Superdelegates Find Themselves in the Spotlight

By Jens Manuel Krogstad, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa

Feb. 18–WATERLOO — Rep. Bruce Braley of Waterloo said attempts by a presidential candidate to seat delegations from Florida and Michigan banned from the Democratic Party’s convention will be a big factor in his decision.

As a superdelegate, Braley could play a decisive role in deciding whether Obama or Hillary Clinton wins the presidential nomination: He hasn’t endorsed a presidential candidate since his previous pick, John Edwards, dropped out of the race last month.

Leaders in Florida and Michigan broke party rules and piggybacked their primaries shortly after Iowa’s caucuses. Iowa Democrats responded by moving the caucuses to Jan. 3.

Clinton and Obama subsequently honored requests not to campaign in those states. Clinton, however, held a rally in Florida on the night of its primary. She also has argued in favor of allowing both states’ delegates to be counted, though Obama’s name was not on the Michigan ballot.

In a conversation with Obama last week, Braley said the senator from Illinois says he favors keeping Iowa first in the nomination process and not allowing delegates from Michigan and Florida at the convention.

“It’s like any organization that sets rules. The members are required to play by the rules. (Michigan and Florida) chose not to,” Braley said.

Another undecided superdelegate, Scott Brennan, chairman of Iowa Democratic Party, also said protecting Iowa’s status will be a top issue when deciding who to endorse.

“That’s something that’s going to influence my thought process, because that’s obviously important to the Iowa Democratic Party and Iowa Democrats in general,” he said.

Brennan said he had yet to speak with Clinton or Obama.

Television screens flash check marks over Clinton’s face for her victories. Newspaper headlines announce “Barack Obama wins.”

But none of that matters — it’s all about claiming delegates assigned to each state. Under Democratic Party rules, candidates win a proportional amount of a state’s delegates. That means the loser still receives delegates, but the wider the margin of victory, the more delegates the winner gets.

To win the Democratic Party’s nomination for president, Clinton or Obama must earn 2,025 delegates. By the Associated Press’ latest count, Obama’s 1,112 delegates give him a lead of 112 over Clinton.

But those totals aren’t final because they don’t include 795 superdelegates from across the country — about 20 percent of all delegates. Clinton holds a lead over Obama in that race, but the results are not official because a superdelegate can switch support at any time leading up to the national convention in Denver in August.

Until this campaign an arcane bit of Democratic Party politics, superdelegates have taken on fresh importance and increased scrutiny because the race is unusually close. It appears unlikely either candidate will reach the 2,025-delegate threshold without superdelegate support.

Iowa holds 11 superdelegates with a 12th chosen at the convention. The most recent to pledge support is Gov. Chet Culver, who backed Obama last week. To date, four picked Clinton, three chose Obama and four remain undecided.

Superdelegates consist of elected officials and party activists, from former President Bill Clinton to state central committee members, like Iowa’s Richard Machacek, who is undecided.

Of course, if Obama continues to win states by large margins, or if Clinton comes back with a string of victories to take a commanding lead before the convention, superdelegates’ status may once again become largely ceremonial, little more than a free ticket to Denver.

“Certainly there are very real scenarios where that could happen,” Braley said. “But practically speaking, it is unlikely that it will.”

The possibility of a group of party elites deciding the nomination strikes Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa as profoundly unfair. Even so, he says it is only right to follow party rules this year and allow superdelegates to vote as they wish.

He acknowledged concerns among some Democrats that the party could tear apart under a scenario in which Obama wins the popular vote, but Clinton wins the nomination on the strength of superdelegate support.

An undecided superdelegate himself, Harkin said he would just as soon get rid of the concept.

“I am convinced that this idea of superdelegates has got to be done away with it. I’ve never felt comfortable with it anyway” he said. “It gives these superdelegates a little too much power to decide these things at the end in a close race.”

Rep. Ron Kind of Wisconsin announced in advance he would support whoever wins his district Tuesday and urged other superdelegates to follow their constituents lead as well.

Harkin disagrees with that stance.

“Under the rules as they are now … we are independent agents to exercise our own free will and judgment,” Harkin said.

Brennan suggested in Iowa the idea of superdelegates isn’t inherently unfair because the state party awards delegates proportionally.

“It’s not a winner-take-all state. I think if you look at our superdelegates so far, they’ve split between Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton and a couple undecideds,” he said.

Sandy Opstvedt, an Iowa superdelegate backing Clinton, supports the idea of superdelegates because before they existed, party leaders were under-represented in the nominating process.

“They weren’t delegates because they didn’t want to run against people that voted for them and deprive someone the opportunity to be a delegate,” she said.

Opstvedt, however, reserved her right to switch allegiance.

“There are all kinds of hypotheticals that could happen,” she said. “Right now my mind is made up.”

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Copyright (c) 2008, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa

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