2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Do you support the existence of unelected "superdelegates" having a say in who our candidate is? [View all]cloudythescribbler
(2,596 posts)I am not absolutely certain how every particular of the Convention will be handled, but even if Hillary gets the majority of pledged delegates, it would still be possible to win over enough Hillary delegates on many specific plank issues to make a lot of major changes to the platform
On the other hand, w/the "superdelegates" voting, this possibility will be greatly narrowed, possibly losing the nominee a number of supporters who might have been more inspired by a platform more heavily influenced
One of the planks or issues to be voted on should be the issue of the "superdelegates" itself. I assume that especially if the "superdelegates" get to vote on that issue, it will be extremely difficult to ban them altogether. A possibly passing partial measure would allow ONLY currently elected officeholders and ban ALL lobbyists from a vote. Further, the number of "superdelegates" might be reduced or limited, say to about 500. Finally, the voting power of the "superdelegates" could be vastly diluted by a large INCREASE in the number of pledged delegates for the next election, thus reducing their proportion from about 15% of the total now to less than half that proportion
It would be better if they could be completely removed (politicians who want to be delegates could seek to be pledged delegates) from the process or even more drastically reduced than the outlined compromise, but I am skeptical about whether even that much of a concession will be possible