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Pledged delegates are awarded to candidates based on the results of primaries and caucuses, while superdelegates are party leaders and officials who can support any candidate at the national convention. Pledged delegates are bound to vote for a specific candidate based on the outcome of the state's contest, while superdelegates are free to support any candidate.
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Define super delegate?
Jump to: navigation, search"Superdelegate" is an informal term for some of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention, the quadrennial convention of the United States Democratic Party. Unlike most convention delegates, the superdelegates are not selected based on the party primaries and caucuses in each U.S. state. Instead, the superdelegates are seated automatically, based solely on their status as current or former elected officeholders and party officials. They are free to support any candidate for the nomination. The Democratic Party rules do not use the term "superdelegate". The formal designation (in Rule 9.A) is "unpledged party leader and elected official delegates".[1] In addition to these unpledged "PLEO" delegates, the state parties choose other unpledged delegates (Rule 9.B) and pledged PLEO delegates (Rule 9.C).[1] This article discusses only the unpledged PLEO delegates. The Republican Party also seats some party officials as delegates without regard to primary or caucus results, but the term "superdelegate" is most commonly applied only in the Democratic Party. At the 2008 Democratic National Convention the superdelegates will make up approximately one-fifth of the total number of delegates. The unforeseen and unprecedented closeness of the race between the leading contenders Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama following Super Tuesday has focused attention on the potential role of the superdelegates in selecting the Democratic nominee, inasmuch as in the aggregate they could come to be kingmakers to a degree not seen in previous election cycles.[2] Such an outcome would result in the first brokered convention since 1952. [hide]* 1 History * 2 Superdelegates in 2008 ** 2.1 Pledged and unpledged delegates * 3 Criticism * 4 See also * 5 References * 6 External links After the 1968 Democratic National Convention, the Democratic Party implemented changes in its delegate selection process, based on the work of the McGovern-Fraser Commission. The purpose of the changes was to make the composition of the convention less subject to control by party leaders and more responsive to the votes cast during the campaign for the nomination. These comprehensive changes left some Democrats believing that the role of party leaders and elected officials had been unduly diminished, weakening the Democratic ticket. In response, the superdelegate rule was instituted after the 1980 election. Its purpose was to accord a greater role to active politicians.[3] In the 1984 election, the major contenders for the Presidential nomination were Gary Hart and Walter Mondale. Each of them won some primaries and caucuses. Hart was only slightly behind Mondale in the total number of votes cast, but Mondale won the support of almost all the superdelegates and became the nominee.[4] The superdelegates have not always prevailed, however. In the Democratic primary phase of the 2004 election, Howard Dean acquired an early lead in delegate counts by obtaining the support of a number of superdelegates before even the first primaries were held. Nevertheless, John Kerry defeated Dean in a succession of primaries and caucuses and won the nomination. Superdelegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention include all Democratic members of the United States Congress, Democratic governors, various additional elected officials, members of the Democratic National Committee, as well as "all former Democratic Presidents, all former Democratic Vice Presidents, all former Democratic Leaders of the U.S. Senate, all former Democratic Speakers of the U.S. House of Representatives and Democratic Minority Leaders, as applicable, and all former Chairs of the Democratic National Committee."[1] There is an exception, however, for otherwise qualified individuals who endorse another party's candidate for President; they lose their superdelegate status. In 2008, Senator Joe Lieberman was disqualified as a superdelegate because he endorsed Republican John McCain.[5] A list of superdelegates can be found here. Another list of endorsing superdelegates is available here The 2008 Democratic National Convention will have approximately 796[6] superdelegates, although the number can change up to the beginning of the convention (Call to the Convention Section IV(C)(2)). Delegates from state caucuses and primaries will number 3,253, resulting in a total number of delegate votes of 4,049. A candidate needs a majority of that total, or 2,025, to win the nomination.[6] Superdelegates account for approximately one fifth (19.6%) of all votes at the convention. Delegates chosen in the Democratic caucuses and primaries account for approximately four-fifths (80.4%) of the Democratic convention delegates.[6][7] Note: All numbers in this section assume that Michigan and Florida delegates are not counted per current Democratic National Committee rules. If those rules are changed before or during the convention, the numbers above will change as appropriate. In the Republican Party, as in the Democratic Party, members of the party's national committee automatically become delegates without being pledged to any candidate. In 2008, there are 123 members of the Republican National Committee among the total of 2,380 delegates to the 2008 Republican National Convention.[7] There are three RNC delegates (the national committeeman, national committeewoman, and state party chair) for each state, except for the ones who had primary contests before Super Tuesday. [8] Despite this similarity in procedure, the term "superdelegate" is generally used only about Democratic delegates, although there are exceptions.[9] The Democratic Party rules distinguish between pledged and unpledged delegates, with the selection of the former being based on their announced preferences in the contest for the presidential nomination.[1] In the party primaries and caucuses in each U.S. state, voters express their preference among the contenders for the party's nomination for President of the United States. Pledged delegates supporting each candidate are chosen in approximate ratio to their candidate's share of the vote. In some states, the delegates so chosen are legally required to vote for the candidate to whom they are pledged, at least on the first ballot at the convention. By contrast, the superdelegates, selected by virtue of their status as current or former elected officeholders and party officials, without regard to their presidential preferences, are all unpledged delegates. Many of them have chosen to announce endorsements, but they are not bound in any way. They may support any candidate they wish, including one who has dropped out of the presidential race.[10] There are also "unpledged add-on delegates" selected under Rule 9.B and "pledged party leader and elected official delegates" selected under rule 9.C.[1] The process of selecting delegates is described here and here. To sum up, the Democratic Party's delegates fall into seven categories: * District-level delegates * At-large delegates * Unpledged party-leader delegates * Unpledged elected-official delegates * Pledged party-leader delegates * Pledged elected-official delegates * Unpledged add-on delegates Both the Democratic and Republican party have a number of state level unpledged delegates that are chosen by each state's party through convention, caucus, or state party leader vote (depending on how that particular state-party body has decided to choose them).[11] The state level unpledged delegates tend to vote for the candidate who received the most votes from their state (although they are not required to and some state parties give them more leeway than others). Many state Republican party delegations are made up entirely of unpledged delegates which gives them the distinction "winner take all". Even with these traditions, unpledged delegates are allowed to change their vote at any time before the national convention. This is why both the Republican and Democratic parties have the potential for a brokered convention. This is far less likely for the Republican party where the traditions are more strict and there are far fewer unpledged delegates who are given a free hand. The Democratic Party has been criticized [4][12] for conducting its nominating process in a non-democratic, even oligarchic fashion, since superdelegates are generally chosen without regard to their preferences in the presidential race and are not obligated to support the candidate chosen by the voters. There have been repeated calls to eliminate the superdelegates from the nomination process to more accurately reflect the popular vote. Delegates chosen in primaries and caucuses may not exactly reflect the votes cast, although party rules require proportional allocation rather than winner-take-all.