Superdelegates Superdelegates are non-elected voters who have the full power of delegates despite not being selected through primaries or caucuses. The Democratic National Committee is currently the only political party to appoint superdelegates or to have a weighted nomination system. The number of superdelegates appointed per state depends upon that state's population and Democratic voter registration, thereby giving more weight to states with stronger Democratic bases.

There are 796 super-delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention, comprising nearly one fifth of the total number of delegates.

About half of the super-delegates are current and former elected officials: all current Democratic Congressmen and Governors, and all former presidents, vice presidents, majority and minority leaders. The other half are members of the Democratic National Committee.

Super-delegacy as a feature of the nomination process has come under close scrutiny due to the very tight 2008 race.

2008 Democratic Presidential Nomination Race: Early in the process, most of the superdelegates were expected to support Hillary Clinton. There was a fear that Obama might win the majority of elected delegates, but Clinton would win a large enough majority of superdelegates to secure the nomination.

Barack Obama and his campaign officials suggested that this would lead to many of his supporters feeling disenfranchised, and that it would be wrong for the superdelegates to subvert the will of the voter should he win the majority of the popular vote. Clinton supporters countered that superdelegates were chosen as "super voters" by their own party, therefore more representative of the true will of the entire party.

Obama and Clinton lobbied the superdelegates aggressively. Most superdelegates have announced who they will support, but they are not committed irrevocably to one candidate until the Democratic National Convention in August.

If the Democratic primary race remained very close, the issue of superdelegation and the questions regarding the delegates from Michigan and Florida (see related question) may plunge the Democrats into a nightmare scenario: the supporters of the losing candidate may feel that the election was stolen from them, and thus might not support the winning candidate as actively as they otherwise would. This nightmare scenario however does not appear to be playing out, and as of May 11 Obama and Clinton are running even among superdelegates, with the AP reporting that Obama has taken the lead in superdelegates, and NBC reporting Clinton's superdelegate lead as down to 2.

The argument for: It is a representative means of completing a nomination via respected party leaders designed to balance the popular vote which can largely be unfamiliar with the realities of politics as well as uninformed on issues and actual candidate background and behavior.

The argument against: While the apportionment by region is representative, the selection of individuals isn't. It would be like letting George Bush select 435 super-voters, one from each Congressional district. Superdelegates allow the Democratic National Committee insiders to overrule the voters in a close election.

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Super delegate vs. Superdelegate vs. Super-delegate Because this is political jargon, the correct term might be super-delegate. However most news organizations including the AP, CNN, New York Times, and FoxNews have established "superdelegate" as the standard use of the term. The Democratic National Committee doesn't use the term at all, instead referring only to "Unpledged Delegates."

An Example: The following example was provided. A critique of it is presented below.

Imagine you live in a town where everyone decides to paint all the houses only one color. The town decides to have a vote to determine what color to use. If there are 10 people living in one house and only 3 living in another house, it would be unfair if everyones vote counted equally. It would be fair if every house had one vote. So the 10 vote for one person (a superdelegate or homeowner) to represent them, and likewise the 3 vote for one person to represent them. All these "one" persons, or super delegates gather to vote on what color to paint the houses, one vote per house. Easy enough. The fun part comes when the 6 out of the 10 in the one house want to paint the houses green, but the person they send decides to vote for orange. Now you and others in your area vote for a person to go make the "one" vote, maybe Obama, but that person may actually go vote for Clinton, or vice-versa. That person may be voted out of office when he returns, but the vote is already cast. Critique of Example: The above example may more accurately describe the electoral college, or the allocation of Pledged Delegates, then they describe superdelegates. Nobody votes for the superdelegates. They are appointed by the national committee. The Pledged Delegates (the not-so-super delegates) are the delegates whom the voters select.

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Superdelegates are members of the Democratic Party who are not bound to vote for and individual based on popular vote (ie they are not representing anyone, except themselves). This gives Bill Clinton the freedom, for example, as a living ex-President to vote for Hilary in the Democratic Primary as a delegate, rather than following who his local delegate has voted for.

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Super delegates are non-elected individuals who can support whatever candidate they wish and are used only by the Democratic Party during the presidential nomination. They are fiercely courted by the candidates since those votes can guarantee selection, regardless of the results of the popular vote.

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Super delegates are simply a carry over from the old House of Burgesses and the present Electoral College. The elite white males will continue to run this country and determine its fate. It is not democratic in the least and should be abolished along with the Electoral College. Popular vote should be the only type of vote countable.

