a constitutional construct	Sheepshank	Mar 2016	#129
It can make it's own rules, sure.	Punkingal	Mar 2016	#131
You mean	beedle	Mar 2016	#166
Some rules are actually law...some are operational policy	Sheepshank	Mar 2016	#167
here	beedle	Mar 2016	#169
Washington Post? Never mind, is does state it was a "guideline" for Obama's POTUS bid.....	Sheepshank	Mar 2016	#170
Bernie only recently complained about it	beedle	Mar 2016	#171
The candidate who wins the popular vote	unapatriciated	Mar 2016	#12
Hillary won the popular vote against O if I remember correctly.	bravenak	Mar 2016	#13
Only if you count Michigan and Obama was not even on the ballot.	unapatriciated	Mar 2016	#29
Oh!! I remember why I considered it even now	bravenak	Mar 2016	#32
Results...	Major Nikon	Mar 2016	#57
Thank you	bravenak	Mar 2016	#64
What the hell????	sheshe2	Mar 2016	#137
I'm sayin!	bravenak	Mar 2016	#138
Ya know....	sheshe2	Mar 2016	#140
Might be the same person	bravenak	Mar 2016	#141
I just went to look.	sheshe2	Mar 2016	#143
Found it.	sheshe2	Mar 2016	#144
Ok. Hmmm. Mmmm hmmmm.	bravenak	Mar 2016	#145
Again Bravenak - for transparency - in this case it looks like the alerter is being alerted	seaglass	Mar 2016	#58
Just getting obvious at this point. I can see what's going on.	bravenak	Mar 2016	#62
At least it was 0-7. Incremental improvements.....	SusanCalvin	Mar 2016	#68
Yep!	bravenak	Mar 2016	#72
The candidate who wins the most pledged delegates will be the nominee...	SidDithers	Mar 2016	#133
If superdelegates don't follow the way the people vote, it's time to chuck the superdelegate	shraby	Mar 2016	#15
They own their votes	bravenak	Mar 2016	#20
Really? The party has done itself harm for many, many years.	Punkingal	Mar 2016	#34
The party is doing better than at many other times when we picked ideoligical purity	bravenak	Mar 2016	#36
Are you serious? The party is doing awful.	Punkingal	Mar 2016	#46
What did we have after we lost so badly to Nixon and Reagan?	bravenak	Mar 2016	#51
Naive.	Punkingal	Mar 2016	#60
What did we have? The House, Senate, and majority of Governors and States Legislatures.	ieoeja	Mar 2016	#168
If the Democratic Party is so damaged, why did Sanders choose to hitch his horse to this wagon?	George II	Mar 2016	#162
2/3rd of the Registered Democrats in the "Party" Are Voting for Clinton	Stallion	Mar 2016	#99
Not really. Only 20 Democratic Superdelegates are 'distinguished leaders' such as former Presidents	Bluenorthwest	Mar 2016	#39
Good post...	TeeYiYi	Mar 2016	#67
So, as noted above ...	1StrongBlackMan	Mar 2016	#38
Their votes are not owed to us,	bunnies	Mar 2016	#19
Me too	bravenak	Mar 2016	#28
they vote at the will of the party	beedle	Mar 2016	#172
Lee Fang @ The Intercept: Lobbyist Superdelegates Tip Nomination in Clinton's Favor.	AtomicKitten	Mar 2016	#22
I have no idea what that has to do with this	bravenak	Mar 2016	#24
The point: Many superdelegates are lobbyists, not elected pols.	AtomicKitten	Mar 2016	#59
I really don't think that politicians have our best interests in mind either most times	bravenak	Mar 2016	#66
Right. Follow the money if you want to know who the super-constituents are.	rachacha	Mar 2016	#79
Many of them are elected office-holders.	HooptieWagon	Mar 2016	#23
Maybe.	bravenak	Mar 2016	#25
Incumbents have such an advantage I suspect they are not concerned at all	hack89	Mar 2016	#26
75% of caucus goers yesterday called for a 'revolution'.	HooptieWagon	Mar 2016	#27
But caucus goers as a percentage of GE election voters is tiny	hack89	Mar 2016	#37
Sanders is the incumbent in this primary...you think he has the advantage? n/t	Henhouse	Mar 2016	#75
No such thing.	hack89	Mar 2016	#97
Of course they don't, they are free to be the first politicians in history to risk their own asses	Bluenorthwest	Mar 2016	#31
Isn't that, exactly, what DU:Bernie is asking of the Super-delegates? ...	1StrongBlackMan	Mar 2016	#41
Not sure what you are attempting to say, but I think the superdelegates should vote for the	Bluenorthwest	Mar 2016	#55
They have a right to vote for whomever they want	radical noodle	Mar 2016	#40
It seems that there are many double standards	bravenak	Mar 2016	#42
+10000	radical noodle	Mar 2016	#47
Thanks for promoting oligarghy instead of Democracy.	libtodeath	Mar 2016	#43
.	bravenak	Mar 2016	#44
Too bad you dont even like Hillary so snooze on.	libtodeath	Mar 2016	#49
Caucused for her	bravenak	Mar 2016	#50
Big deal.	libtodeath	Mar 2016	#52
.	bravenak	Mar 2016	#54
I'm SOOOO stealing that!	1StrongBlackMan	Mar 2016	#70
Ha! My favorite	bravenak	Mar 2016	#71
That's what bothers me about superdelegates.	Vinca	Mar 2016	#45
We are a representative democracy	bravenak	Mar 2016	#48