[13] * List of 2008 United States Democratic Party superdelegates # ^ a b cd e Democratic National Committee (August 19, 2006). "Delegate Selection Rules for the 2008 Democratic National Convention". Retrieved on 2008-02-08. # ^ Nagourney, Adam; Hulse, Carl. "Neck and Neck, Democrats Woo Superdelegates", The New York Times, 2008-02-10. # ^ Dionne, Jr., E. J.. "Democratic Battle Is On For 646 Elite Delegates", The New York Times, 1988-03-23. # ^ a b Berman, Ari. "Not So Superdelegates", The Nation, 2008-02-18. # ^Pazniokas, Mark (February 6, 2008). Lieberman No Longer a Super Delegate. courant.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-07. # ^ ab c "The Primary Season: 2008 Democratic Calendar", The New York Times, 2007-01-07, # ^ a b Election Center 2008: Delegate Scorecard. CNN. # ^http://www.gop.com/images/2008_Call_FINAL.pdf # ^ Marcus, Ruth. "Looking Beyond Tsunami Tuesday", The Sacramento Bee, 2008-01-17. # ^ "Romney suspends presidential campaign", CNN.com, February 7, 2008, # ^ "Maine Caucus Results", The New York Times. # ^ Bikey, Andrew. "Who are the superdelegates?", Minnesota Monitor, 2008-01-15. # ^ Cook, Rhodes, The Presidential Nominating Process: A Place for Us?, Rowman & Littlefield, * Democratic Convention Watch - lists which superdelegates have and have not endorsed a candidate * List of Democratic superdelegates * "Delegate Selection Rules for the 2008 Democratic National Convention" - official Democratic Party rules (note: this is a redirect from the link www.democrats.org/page/-/dem_convention/rules.pdf, on http://www.demconvention.com/how-to-become-a-delegate/) Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superdelegate"Jump to: navigation, search"Superdelegate" is an informal term for some of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention, the quadrennial convention of the United States Democratic Party. Unlike most convention delegates, the superdelegates are not selected based on the party primaries and caucuses in each U.S. state. Instead, the superdelegates are seated automatically, based solely on their status as current or former elected officeholders and party officials. They are free to support any candidate for the nomination. The Democratic Party rules do not use the term "superdelegate". The formal designation (in Rule 9.A) is "unpledged party leader and elected official delegates".[1] In addition to these unpledged "PLEO" delegates, the state parties choose other unpledged delegates (Rule 9.B) and pledged PLEO delegates (Rule 9.C).[1] This article discusses only the unpledged PLEO delegates. The Republican Party also seats some party officials as delegates without regard to primary or caucus results, but the term "superdelegate" is most commonly applied only in the Democratic Party. At the 2008 Democratic National Convention the superdelegates will make up approximately one-fifth of the total number of delegates. The unforeseen and unprecedented closeness of the race between the leading contenders Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama following Super Tuesday has focused attention on the potential role of the superdelegates in selecting the Democratic nominee, inasmuch as in the aggregate they could come to be kingmakers to a degree not seen in previous election cycles.[2] Such an outcome would result in the first brokered convention since 1952. [hide]* 1 History * 2 Superdelegates in 2008 ** 2.1 Pledged and unpledged delegates * 3 Criticism * 4 See also * 5 References * 6 External links After the 1968 Democratic National Convention, the Democratic Party implemented changes in its delegate selection process, based on the work of the McGovern-Fraser Commission. The purpose of the changes was to make the composition of the convention less subject to control by party leaders and more responsive to the votes cast during the campaign for the nomination. These comprehensive changes left some Democrats believing that the role of party leaders and elected officials had been unduly diminished, weakening the Democratic ticket. In response, the superdelegate rule was instituted after the 1980 election. Its purpose was to accord a greater role to active politicians.[3] In the 1984 election, the major contenders for the Presidential nomination were Gary Hart and Walter Mondale. Each of them won some primaries and caucuses. Hart was only slightly behind Mondale in the total number of votes cast, but Mondale won the support of almost all the superdelegates and became the nominee.[4] The superdelegates have not always prevailed, however. In the Democratic primary phase of the 2004 election, Howard Dean acquired an early lead in delegate counts by obtaining the support of a number of superdelegates before even the first primaries were held. Nevertheless, John Kerry defeated Dean in a succession of primaries and caucuses and won the nomination. Superdelegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention include all Democratic members of the United States Congress, Democratic governors, various additional elected officials, members of the Democratic National Committee, as well as "all former Democratic Presidents, all former Democratic Vice Presidents, all former Democratic Leaders of the U.S. Senate, all former Democratic Speakers of the U.S. House of Representatives and Democratic Minority Leaders, as applicable, and all former Chairs of the Democratic National Committee."[1] There is an exception, however, for otherwise qualified individuals who endorse another party's candidate for President; they lose their superdelegate status. In 2008, Senator Joe Lieberman was disqualified as a superdelegate because he endorsed Republican John McCain.[5] A list of superdelegates can be found here. Another list of endorsing superdelegates is available here The 2008 Democratic National Convention will have approximately 796[6] superdelegates, although the number can change up to the beginning of the convention (Call to the Convention Section IV(C)(2)). Delegates from state caucuses and primaries will number 3,253, resulting in a total number of delegate votes of 4,049. A candidate needs a majority of that total, or 2,025, to win the nomination.[6] Superdelegates account for approximately one fifth (19.6%) of all votes at the convention. Delegates chosen in the Democratic caucuses and primaries account for approximately four-fifths (80.4%) of the Democratic convention delegates.[6][7] Note: All numbers in this section assume that Michigan and Florida delegates are not counted per current Democratic National Committee rules. If those rules are changed before or during the convention, the numbers above will change as appropriate. In the Republican Party, as in the Democratic Party, members of the party's national committee automatically become delegates without being pledged to any candidate. In 2008, there are 123 members of the Republican National Committee among the total of 2,380 delegates to the 2008 Republican National Convention.[7] There are three RNC delegates (the national committeeman, national committeewoman, and state party chair) for each state, except for the ones who had primary contests before Super Tuesday. [8] Despite this similarity in procedure, the term "superdelegate" is generally used only about Democratic delegates, although there are exceptions.[9] The Democratic Party rules distinguish between pledged and unpledged delegates, with the selection of the former being based on their announced preferences in the contest for the presidential nomination.[1] In the party primaries and caucuses in each U.S. state, voters express their preference among the contenders for the party's nomination for President of the United States. Pledged delegates supporting each candidate are chosen in approximate ratio to their candidate's share of the vote. In some states, the delegates so chosen are legally required to vote for the candidate to whom they are pledged, at least on the first ballot at the convention. By contrast, the superdelegates, selected by virtue of their status as current or former elected officeholders and party officials, without regard to their presidential preferences, are all unpledged delegates. Many of them have chosen to announce endorsements, but they are not bound in any way. They may support any candidate they wish, including one who has dropped out of the presidential race.[10] There are also "unpledged add-on delegates" selected under Rule 9.B and "pledged party leader and elected official delegates" selected under rule 9.C.[1] The process of selecting delegates is described here and here. To sum up, the Democratic Party's delegates fall into seven categories: * District-level delegates * At-large delegates * Unpledged party-leader delegates * Unpledged elected-official delegates * Pledged party-leader delegates * Pledged elected-official delegates * Unpledged add-on delegates Both the Democratic and Republican party have a number of state level unpledged delegates that are chosen by each state's party through convention, caucus, or state party leader vote (depending on how that particular state-party body has decided to choose them).