Democrats Take Wrong Turn on Superdelegates

The Democrats have taken steps to reduce the influence in 2020 of the so-called superdelegates. Unfortunately, they’re doing it wrong.

Most delegates at the Democrats’ convention are allocated to candidates based on the results of caucuses and primaries. Superdelegates are automatic delegates, entitled to that position by virtue of their status as either elected officials (members of of Congress or governors) or members of the Democratic National Committee. They are free to support any candidate they want. In this cycle, most of them committed to Hillary Clinton, and many announced that decision before the voters first got involved in the process.

Josh Putnam at FHQ has a detailed report of what the convention rules committee decided over the weekend. In a compromise “unity amendment,” the Democrats opted to open up a reform committee, as they did in 2008. Back then, they reduced the number of superdelegates. This time, the plan is to keep that number, but to eliminate the independent voice of the supers who are members of the Democratic National Committee.