Superdelegate Question

[Happenstance24]

Apologies if this comes off confusing as I'm running on little sleep currently but:

I keep hearing from Bernie supporters that the supers can change their votes come convention time if Bernie wins, which will probably be nigh impossible after super Tuesday, but for arguments sake lets say he pulls out a miracle and goes into the convention with a slight lead in pledged delegates (as no one will clench on pledged delegates alone if events unfold that way). Super D's aren't a single voting block that will switch at whim, right? What I mean is, the bigger the state the more super d's, right? So if Hillary keeps winning big delegate rich states like SC (100 plus super d's) and Texas then even if Bernie gets a slight victory, the super d's in the big states Hillary will have won will not flip to his side and disavow the will of the people of their states. Even if Bernie is able to get 200 of Clinton's current 450 plus super d's to flip, would it be enough to win the nomination? I'm thinking no but I'd love to hear different opinions on this.

[CBGLuthier]

1. If the superdelegates ever overturn the will of the common voters the party can kiss its ass goodbye

Why would anyone ever be part of a party where the elite get special voting privileges.

[Happenstance24]

2. They wouldn't though

Could there ever be a situation where Sanders inched by Clinton via smaller state wins (assuming neither side has enough pledged delegates to clinch the nom) but the super D's from big states like Texas that Hillary won (bigger the state, the more super d's) ultimately give her the nomination?

[SheilaT]

3. Super delegates are not pledged to candidates

the way the ones chosen in the primaries and caucuses are. So even though they may say they're supporting a particular candidate well ahead of the convention, that's not very meaningful. So far, in the relatively brief history of super delegates, they have always gone with the one who wins the most delegates in the primaries and caucuses.

Even without bothering to do any research, I rather doubt South Carolina has 100 super delegates. The SDs are generally the Congressional Representatives and Senators who are Democrats, as well as Governors and some other party faithful.

A huge amount of attention has been focussed on the SDs, and I personally think it's a lot of wasted energy. We need to be worried about the pledged delegates, the ones that come out of the caucuses and primaries. Those are the ones that will matter at the convention.

[Happenstance24]

5. Oops

Yeah, I meant to type Super Tuesday would have 100 supers up for grabs. I said I was tired.

[Recursion]

4. "Bigger state more super d's" isn't strictly true

It's roughly "the bigger the state's number of Democratic Representatives, Senators, and Governors, the more super d's".