[11] The state level unpledged delegates tend to vote for the candidate who received the most votes from their state (although they are not required to and some state parties give them more leeway than others). Many state Republican party delegations are made up entirely of unpledged delegates which gives them the distinction "winner take all". Even with these traditions, unpledged delegates are allowed to change their vote at any time before the national convention. This is why both the Republican and Democratic parties have the potential for a brokered convention. This is far less likely for the Republican party where the traditions are more strict and there are far fewer unpledged delegates who are given a free hand. The Democratic Party has been criticized [4][12] for conducting its nominating process in a non-democratic, even oligarchic fashion, since superdelegates are generally chosen without regard to their preferences in the presidential race and are not obligated to support the candidate chosen by the voters. There have been repeated calls to eliminate the superdelegates from the nomination process to more accurately reflect the popular vote. Delegates chosen in primaries and caucuses may not exactly reflect the votes cast, although party rules require proportional allocation rather than winner-take-all.[13] * List of 2008 United States Democratic Party superdelegates # ^ a b cd e Democratic National Committee (August 19, 2006). "Delegate Selection Rules for the 2008 Democratic National Convention". Retrieved on 2008-02-08. # ^ Nagourney, Adam; Hulse, Carl. "Neck and Neck, Democrats Woo Superdelegates", The New York Times, 2008-02-10. # ^ Dionne, Jr., E. J.. "Democratic Battle Is On For 646 Elite Delegates", The New York Times, 1988-03-23. # ^ a b Berman, Ari. "Not So Superdelegates", The Nation, 2008-02-18. # ^Pazniokas, Mark (February 6, 2008). Lieberman No Longer a Super Delegate. courant.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-07. # ^ ab c "The Primary Season: 2008 Democratic Calendar", The New York Times, 2007-01-07, # ^ a b Election Center 2008: Delegate Scorecard. CNN. # ^http://www.gop.com/images/2008_Call_FINAL.pdf # ^ Marcus, Ruth. "Looking Beyond Tsunami Tuesday", The Sacramento Bee, 2008-01-17. # ^ "Romney suspends presidential campaign", CNN.com, February 7, 2008, # ^ "Maine Caucus Results", The New York Times. # ^ Bikey, Andrew. "Who are the superdelegates?", Minnesota Monitor, 2008-01-15. # ^ Cook, Rhodes, The Presidential Nominating Process: A Place for Us?, Rowman & Littlefield, * Democratic Convention Watch - lists which superdelegates have and have not endorsed a candidate * List of Democratic superdelegates * "Delegate Selection Rules for the 2008 Democratic National Convention" - official Democratic Party rules (note: this is a redirect from the link www.democrats.org/page/-/dem_convention/rules.pdf, on http://www.demconvention.com/how-to-become-a-delegate/) Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superdelegate"Jump to: navigation, search"Superdelegate" is an informal term for some of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention, the quadrennial convention of the United States Democratic Party. Unlike most convention delegates, the superdelegates are not selected based on the party primaries and caucuses in each U.S. state. Instead, the superdelegates are seated automatically, based solely on their status as current or former elected officeholders and party officials. They are free to support any candidate for the nomination. The Democratic Party rules do not use the term "superdelegate". The formal designation (in Rule 9.A) is "unpledged party leader and elected official delegates".[1] In addition to these unpledged "PLEO" delegates, the state parties choose other unpledged delegates (Rule 9.B) and pledged PLEO delegates (Rule 9.C).[1] This article discusses only the unpledged PLEO delegates. The Republican Party also seats some party officials as delegates without regard to primary or caucus results, but the term "superdelegate" is most commonly applied only in the Democratic Party. At the 2008 Democratic National Convention the superdelegates will make up approximately one-fifth of the total number of delegates. The unforeseen and unprecedented closeness of the race between the leading contenders Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama following Super Tuesday has focused attention on the potential role of the superdelegates in selecting the Democratic nominee, inasmuch as in the aggregate they could come to be kingmakers to a degree not seen in previous election cycles.[2] Such an outcome would result in the first brokered convention since 1952. [hide]* 1 History * 2 Superdelegates in 2008 ** 2.1 Pledged and unpledged delegates * 3 Criticism * 4 See also * 5 References * 6 External links After the 1968 Democratic National Convention, the Democratic Party implemented changes in its delegate selection process, based on the work of the McGovern-Fraser Commission. The purpose of the changes was to make the composition of the convention less subject to control by party leaders and more responsive to the votes cast during the campaign for the nomination. These comprehensive changes left some Democrats believing that the role of party leaders and elected officials had been unduly diminished, weakening the Democratic ticket. In response, the superdelegate rule was instituted after the 1980 election. Its purpose was to accord a greater role to active politicians.[3] In the 1984 election, the major contenders for the Presidential nomination were Gary Hart and Walter Mondale. Each of them won some primaries and caucuses. Hart was only slightly behind Mondale in the total number of votes cast, but Mondale won the support of almost all the superdelegates and became the nominee.[4] The superdelegates have not always prevailed, however. In the Democratic primary phase of the 2004 election, Howard Dean acquired an early lead in delegate counts by obtaining the support of a number of superdelegates before even the first primaries were held. Nevertheless, John Kerry defeated Dean in a succession of primaries and caucuses and won the nomination. Superdelegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention include all Democratic members of the United States Congress, Democratic governors, various additional elected officials, members of the Democratic National Committee, as well as "all former Democratic Presidents, all former Democratic Vice Presidents, all former Democratic Leaders of the U.S. Senate, all former Democratic Speakers of the U.S. House of Representatives and Democratic Minority Leaders, as applicable, and all former Chairs of the Democratic National Committee."[1] There is an exception, however, for otherwise qualified individuals who endorse another party's candidate for President; they lose their superdelegate status. In 2008, Senator Joe Lieberman was disqualified as a superdelegate because he endorsed Republican John McCain.[5] A list of superdelegates can be found here. Another list of endorsing superdelegates is available here The 2008 Democratic National Convention will have approximately 796[6] superdelegates, although the number can change up to the beginning of the convention (Call to the Convention Section IV(C)(2)). Delegates from state caucuses and primaries will number 3,253, resulting in a total number of delegate votes of 4,049. A candidate needs a majority of that total, or 2,025, to win the nomination.[6] Superdelegates account for approximately one fifth (19.6%) of all votes at the convention. Delegates chosen in the Democratic caucuses and primaries account for approximately four-fifths (80.4%) of the Democratic convention delegates.[6][7] Note: All numbers in this section assume that Michigan and Florida delegates are not counted per current Democratic National Committee rules. If those rules are changed before or during the convention, the numbers above will change as appropriate. In the Republican Party, as in the Democratic Party, members of the party's national committee automatically become delegates without being pledged to any candidate. In 2008, there are 123 members of the Republican National Committee among the total of 2,380 delegates to the 2008 Republican National Convention.[7] There are three RNC delegates (the national committeeman, national committeewoman, and state party chair) for each state, except for the ones who had primary contests before Super Tuesday. [8] Despite this similarity in procedure, the term "superdelegate" is generally used only about Democratic delegates, although there are exceptions.[9] The Democratic Party rules distinguish between pledged and unpledged delegates, with the selection of the former being based on their announced preferences in the contest for the presidential nomination.[1] In the party primaries and caucuses in each U.S. state, voters express their preference among the contenders for the party's nomination for President of the United States. Pledged delegates supporting each candidate are chosen in approximate ratio to their candidate's share of the vote. In some states, the delegates so chosen are legally required to vote for the candidate to whom they are pledged, at least on the first ballot at the convention. By contrast, the superdelegates, selected by virtue of their status as current or former elected officeholders and party officials, without regard to their presidential preferences, are all unpledged delegates. Many of them have chosen to announce endorsements, but they are not bound in any way. They may support any candidate they wish, including one who has dropped out of the presidential race.