On Feb 17, 2008, at 4:46 PM, Michael Pollak wrote:
> It's true that's was the origin of the system. (And I totally
> agree with
> your characterization of Ornstein and Mann as mainstream
> apparachiks par
> excellence.) But as I read it, O&M's main argument is that, in
> their 25
> year history, the superdelegates have always voted for the candidate
> winning the plurality of votes. And thus that their real function has
> become to avoid bitter televised convention fights into
> celebrations by
> transforming close contests into foregone conclusions.
Dem voters haven't really made any "irresponsible" choices in the last 25 years, and Obama certainly isn't one of those. In any case, if he wins the pop vote I can't imagine the superdelegates trying to overturn that. Structurally, though, they're intended as a limiting force.
Doug