Can Obama Charm the Superdelegates?

Superdelegate - what the hell is a superdelegate?

Well, if you are a political novice (and there's nothing wrong with that =) here's the definition from Wikipedia. However, if you already know that "superdelegate" is just another word for nothin' left to lose (no wait, that's a song ;), rather superdelegates are nothing more than unelected delegates that go to the Democratic Convention (in August in Denver, CO) foot-loose and fancy-free and can cast their vote for whomever strikes them as the most appealing candidate at the moment. Check out the following site 2008 Democratic Convention Watch for a complete list of those superdelegates who have already pledged to vote for one candidate or the other. But beware, the superdupers can be a fickle lot and may switch their allegiances or a whim or a dime (and those are the ones that worry me...). What, you may be wondering, is the cost of a superduperdelegate's vote? Well, this is pure speculation from a political outsider (I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma for god's sake), but my guess is that since all of these supers are already political big wigs it takes a promise of some cushy position in the candidate's nascent administration or a rather large campaign contribution - but my guess is that by August all of the politicos will have long since maxed out to their fave, so it won't be about the moolah as much as it will be about the political clout that the super may get in return for their vote.

So watch this group of ultra-politicos, and don't let them subvert the will of the electorate. I say whoever goes into the Convention with the most earned delegates gets the nod. I'm not predicting a 1968 kinda riot if the super delegates chose let's say a political insider over a more popular, fresher face, but should the will of all of those young voters who got into the game because they were inspired by that fresh face be thwarted at the convention by a bunch of party big wigs - well, let's just say I wouldn't blame them if they decided that the game is rigged and it just ain't worth trying to play. And that would be a tragedy, not just for the Democratic Party, but for America and its future...

Democratic National Convention 2008 Blog

Check out the always-on-the-mark David Sirota's Local Pressure Builds on Superdelegates.