[10] There are also "unpledged add-on delegates" selected under Rule 9.B and "pledged party leader and elected official delegates" selected under rule 9.C.[1] The process of selecting delegates is described here and here. To sum up, the Democratic Party's delegates fall into seven categories: * District-level delegates * At-large delegates * Unpledged party-leader delegates * Unpledged elected-official delegates * Pledged party-leader delegates * Pledged elected-official delegates * Unpledged add-on delegates Both the Democratic and Republican party have a number of state level unpledged delegates that are chosen by each state's party through convention, caucus, or state party leader vote (depending on how that particular state-party body has decided to choose them).[11] The state level unpledged delegates tend to vote for the candidate who received the most votes from their state (although they are not required to and some state parties give them more leeway than others). Many state Republican party delegations are made up entirely of unpledged delegates which gives them the distinction "winner take all". Even with these traditions, unpledged delegates are allowed to change their vote at any time before the national convention. This is why both the Republican and Democratic parties have the potential for a brokered convention. This is far less likely for the Republican party where the traditions are more strict and there are far fewer unpledged delegates who are given a free hand. The Democratic Party has been criticized [4][12] for conducting its nominating process in a non-democratic, even oligarchic fashion, since superdelegates are generally chosen without regard to their preferences in the presidential race and are not obligated to support the candidate chosen by the voters. There have been repeated calls to eliminate the superdelegates from the nomination process to more accurately reflect the popular vote. Delegates chosen in primaries and caucuses may not exactly reflect the votes cast, although party rules require proportional allocation rather than winner-take-all.[13] * List of 2008 United States Democratic Party superdelegates # ^ a b cd e Democratic National Committee (August 19, 2006). "Delegate Selection Rules for the 2008 Democratic National Convention". Retrieved on 2008-02-08. # ^ Nagourney, Adam; Hulse, Carl. "Neck and Neck, Democrats Woo Superdelegates", The New York Times, 2008-02-10. # ^ Dionne, Jr., E. J.. "Democratic Battle Is On For 646 Elite Delegates", The New York Times, 1988-03-23. # ^ a b Berman, Ari. "Not So Superdelegates", The Nation, 2008-02-18. # ^Pazniokas, Mark (February 6, 2008). Lieberman No Longer a Super Delegate. courant.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-07. # ^ ab c "The Primary Season: 2008 Democratic Calendar", The New York Times, 2007-01-07, # ^ a b Election Center 2008: Delegate Scorecard. CNN. # ^http://www.gop.com/images/2008_Call_FINAL.pdf # ^ Marcus, Ruth. "Looking Beyond Tsunami Tuesday", The Sacramento Bee, 2008-01-17. # ^ "Romney suspends presidential campaign", CNN.com, February 7, 2008, # ^ "Maine Caucus Results", The New York Times. # ^ Bikey, Andrew. "Who are the superdelegates?", Minnesota Monitor, 2008-01-15. # ^ Cook, Rhodes, The Presidential Nominating Process: A Place for Us?, Rowman & Littlefield, * Democratic Convention Watch - lists which superdelegates have and have not endorsed a candidate * List of Democratic superdelegates * "Delegate Selection Rules for the 2008 Democratic National Convention" - official Democratic Party rules (note: this is a redirect from the link www.democrats.org/page/-/dem_convention/rules.pdf, on http://www.demconvention.com/how-to-become-a-delegate/) Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superdelegate"
Where do electors come from?
Here's a helpful page about the electoral college: http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/ When you vote for president, you're actually voting for "electors" pledged to a particular candidate...
Who called the election of 1824 a corrupt bargain why?
Andrew Jackson called the election of 1824 a corrupt bargain because John Quincy Adams was awarded the presidency by the House of Representatives despite not having won the popular vote or the electoral college majority. Jackson believed that Adams had made a backroom deal with Henry Clay, who was the Speaker of the House at the time, to secure the presidency.
What ideas did most fascist share?
they preached an extreme form of nationalism, or loyalty to one's country. They believed that nations must struggle-peacful state were doomed to be conquered. They pledged loyalty to an authoritarien leader who guided and brought order
What is urban liberalism?
Urban Liberalism was the rise of the middle class. It started with Johnson being elected. He pledged to purify California Politics. It started with the middle class then the working America's hopped on board. By his 2nd term he was championing social and labor legislation. His original base of the middle class had eroded and he had become the champion of California's working class. A new strain of progressive reform emerged that historians labeled as Urban Liberalism.
How many delegates in Rhode Island?
Rhode Island has a total of 34 delegates for the Democratic National Convention and 19 delegates for the Republican National Convention. The Democratic delegates include 24 pledged delegates and 10 unpledged superdelegates. The Republican delegates are all pledged. The allocation of delegates can vary slightly based on the results of the primaries.
How many delegates does Michigan get for the presidential primary?
Michigan has a total of 125 delegates for the presidential primary. This includes both pledged delegates, who are awarded based on the primary vote, and unpledged delegates, often referred to as superdelegates. The distribution of pledged delegates is determined by the results of the primary election, with a proportional allocation system in place.
How many delegates in South Carolina?
South Carolina has a total of 54 delegates for the Democratic National Convention and 50 delegates for the Republican National Convention. The distribution of these delegates includes both pledged delegates, who are allocated based on the results of the primary election, and unpledged delegates, often referred to as superdelegates. The exact number of pledged delegates can vary based on election results and party rules.
When were superdelegates created?
QUESTION: What is a superdelegate?ANSWER: Party activists and elected officials who have a vote at the Democratic National Convention that is equal to a single delegate. A candidate for president needs 2,025 to win the nomination. S.C. awards 54 delegates. During the primary, 45 delegates were awarded based on the vote. The remaining nine will be awarded by the state's eight superdelegates and a delegate who will be named later.QUESTION: Why were superdelegates created?ANSWER: The Democratic National Committee created the superdelegates as a quality-control mechanism after George McGovern's failed bid for the presidency in 1972. These delegates are party activists whose job it is to prevent an unfavorable candidate from winning the nomination.QUESTION: Will superdelegates ultimately decide the Democratic nomination?ANSWER: The race is historically close, meaning each delegate counts. Superdelegates do not have to decide until the August convention. Those who have pledged can change their minds. The primary system could decide the nominee before then. The superdelegates could decide to back the candidate who has the most delegates awarded by voters once all the states have held their preference contests. Or the superdelegates could split, which would take the process into unknown territory.QUESTION: What is a superdelegate?ANSWER: Party activists and elected officials who have a vote at the Democratic National Convention that is equal to a single delegate. A candidate for president needs 2,025 to win the nomination. S.C. awards 54 delegates. During the primary, 45 delegates were awarded based on the vote. The remaining nine will be awarded by the state's eight superdelegates and a delegate who will be named later.QUESTION: Why were superdelegates created?ANSWER: The Democratic National Committee created the superdelegates as a quality-control mechanism after George McGovern's failed bid for the presidency in 1972. These delegates are party activists whose job it is to prevent an unfavorable candidate from winning the nomination.QUESTION: Will superdelegates ultimately decide the Democratic nomination?ANSWER: The race is historically close, meaning each delegate counts. Superdelegates do not have to decide until the August convention. Those who have pledged can change their minds. The primary system could decide the nominee before then. The superdelegates could decide to back the candidate who has the most delegates awarded by voters once all the states have held their preference contests. Or the superdelegates could split, which would take the process into unknown territory.