But that is precisely the problem.	Vinca	Mar 2016	#120
Interesting that you support the idea...	ljm2002	Mar 2016	#53
Have you called on Alan Grayson and the Nevada Super-delegate ...	1StrongBlackMan	Mar 2016	#80
As I have said elsewhere...	ljm2002	Mar 2016	#94
Oh ... Okay. I must have miss re-read your post(s).	1StrongBlackMan	Mar 2016	#100
Praise the glorious revolutionary DNC for ignoring stupid wrong voters... /s	JPnoodleman	Mar 2016	#73
.	bravenak	Mar 2016	#74
Party can ignore sanders voters as they wish, they aren't entitled to our votes.	JPnoodleman	Mar 2016	#76
I think people need to learn how this works.	bravenak	Mar 2016	#82
How what works? Does the DNC or Hillary have some sacred divine right?	JPnoodleman	Mar 2016	#86
I do not care what most people here think	bravenak	Mar 2016	#87
Who made you the ultimate authority on these things?	Punkingal	Mar 2016	#102
What has my thinking things have to do with being the 'authority'?	bravenak	Mar 2016	#105
They don't have to listen to anybody, but constituents of a given state or district ...	ThePhilosopher04	Mar 2016	#77
They can try	bravenak	Mar 2016	#78
DU does not have to listen to Bravenak.	PufPuf23	Mar 2016	#81
That is nowhere in the rules	bravenak	Mar 2016	#83
The will of the people and the best interests of the people are not always easy to define	mythology	Mar 2016	#163
Is this attitude what brought you to Clinton, or the reverse?	lumberjack_jeff	Mar 2016	#84
Very personal	bravenak	Mar 2016	#88
I'm genuinely curious.	lumberjack_jeff	Mar 2016	#92
No. I just see how messy the whole thing is now.	bravenak	Mar 2016	#95
Democracy is supposed to be messy. n/t	lumberjack_jeff	Mar 2016	#96
No they don't have to listen. I'm sure if they don't the voters will be happy to remind them.	Autumn	Mar 2016	#85
Bet most of Hillary's have been paid in some way	Politicalboi	Mar 2016	#93
Weird how some people still think the USA is a democracy.	mhatrw	Mar 2016	#101
I've tried to explain this over and over	Sheepshank	Mar 2016	#106
Thank you!!!!	bravenak	Mar 2016	#110
Reince Priebus approves of this thread	AZ Progressive	Mar 2016	#109
Yeah no shit lol	strategery blunder	Mar 2016	#157
Super delegates no different from elected delegates	MFM008	Mar 2016	#111
I can imagine it	bravenak	Mar 2016	#112
Is only you were born as Rubert Murdoch...n/t	blueintelligentsia	Mar 2016	#114
I am too cute	bravenak	Mar 2016	#116
Very cute...	blueintelligentsia	Mar 2016	#136
Because, if they thwart the will of the voters, Democracy fails.	NorthCarolina	Mar 2016	#115
How democratic!	AzDar	Mar 2016	#121
The vote should not be theirs! It should ONLY the peoples vote!	bkkyosemite	Mar 2016	#127
We need to do away with Superdelegates.	liberalmuse	Mar 2016	#128
Here's my take on the superdelegates. As you rightly point out, they ARE the establishment....	George II	Mar 2016	#130
I agree with that.	bravenak	Mar 2016	#132
It will only make matters worse with respect to superdelegates supporting him. Frankly....	George II	Mar 2016	#134
It does help her out alot	bravenak	Mar 2016	#135
Half of superdelegates are white males.	jfern	Mar 2016	#146
I did not do that. AMERICA did. Thank the nation for creating that by not allowing the rest of us to	bravenak	Mar 2016	#147
But you are defending superdelegates, which are half white males	jfern	Mar 2016	#148
I'm interested in affirmative action	bravenak	Mar 2016	#151
So there aren't enough white males in the Democratic party so, they needed half the superdelegates?	jfern	Mar 2016	#154
Unintelligible	bravenak	Mar 2016	#156
That's how Republicans win elections	AgingAmerican	Mar 2016	#149
We the other people like them	bravenak	Mar 2016	#150
Divide and fail	AgingAmerican	Mar 2016	#152
I'm waiting until after June 7th before I start contacting local elected superdelegates	strategery blunder	Mar 2016	#153
That is a good idea.	bravenak	Mar 2016	#155
2383 is majority of pledged+supers	strategery blunder	Mar 2016	#158
I am doing it this way because the contest is officially over at that point	bravenak	Mar 2016	#160
Super Dels want the nominee who is going to be the best candidate in the GE and the best	Cha	Mar 2016	#159
Yep. They usually form relationships	bravenak	Mar 2016	#161
Sanders will not be successful in appealing to super delegates	Gothmog	Mar 2016	#165
I agree	bravenak	Mar 2016	#174
Super delegates are elites and party power brokers. The vast majority are the 1 percent...	CoffeeCat	Mar 2016	#177
This is where we have been for a long time	bravenak	Mar 2016	#178
Yes, and maybe this election will help us screw our heads on straight.	CoffeeCat	Mar 2016	#179
Thus the "super"	Dem2	Mar 2016	#180
K&R! nt	R B Garr	Apr 2016	#181

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