The superdelegates of the Democratic Party may determine if the party’s presidential nominee is Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, and how these superdelegates should make such a choice is attracting a lot of political commentary.
In The New York Times today, Geraldine Ferraro, who helped create the superdelegate system before running as the Democratic vice presidential candidate in 1984, writes about her views of how superdelegates should act. Meanwhile, in today’s Legal Times, political scientist David Ponet and law professor Ethan Leib analyze the same question.
The two commentary pieces disagree over several issues, including whether superdelegates should already have chosen a candidate. Ferraro supports this; Ponet and Leib warn that superdelegates who pledge their support in advance are “shirking certain of their fundamental duties.” The commentaries also disagree about the relevance of Republicans and independents to choosing the Democratic nominee.
Voters to superdelegates: Support Obama
The voters are speaking loud and clear.
Primaries or caucuses have already been held in 36 of 50 states. Obama is ahead by nearly a million votes, and has won twice as many contests as Hillary Clinton. He also leads Clinton in pledged delegates. Obama's appeal among independent voters makes him a formidable general election candidate.
But if Clinton is nominated, the race will be too close to call against McCain.
Enough is enough. We are a coalition of voters urging the Democratic superdelegates to support Barack Obama:
http://www.votersforobama.com
Take five minutes and call or e-mail an undecided superdelegate in your state.
We can make a difference by letting superdelegates know how many of their constituents want Obama to be the Democratic presidential nominee.
Posted by: Voters for Obama | February 26, 2008 at 01:03 PM