How any delegates does a democrat need to win the nomination?
To secure the Democratic nomination for president, a candidate needs to obtain a majority of the pledged delegates, which is currently set at 1,991 delegates out of a total of 4,749. This majority ensures that the candidate has substantial support among party members during the primaries and caucuses. Additionally, the Democratic National Committee also recognizes superdelegates, but they do not vote on the first ballot unless a candidate has already secured a majority of pledged delegates.
Are there superdelegates in Republican Party?
No, the Republican Party's does not give elected officials and party leaders an automatic vote in the presidential primary process; however, politicians and party leaders can be elected to be delegates(pledged or otherwise).
What is the difference between electors and delegates?
Assuming you are speaking about the US presidential primary, the difference between delegates and superdelegates are the pledges of their votes in the primary. A delegate must vote ON THE FIRST ROUND OF VOTING the way that state's political party designates that vote. On subsequent votes, a delegate can vote any way he or she pleases. For example, in Delaware Obama won nine of 23 Democratic Party delegates and Clinton won six. On the FIRST ROUND OF VOTING IN THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL NOMINATING CONVENTION ONLY, Delaware will vote at least nine votes for Obama and at least six votes for Clinton. There are still eight delegates outstanding (23 - [9 + 6]) and they are superdelegates. A superdelegate is not pledged to any delegate, even on the first round. In Delaware, seven of the superdelegates are party officials and one is unnamed. -jt
What makes someone a super-delegate?
Super Delegates are not elected through the normal primary and caucus process. They are designated by party rules and include high elected officials (members of Congress and governors), party committee members and some former office holders. Unlike delegates awarded through primaries and caucuses, superdelegates are not required to stay pledged to a specific candidate. In 2008, the Democratic Party has designated 796 super delegates. An estimated 4,049 total delegates will vote at the national convention, including super delegates. A candidate needs a total of 2,025 delegate votes to win the party's nomination. As taken from the WashingtonPost.
What plank divide democratic delegates during the 1968 national convention?
It was called the peace plank. The peace plank sought to bring the war in Vietnam to a negotiated end. It was supported by delegates pledged to Eugene McCarthy and delegates who had been pledged to Robert F. Kennedy who w killed less than three months prior to the convention. It was opposed by the delegates of Hubert H. Humphrey, who became the nominee.
Define super delegate?
Jump to: navigation, search"Superdelegate" is an informal term for some of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention, the quadrennial convention of the United States Democratic Party. Unlike most convention delegates, the superdelegates are not selected based on the party primaries and caucuses in each U.S. state. Instead, the superdelegates are seated automatically, based solely on their status as current or former elected officeholders and party officials. They are free to support any candidate for the nomination. The Democratic Party rules do not use the term "superdelegate". The formal designation (in Rule 9.A) is "unpledged party leader and elected official delegates".[1] In addition to these unpledged "PLEO" delegates, the state parties choose other unpledged delegates (Rule 9.B) and pledged PLEO delegates (Rule 9.C).[1] This article discusses only the unpledged PLEO delegates. The Republican Party also seats some party officials as delegates without regard to primary or caucus results, but the term "superdelegate" is most commonly applied only in the Democratic Party. At the 2008 Democratic National Convention the superdelegates will make up approximately one-fifth of the total number of delegates. The unforeseen and unprecedented closeness of the race between the leading contenders Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama following Super Tuesday has focused attention on the potential role of the superdelegates in selecting the Democratic nominee, inasmuch as in the aggregate they could come to be kingmakers to a degree not seen in previous election cycles.[2] Such an outcome would result in the first brokered convention since 1952. [hide]* 1 History * 2 Superdelegates in 2008 ** 2.1 Pledged and unpledged delegates * 3 Criticism * 4 See also * 5 References * 6 External links After the 1968 Democratic National Convention, the Democratic Party implemented changes in its delegate selection process, based on the work of the McGovern-Fraser Commission. The purpose of the changes was to make the composition of the convention less subject to control by party leaders and more responsive to the votes cast during the campaign for the nomination. These comprehensive changes left some Democrats believing that the role of party leaders and elected officials had been unduly diminished, weakening the Democratic ticket. In response, the superdelegate rule was instituted after the 1980 election. Its purpose was to accord a greater role to active politicians.[3] In the 1984 election, the major contenders for the Presidential nomination were Gary Hart and Walter Mondale. Each of them won some primaries and caucuses. Hart was only slightly behind Mondale in the total number of votes cast, but Mondale won the support of almost all the superdelegates and became the nominee.[4] The superdelegates have not always prevailed, however. In the Democratic primary phase of the 2004 election, Howard Dean acquired an early lead in delegate counts by obtaining the support of a number of superdelegates before even the first primaries were held. Nevertheless, John Kerry defeated Dean in a succession of primaries and caucuses and won the nomination. Superdelegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention include all Democratic members of the United States Congress, Democratic governors, various additional elected officials, members of the Democratic National Committee, as well as "all former Democratic Presidents, all former Democratic Vice Presidents, all former Democratic Leaders of the U.S. Senate, all former Democratic Speakers of the U.S. House of Representatives and Democratic Minority Leaders, as applicable, and all former Chairs of the Democratic National Committee."[1] There is an exception, however, for otherwise qualified individuals who endorse another party's candidate for President; they lose their superdelegate status. In 2008, Senator Joe Lieberman was disqualified as a superdelegate because he endorsed Republican John McCain.[5] A list of superdelegates can be found here. Another list of endorsing superdelegates is available here The 2008 Democratic National Convention will have approximately 796[6] superdelegates, although the number can change up to the beginning of the convention (Call to the Convention Section IV(C)(2)). Delegates from state caucuses and primaries will number 3,253, resulting in a total number of delegate votes of 4,049. A candidate needs a majority of that total, or 2,025, to win the nomination.[6] Superdelegates account for approximately one fifth (19.6%) of all votes at the convention. Delegates chosen in the Democratic caucuses and primaries account for approximately four-fifths (80.4%) of the Democratic convention delegates.[6][7] Note: All numbers in this section assume that Michigan and Florida delegates are not counted per current Democratic National Committee rules. If those rules are changed before or during the convention, the numbers above will change as appropriate. In the Republican Party, as in the Democratic Party, members of the party's national committee automatically become delegates without being pledged to any candidate. In 2008, there are 123 members of the Republican National Committee among the total of 2,380 delegates to the 2008 Republican National Convention.[7] There are three RNC delegates (the national committeeman, national committeewoman, and state party chair) for each state, except for the ones who had primary contests before Super Tuesday. [8] Despite this similarity in procedure, the term "superdelegate" is generally used only about Democratic delegates, although there are exceptions.[9] The Democratic Party rules distinguish between pledged and unpledged delegates, with the selection of the former being based on their announced preferences in the contest for the presidential nomination.