The old guard rules and always will until the rest of us get off our hineys and have this elitism abolished from the democratic process.

I'm sorry, but it's not possible to make a glider that flies like Aang's, but it's possible to make something kind of like it. # Get a long, thin piece of wood a bit taller than you. # Get 3 pieces of poster board. # Aline 2 pieces of the poster board together. # Cut it out the shape of one wing wile the 2 are together. That way you will have 2 wings the same shape. # Use the 3rd piece to make the bottom wing. Fold the piece in half and cut a half a triangle out. # Glue the first 2 wings together with a hot glue gun. # Glue the long piece of wood on the wings. # On the bottom, glue the 3rd wing on.

If you want to make it easier to hold, get 2 more tiny pieces of wood and cut it so it looks like a handle. Do the same thing with the other piece of wood, then use the hot glue gun to glue them on.

Jewish tradition states that a Jew is any person whose mother was Jewish (Talmud, Kidushin 68b), or any person who has gone through a proper conversion to Judaism (Talmud, Yevamot 47a).Link: About conversion
The word "Jew" (in Hebrew, "Yehudi") is derived from the name of Judah, the fourth son of Jacob and one of the Twelve Tribes of the Israelites.

The Jewish people are descendants of Abraham, whose Semitic ancestors lived in the Fertile Crescent and who lived most of his life in the Middle Eastern country of Israel (Canaan) 3800 years ago.

Hebrews, Israelites, Jews - the same people in successive eras:

• Hebrews
  

Abraham is called a Hebrew (Genesis ch.14) because "Hebrews" (Ivrim) means descendants of Eber (Ever). Ever was a Western Semite and an ancestor of Abraham (Genesis ch.10-11), and the early Hebrews were Abraham's uncles and cousins for several generations back. They lived in the Fertile Crescent, in northern Mesopotamia, west of the Euphrates river. Abraham was born in the city of Ur (in Mesopotamia; now Iraq).In 1934-39, excavations were conducted at ancient Mari on the Euphrates River. They found that ancient towns were named after the ancestors (Genesis ch.11) of Abraham:
The "city of Nahor" was found near the city of Haran which exists to this day. Equally clear signs of early Hebrew residence appear in the names of other towns nearby: Serug (Assyrian Sarugi), Terah (Til Turakhi, "Mound of Terah"), and Peleg (Paliga, on the Euphrates near the mouth of the Habur). All these names are found in Genesis ch.11.

In Ur, Abraham first repudiated idolatry. He then sojourned in Harran (Syria) for several years, and then lived most of his life in Canaan (Israel). It was in Canaan that Abraham lived most of his life, made a covenant with God (Genesis ch.15), and raised a family to be the center of carrying on his traditions (Genesis 18:19).

• Israelites
  

Abraham's family carried on his teachings voluntarily. Judaism as a binding, permanent entity, was set forth between God and the Israelite nation descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at Mount Sinai in the time of Moses (Exodus ch.19, ch.24, and 34:27).All of the above places are in the ancient Fertile Crescent.

Link: Abraham's biography

• Jews
  

Jacob had 12 sons, who fathered the 12 Israelite tribes. The Israelites worshiped One God.

One thousand years after Jacob, ten of the tribes were exiled by the Assyrians, to points unknown. The only complete tribes left were Judah and Benjamin; plus part of Levi. The few thousands who remained from the other tribes joined the Tribe of Judah; and modern Jews are mostly descendants of Judah (hence the word "Jew").

This tradition has been substantiated by DNA analysis of Jewish communities all over the world, showing them to be inter-related and of Middle Eastern origin. The Cohanim, a family of the tribe of Levi, also share common genetics.

We possess the names and dates of our ancestors and leaders in an unbroken chain for 3800 years.

In 2000, Nicholas Wade concluded that his DNA study "provided genetic witness that Jewish communities have, to a remarkable extent, retained their biological identity separate from their host populations, evidence of relatively little intermarriage or conversion into Judaism over the centuries. The results accord with Jewish history and tradition."

Abraham was a historical person, as recorded in the Book of Genesis; and his gravesite is known to this day, in the Machpelah at Hebron, Israel. He is revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims, comprising over three billion people. The Jewish people have attested to his existence for 3800 years, and his name is mentioned by several ancient non-Jewish historians as far back as 2,300 years ago.

See also the other Related Links.

Link: What race were the Israelites?

Link: Jewish ancestry

Link: Archaeology