ericd.net version 7.0

Friday, February 15, 2008

Okay... so super delegates are getting cash from Hillary and Obama. Which is perfectly legal I guess. Each of them represents up to thousands of voters on average. Which basically thumbs the nose at those who have cast their votes in good faith. I don't know why super delegates were created in the first place, and I don't see how they are a good idea right now. If they can switch after promising to vote one way, I mean WTF. So they nullify other people's votes for whatever reason. How is that a good idea? They supposedly shape the face of the party, but isn't that up to the common man? If they went along with the actual numbers of people who voted more for one candidate over another, then what would the point of their existence be at that point? Seems to be constructed to go against the will of the people and to merely be a tool of power. People matter, not crusty party wonks acting as a collective among themselves only. Rant over. Someone needs to explain how these super delegates are a good idea, because I just don't see it. I'm glad only the Democrats have these things.

3 Comments:

rodbegbie said...: “Um, Eric -- The GOP may not *call* them "Superdelegates", but they have "Unpledged" delegates who are the exact same thing. There are 463 unpledged delegates out of 2380 total.”; February 15, 2008 8:37 AM
e.dolecki said...: “I see, I did some digging and found this @ wikipedia: "Even with these traditions, unpledged delegates are allowed to change their vote at any time before the national convention. This is why both the Republican and Democratic parties have the potential for a brokered convention. This is far less likely for the Republican party where the traditions are more strict and there are far fewer unpledged delegates who are given a free hand."

Given that, okay the Reps. have *some* too, although I still don't see HOW this is a good thing. For anyone.”; February 15, 2008 8:50 AM
peter said...: “The whole US electoral system puzzles me -- caucuses/primaries, winner-take-all states, superdelegates/unpledged delegates etc.

For a country that prides itself on democratic principles this frankly doesn't make sense.

What is wrong with the idea of every US citizen being able to place a direct vote for their candidate?

Candidates proud of gathering millions upon millions in an attempt to most effectively slander each other and come out as the presidential candidate for their party.

How is this a good system.”; February 15, 2008 9:52 AM

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