[1] In the party primaries and caucuses in each U.S. state, voters express their preference among the contenders for the party's nomination for President of the United States. Pledged delegates supporting each candidate are chosen in approximate ratio to their candidate's share of the vote. In some states, the delegates so chosen are legally required to vote for the candidate to whom they are pledged, at least on the first ballot at the convention. By contrast, the superdelegates, selected by virtue of their status as current or former elected officeholders and party officials, without regard to their presidential preferences, are all unpledged delegates. Many of them have chosen to announce endorsements, but they are not bound in any way. They may support any candidate they wish, including one who has dropped out of the presidential race.[10] There are also "unpledged add-on delegates" selected under Rule 9.B and "pledged party leader and elected official delegates" selected under rule 9.C.[1] The process of selecting delegates is described here and here. To sum up, the Democratic Party's delegates fall into seven categories: * District-level delegates * At-large delegates * Unpledged party-leader delegates * Unpledged elected-official delegates * Pledged party-leader delegates * Pledged elected-official delegates * Unpledged add-on delegates Both the Democratic and Republican party have a number of state level unpledged delegates that are chosen by each state's party through convention, caucus, or state party leader vote (depending on how that particular state-party body has decided to choose them).[11] The state level unpledged delegates tend to vote for the candidate who received the most votes from their state (although they are not required to and some state parties give them more leeway than others). Many state Republican party delegations are made up entirely of unpledged delegates which gives them the distinction "winner take all". Even with these traditions, unpledged delegates are allowed to change their vote at any time before the national convention. This is why both the Republican and Democratic parties have the potential for a brokered convention. This is far less likely for the Republican party where the traditions are more strict and there are far fewer unpledged delegates who are given a free hand. The Democratic Party has been criticized [4][12] for conducting its nominating process in a non-democratic, even oligarchic fashion, since superdelegates are generally chosen without regard to their preferences in the presidential race and are not obligated to support the candidate chosen by the voters. There have been repeated calls to eliminate the superdelegates from the nomination process to more accurately reflect the popular vote. Delegates chosen in primaries and caucuses may not exactly reflect the votes cast, although party rules require proportional allocation rather than winner-take-all.[13] * List of 2008 United States Democratic Party superdelegates # ^ a b cd e Democratic National Committee (August 19, 2006). "Delegate Selection Rules for the 2008 Democratic National Convention". Retrieved on 2008-02-08. # ^ Nagourney, Adam; Hulse, Carl. "Neck and Neck, Democrats Woo Superdelegates", The New York Times, 2008-02-10. # ^ Dionne, Jr., E. J.. "Democratic Battle Is On For 646 Elite Delegates", The New York Times, 1988-03-23. # ^ a b Berman, Ari. "Not So Superdelegates", The Nation, 2008-02-18. # ^Pazniokas, Mark (February 6, 2008). Lieberman No Longer a Super Delegate. courant.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-07. # ^ ab c "The Primary Season: 2008 Democratic Calendar", The New York Times, 2007-01-07, # ^ a b Election Center 2008: Delegate Scorecard. CNN. # ^http://www.gop.com/images/2008_Call_FINAL.pdf # ^ Marcus, Ruth. "Looking Beyond Tsunami Tuesday", The Sacramento Bee, 2008-01-17. # ^ "Romney suspends presidential campaign", CNN.com, February 7, 2008, # ^ "Maine Caucus Results", The New York Times. # ^ Bikey, Andrew. "Who are the superdelegates?", Minnesota Monitor, 2008-01-15. # ^ Cook, Rhodes, The Presidential Nominating Process: A Place for Us?, Rowman & Littlefield, * Democratic Convention Watch - lists which superdelegates have and have not endorsed a candidate * List of Democratic superdelegates * "Delegate Selection Rules for the 2008 Democratic National Convention" - official Democratic Party rules (note: this is a redirect from the link www.democrats.org/page/-/dem_convention/rules.pdf, on http://www.demconvention.com/how-to-become-a-delegate/) Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superdelegate"Jump to: navigation, search"Superdelegate" is an informal term for some of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention, the quadrennial convention of the United States Democratic Party. Unlike most convention delegates, the superdelegates are not selected based on the party primaries and caucuses in each U.S. state. Instead, the superdelegates are seated automatically, based solely on their status as current or former elected officeholders and party officials. They are free to support any candidate for the nomination. The Democratic Party rules do not use the term "superdelegate". The formal designation (in Rule 9.A) is "unpledged party leader and elected official delegates".[1] In addition to these unpledged "PLEO" delegates, the state parties choose other unpledged delegates (Rule 9.B) and pledged PLEO delegates (Rule 9.C).[1] This article discusses only the unpledged PLEO delegates. The Republican Party also seats some party officials as delegates without regard to primary or caucus results, but the term "superdelegate" is most commonly applied only in the Democratic Party. At the 2008 Democratic National Convention the superdelegates will make up approximately one-fifth of the total number of delegates. The unforeseen and unprecedented closeness of the race between the leading contenders Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama following Super Tuesday has focused attention on the potential role of the superdelegates in selecting the Democratic nominee, inasmuch as in the aggregate they could come to be kingmakers to a degree not seen in previous election cycles.[2] Such an outcome would result in the first brokered convention since 1952. [hide]* 1 History * 2 Superdelegates in 2008 ** 2.1 Pledged and unpledged delegates * 3 Criticism * 4 See also * 5 References * 6 External links After the 1968 Democratic National Convention, the Democratic Party implemented changes in its delegate selection process, based on the work of the McGovern-Fraser Commission. The purpose of the changes was to make the composition of the convention less subject to control by party leaders and more responsive to the votes cast during the campaign for the nomination. These comprehensive changes left some Democrats believing that the role of party leaders and elected officials had been unduly diminished, weakening the Democratic ticket. In response, the superdelegate rule was instituted after the 1980 election. Its purpose was to accord a greater role to active politicians.[3] In the 1984 election, the major contenders for the Presidential nomination were Gary Hart and Walter Mondale. Each of them won some primaries and caucuses. Hart was only slightly behind Mondale in the total number of votes cast, but Mondale won the support of almost all the superdelegates and became the nominee.[4] The superdelegates have not always prevailed, however. In the Democratic primary phase of the 2004 election, Howard Dean acquired an early lead in delegate counts by obtaining the support of a number of superdelegates before even the first primaries were held. Nevertheless, John Kerry defeated Dean in a succession of primaries and caucuses and won the nomination. Superdelegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention include all Democratic members of the United States Congress, Democratic governors, various additional elected officials, members of the Democratic National Committee, as well as "all former Democratic Presidents, all former Democratic Vice Presidents, all former Democratic Leaders of the U.S. Senate, all former Democratic Speakers of the U.S. House of Representatives and Democratic Minority Leaders, as applicable, and all former Chairs of the Democratic National Committee."[1] There is an exception, however, for otherwise qualified individuals who endorse another party's candidate for President; they lose their superdelegate status. In 2008, Senator Joe Lieberman was disqualified as a superdelegate because he endorsed Republican John McCain.[5] A list of superdelegates can be found here. Another list of endorsing superdelegates is available here The 2008 Democratic National Convention will have approximately 796[6] superdelegates, although the number can change up to the beginning of the convention (Call to the Convention Section IV(C)(2)). Delegates from state caucuses and primaries will number 3,253, resulting in a total number of delegate votes of 4,049. A candidate needs a majority of that total, or 2,025, to win the nomination.[6] Superdelegates account for approximately one fifth (19.6%) of all votes at the convention. Delegates chosen in the Democratic caucuses and primaries account for approximately four-fifths (80.4%) of the Democratic convention delegates.[6][7] Note: All numbers in this section assume that Michigan and Florida delegates are not counted per current Democratic National Committee rules. If those rules are changed before or during the convention, the numbers above will change as appropriate. In the Republican Party, as in the Democratic Party, members of the party's national committee automatically become delegates without being pledged to any candidate. In 2008, there are 123 members of the Republican National Committee among the total of 2,380 delegates to the 2008 Republican National Convention.[7] There are three RNC delegates (the national committeeman, national committeewoman, and state party chair) for each state, except for the ones who had primary contests before Super Tuesday. [8] Despite this similarity in procedure, the term "superdelegate" is generally used only about Democratic delegates, although there are exceptions.[9] The Democratic Party rules distinguish between pledged and unpledged delegates, with the selection of the former being based on their announced preferences in the contest for the presidential nomination.[1] In the party primaries and caucuses in each U.S. state, voters express their preference among the contenders for the party's nomination for President of the United States. Pledged delegates supporting each candidate are chosen in approximate ratio to their candidate's share of the vote. In some states, the delegates so chosen are legally required to vote for the candidate to whom they are pledged, at least on the first ballot at the convention. By contrast, the superdelegates, selected by virtue of their status as current or former elected officeholders and party officials, without regard to their presidential preferences, are all unpledged delegates. Many of them have chosen to announce endorsements, but they are not bound in any way. They may support any candidate they wish, including one who has dropped out of the presidential race.[10] There are also "unpledged add-on delegates" selected under Rule 9.B and "pledged party leader and elected official delegates" selected under rule 9.C.[1] The process of selecting delegates is described here and here. To sum up, the Democratic Party's delegates fall into seven categories: * District-level delegates * At-large delegates * Unpledged party-leader delegates * Unpledged elected-official delegates * Pledged party-leader delegates * Pledged elected-official delegates * Unpledged add-on delegates Both the Democratic and Republican party have a number of state level unpledged delegates that are chosen by each state's party through convention, caucus, or state party leader vote (depending on how that particular state-party body has decided to choose them).[11] The state level unpledged delegates tend to vote for the candidate who received the most votes from their state (although they are not required to and some state parties give them more leeway than others). Many state Republican party delegations are made up entirely of unpledged delegates which gives them the distinction "winner take all". Even with these traditions, unpledged delegates are allowed to change their vote at any time before the national convention. This is why both the Republican and Democratic parties have the potential for a brokered convention. This is far less likely for the Republican party where the traditions are more strict and there are far fewer unpledged delegates who are given a free hand. The Democratic Party has been criticized [4][12] for conducting its nominating process in a non-democratic, even oligarchic fashion, since superdelegates are generally chosen without regard to their preferences in the presidential race and are not obligated to support the candidate chosen by the voters. There have been repeated calls to eliminate the superdelegates from the nomination process to more accurately reflect the popular vote. Delegates chosen in primaries and caucuses may not exactly reflect the votes cast, although party rules require proportional allocation rather than winner-take-all.[13] * List of 2008 United States Democratic Party superdelegates # ^ a b cd e Democratic National Committee (August 19, 2006). "Delegate Selection Rules for the 2008 Democratic National Convention". Retrieved on 2008-02-08. # ^ Nagourney, Adam; Hulse, Carl. "Neck and Neck, Democrats Woo Superdelegates", The New York Times, 2008-02-10. # ^ Dionne, Jr., E. J.. "Democratic Battle Is On For 646 Elite Delegates", The New York Times, 1988-03-23. # ^ a b Berman, Ari. "Not So Superdelegates", The Nation, 2008-02-18. # ^Pazniokas, Mark (February 6, 2008). Lieberman No Longer a Super Delegate. courant.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-07. # ^ ab c "The Primary Season: 2008 Democratic Calendar", The New York Times, 2007-01-07, # ^ a b Election Center 2008: Delegate Scorecard. CNN. # ^http://www.gop.com/images/2008_Call_FINAL.pdf # ^ Marcus, Ruth. "Looking Beyond Tsunami Tuesday", The Sacramento Bee, 2008-01-17. # ^ "Romney suspends presidential campaign", CNN.com, February 7, 2008, # ^ "Maine Caucus Results", The New York Times. # ^ Bikey, Andrew. "Who are the superdelegates?", Minnesota Monitor, 2008-01-15. # ^ Cook, Rhodes, The Presidential Nominating Process: A Place for Us?, Rowman & Littlefield, * Democratic Convention Watch - lists which superdelegates have and have not endorsed a candidate * List of Democratic superdelegates * "Delegate Selection Rules for the 2008 Democratic National Convention" - official Democratic Party rules (note: this is a redirect from the link www.democrats.org/page/-/dem_convention/rules.pdf, on http://www.demconvention.com/how-to-become-a-delegate/) Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superdelegate"Jump to: navigation, search"Superdelegate" is an informal term for some of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention, the quadrennial convention of the United States Democratic Party. Unlike most convention delegates, the superdelegates are not selected based on the party primaries and caucuses in each U.S. state. Instead, the superdelegates are seated automatically, based solely on their status as current or former elected officeholders and party officials. They are free to support any candidate for the nomination. The Democratic Party rules do not use the term "superdelegate". The formal designation (in Rule 9.A) is "unpledged party leader and elected official delegates".[1] In addition to these unpledged "PLEO" delegates, the state parties choose other unpledged delegates (Rule 9.B) and pledged PLEO delegates (Rule 9.C).[1] This article discusses only the unpledged PLEO delegates. The Republican Party also seats some party officials as delegates without regard to primary or caucus results, but the term "superdelegate" is most commonly applied only in the Democratic Party. At the 2008 Democratic National Convention the superdelegates will make up approximately one-fifth of the total number of delegates. The unforeseen and unprecedented closeness of the race between the leading contenders Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama following Super Tuesday has focused attention on the potential role of the superdelegates in selecting the Democratic nominee, inasmuch as in the aggregate they could come to be kingmakers to a degree not seen in previous election cycles.[2] Such an outcome would result in the first brokered convention since 1952. [hide]* 1 History * 2 Superdelegates in 2008 ** 2.1 Pledged and unpledged delegates * 3 Criticism * 4 See also * 5 References * 6 External links After the 1968 Democratic National Convention, the Democratic Party implemented changes in its delegate selection process, based on the work of the McGovern-Fraser Commission. The purpose of the changes was to make the composition of the convention less subject to control by party leaders and more responsive to the votes cast during the campaign for the nomination. These comprehensive changes left some Democrats believing that the role of party leaders and elected officials had been unduly diminished, weakening the Democratic ticket. In response, the superdelegate rule was instituted after the 1980 election. Its purpose was to accord a greater role to active politicians.