Superdelegate System Upgrade

WASHINGTON D.C - The Democratic Party is split both publicly and on the inside. An impending controversy over superdelegates of how (and when) they choose to wield their power promises to spawn even more divisiveness should the nomination come down on their shoulders. Voters want to know: Will the average citizen ever be able to get on the inside and influence the system? The possibility exists, especially with new media technology. Let's take the superdelegate system as a case study, since "after 25 years it is," in the words of Tad Devine (a creator of the superdelegate system whom we interviewed on video) "about time to take a serious look at our nominating system."

Read the full post here on WhyTuesday.org.

Comments

[pmag88]

I like the idea of direct voting and not just on elections but on important issues as well.

The technology that would allow us to do this is very close at hand. Not sure about the political hurdles of moving from a represtative democracy to a more direct one, but I feel we'd be better off with more direct input.

[grendl]

No, voters don't want to know if the average citizen will ever get in on the inside and influence the system, we don't want there to be an inside, period.

We want one American citizen's to count equal to every others. We don't want to hear about phone calls, and dates with candidates' daughters, and possibly money changing hands between individuals running for office and those wielding disproportionately powerful votes.

We want a system where that kind of influence isn't possible. And the fact that neither Hillary nor Barack attempts to address the inequities of the superdelegate system, while not surprising, shows a lack of courage on both their parts.

Talk about health care, and campaign finance reform, and getting out of Iraq, but don't discuss the reason this country was founded in the first place: equality.

We don't want superdelegate status, or to be insiders, we want the inside exposed, the room cleared of smoke, and those enemies to democracy outed for creating such an outrageously unjust, undemocratic creature as the super delegate.