Monday, February 18, 2008

Democratic "Superdelegate" System Seems Very Strange: Payoffs Are Legal and Superdelegates Are Not Answerable to Voters

The Democratic Party's superdelegate (aka "unpledged party leaders") system seems to be an out-of-control disaster waiting to happen.

As I understand it, payoffs in the form of campaign contributions to superdelegates, who are elected officials (ie senators, representatives, mayors, governors, etc) and others are legal. In some states, such as Texas, one campaign contributing to another is illegal, which is what got GOP Senator Tom DeLay accused of breaking campaign finance laws. Obama's spent $694,000 on superdelegates, Clinton's spent $195,000 on them.

The superdelegates are not pledged to follow the voting patterns of their home states either; they're free to vote how they want. A delegate that isn't answerable to the voters back home and isn't obligated to vote for who their people voted for is troublesome at best, and a disaster at worst.

I don't like or trust this system. It sucks.

No comments: