Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

RandySF

(58,911 posts)
Wed Apr 20, 2016, 01:21 AM Apr 2016

Sanders’s campaign manager previewed a very undemocratic strategy for the Democratic primary

But later that same night, Sanders's campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, went on MSNBC and said that the campaign's plan is to win the election by persuading superdelegates to dump Hillary Clinton.

This isn't the first time the Sanders campaign has previewed this strategy. They began talking about it in March, arguing that if they could finish the primaries strong, then even if they trailed Clinton in delegates, they could use their strong poll numbers, tremendous small-donors fundraising, and general momentum to persuade superdelegates to switch sides and hand them the nomination.

And fair enough. It's an incredibly unlikely stratagem — superdelegates are the very definition of the Democratic Party establishment, which is why Clinton has an enormous advantage among them — but it's completely within the rules of the game.

It is, however, a bit unseemly for Sanders to blast New York's primary for barring independent voters only to have his campaign manager go out and say they're explicitly planning to use superdelegates to overturn the will of the voters.

But what turns this into an unusually difficult argument for Sanders is that, early in the race, Sanders's supporters feared this is how Clinton would steal the election, and so they mobilized their supporters to demand that the superdelegates abide by the will of the voters. Even today, some Sanders supporters (wrongly) think Clinton's lead is the unfair result of superdelegates ignoring the voters and backing her campaign.


http://www.vox.com/2016/4/19/11465392/bernie-sanders-superdelegates

12 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Sanders’s campaign manager previewed a very undemocratic strategy for the Democratic primary (Original Post) RandySF Apr 2016 OP
All along, it was Bernie who wanted a coronation. JaneyVee Apr 2016 #1
Yup LuvLoogie Apr 2016 #3
In the end you are always wrong AgingAmerican Apr 2016 #2
Weaver = crank CorkySt.Clair Apr 2016 #4
I really wish he hadn't said that. It was disappointing and he seemed unstable. BreakfastClub Apr 2016 #5
KNR Lucinda Apr 2016 #6
Hillary will be indicted. (nt) w4rma Apr 2016 #7
Post removed Post removed Apr 2016 #8
Yeah that'll tell me RandySF Apr 2016 #9
I rejoice in every moment the Bernie campaign bothers you. nt killbotfactory Apr 2016 #10
Why? RandySF Apr 2016 #11
slight error in logic ... are.you.sure Apr 2016 #12

BreakfastClub

(765 posts)
5. I really wish he hadn't said that. It was disappointing and he seemed unstable.
Wed Apr 20, 2016, 01:29 AM
Apr 2016

It also makes it clear that Barnie isn't really a democrat. He just wants to win, and he's using the democratic party for those aims. His campaign guy is delusional if he thinks the superdelegates will choose BS even though Hillary will have many more delegates and the popular vote. Good luck with that, Bern. The superdelegates are party loyalists. They're not going to switch to a man who was a socialist democrat for decades over a woman who has supported the democratic party her entire adult life.

Response to RandySF (Original post)

are.you.sure

(6 posts)
12. slight error in logic ...
Wed Apr 20, 2016, 03:44 AM
Apr 2016

Superdelegates represent the will of the various state democratic party corporations' selected representatives, while the will of the voters is represented by pledged delegates bound to votes in each of the various democratic primaries, no?

Now that the 2016 NYS democratic primary has taken place, we can reasonably state that each of the 44 NYS superdelegates represents the equivelant of nearly 7,790 actual democratic primary votes, with all 44 superdelegates representing the equivelant of nearly 342,782 actual democratic primary votes.

But don't fixate on those numbers, because no matter how many votes would have been cast in this primary, the 44 superdelegates would represent the equivelant of nearly 18% of the actual vote and each superdelegate would represent the equivelant of 1/44 of that 18%.

In turn, despite one person, one vote being the moral underpinning of our elections, the democratic party superdelegates render the actual democratic party member's vote equivelant to one person, 0.82 votes in NYS.

Superdelegates can only be said to represent the will of the voters in a very semantical sense because voters registering with the party either wittingly or unwittingly agree to have their one person, one vote dilluted by 18% (in NYS) and let party superdelegates decide who to back in exchange for affiliation with the party and the right to participate in the primary in addition to general elections.

Latest Discussions»Retired Forums»2016 Postmortem»Sanders’s campaign manage...