[3] In the 1984 election, the major contenders for the Presidential nomination were Gary Hart and Walter Mondale. Each of them won some primaries and caucuses. Hart was only slightly behind Mondale in the total number of votes cast, but Mondale won the support of almost all the superdelegates and became the nominee.[4] The superdelegates have not always prevailed, however. In the Democratic primary phase of the 2004 election, Howard Dean acquired an early lead in delegate counts by obtaining the support of a number of superdelegates before even the first primaries were held. Nevertheless, John Kerry defeated Dean in a succession of primaries and caucuses and won the nomination. Superdelegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention include all Democratic members of the United States Congress, Democratic governors, various additional elected officials, members of the Democratic National Committee, as well as "all former Democratic Presidents, all former Democratic Vice Presidents, all former Democratic Leaders of the U.S. Senate, all former Democratic Speakers of the U.S. House of Representatives and Democratic Minority Leaders, as applicable, and all former Chairs of the Democratic National Committee."[1] There is an exception, however, for otherwise qualified individuals who endorse another party's candidate for President; they lose their superdelegate status. In 2008, Senator Joe Lieberman was disqualified as a superdelegate because he endorsed Republican John McCain.[5] A list of superdelegates can be found here. Another list of endorsing superdelegates is available here The 2008 Democratic National Convention will have approximately 796[6] superdelegates, although the number can change up to the beginning of the convention (Call to the Convention Section IV(C)(2)). Delegates from state caucuses and primaries will number 3,253, resulting in a total number of delegate votes of 4,049. A candidate needs a majority of that total, or 2,025, to win the nomination.[6] Superdelegates account for approximately one fifth (19.6%) of all votes at the convention. Delegates chosen in the Democratic caucuses and primaries account for approximately four-fifths (80.4%) of the Democratic convention delegates.[6][7] Note: All numbers in this section assume that Michigan and Florida delegates are not counted per current Democratic National Committee rules. If those rules are changed before or during the convention, the numbers above will change as appropriate. In the Republican Party, as in the Democratic Party, members of the party's national committee automatically become delegates without being pledged to any candidate. In 2008, there are 123 members of the Republican National Committee among the total of 2,380 delegates to the 2008 Republican National Convention.[7] There are three RNC delegates (the national committeeman, national committeewoman, and state party chair) for each state, except for the ones who had primary contests before Super Tuesday. [8] Despite this similarity in procedure, the term "superdelegate" is generally used only about Democratic delegates, although there are exceptions.[9] The Democratic Party rules distinguish between pledged and unpledged delegates, with the selection of the former being based on their announced preferences in the contest for the presidential nomination.[1] In the party primaries and caucuses in each U.S. state, voters express their preference among the contenders for the party's nomination for President of the United States. Pledged delegates supporting each candidate are chosen in approximate ratio to their candidate's share of the vote. In some states, the delegates so chosen are legally required to vote for the candidate to whom they are pledged, at least on the first ballot at the convention. By contrast, the superdelegates, selected by virtue of their status as current or former elected officeholders and party officials, without regard to their presidential preferences, are all unpledged delegates. Many of them have chosen to announce endorsements, but they are not bound in any way. They may support any candidate they wish, including one who has dropped out of the presidential race.[10] There are also "unpledged add-on delegates" selected under Rule 9.B and "pledged party leader and elected official delegates" selected under rule 9.C.[1] The process of selecting delegates is described here and here. To sum up, the Democratic Party's delegates fall into seven categories: * District-level delegates * At-large delegates * Unpledged party-leader delegates * Unpledged elected-official delegates * Pledged party-leader delegates * Pledged elected-official delegates * Unpledged add-on delegates Both the Democratic and Republican party have a number of state level unpledged delegates that are chosen by each state's party through convention, caucus, or state party leader vote (depending on how that particular state-party body has decided to choose them).[11] The state level unpledged delegates tend to vote for the candidate who received the most votes from their state (although they are not required to and some state parties give them more leeway than others). Many state Republican party delegations are made up entirely of unpledged delegates which gives them the distinction "winner take all". Even with these traditions, unpledged delegates are allowed to change their vote at any time before the national convention. This is why both the Republican and Democratic parties have the potential for a brokered convention. This is far less likely for the Republican party where the traditions are more strict and there are far fewer unpledged delegates who are given a free hand. The Democratic Party has been criticized [4][12] for conducting its nominating process in a non-democratic, even oligarchic fashion, since superdelegates are generally chosen without regard to their preferences in the presidential race and are not obligated to support the candidate chosen by the voters. There have been repeated calls to eliminate the superdelegates from the nomination process to more accurately reflect the popular vote. Delegates chosen in primaries and caucuses may not exactly reflect the votes cast, although party rules require proportional allocation rather than winner-take-all.[13] * List of 2008 United States Democratic Party superdelegates # ^ a b cd e Democratic National Committee (August 19, 2006). "Delegate Selection Rules for the 2008 Democratic National Convention". Retrieved on 2008-02-08. # ^ Nagourney, Adam; Hulse, Carl. "Neck and Neck, Democrats Woo Superdelegates", The New York Times, 2008-02-10. # ^ Dionne, Jr., E. J.. "Democratic Battle Is On For 646 Elite Delegates", The New York Times, 1988-03-23. # ^ a b Berman, Ari. "Not So Superdelegates", The Nation, 2008-02-18. # ^Pazniokas, Mark (February 6, 2008). Lieberman No Longer a Super Delegate. courant.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-07. # ^ ab c "The Primary Season: 2008 Democratic Calendar", The New York Times, 2007-01-07, # ^ a b Election Center 2008: Delegate Scorecard. CNN. # ^http://www.gop.com/images/2008_Call_FINAL.pdf # ^ Marcus, Ruth. "Looking Beyond Tsunami Tuesday", The Sacramento Bee, 2008-01-17. # ^ "Romney suspends presidential campaign", CNN.com, February 7, 2008, # ^ "Maine Caucus Results", The New York Times. # ^ Bikey, Andrew. "Who are the superdelegates?", Minnesota Monitor, 2008-01-15. # ^ Cook, Rhodes, The Presidential Nominating Process: A Place for Us?, Rowman & Littlefield, * Democratic Convention Watch - lists which superdelegates have and have not endorsed a candidate * List of Democratic superdelegates * "Delegate Selection Rules for the 2008 Democratic National Convention" - official Democratic Party rules (note: this is a redirect from the link www.democrats.org/page/-/dem_convention/rules.pdf, on http://www.demconvention.com/how-to-become-a-delegate/) Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superdelegate"
What is a pledged delegate?
Have a look at CNN Politics.com, Election Center 2008 I took the explanation from there: A pledged delegate is elected or chosen on the state or local level with the understanding that they will support a particular candidate at the convention. However, pledged delegates are not actually bound to vote for the candidate. Consequently, candidates are allowed on a state-by-state basis to review the lists of delegates who have pledged their support and can delete anyone whose support they consider unreliable. Hope this helps Mora
What is the difference between collateral and pledge?
There is not much difference between collateral and pledge. If you put something up as collateral, if you fail to pay the loan, the item that you pledged will be taken. Either word can be used.
