[DieHard the Hunter]

A couple of “Dumb Foreigner” questions:

1) What is a “Superdelegate” and how does that vary from a common garded-variety “delegate”?

2) How does a “delegate” vary from your garden-variety American Citizen who has registered as being a “Democrat”?

3) Why on earth would any “delegate” (be they super-or-no) “pledge” themselves in advance to any given Candidate? Wouldn’t it be wiser to hold fire until the very last, ugly minute? Pledging just seems to be bad poker, that’s all.

*DieHard* (from New Zealand)

[Red Badger]

1) What is a “Superdelegate” and how does that vary from a common garded-variety “delegate”? Mayors, governors, state legislators, big city councilmen, other elected officials, Party hacks...............

[Phantom Lord]

I will take a crack at that for you. 1) A "Super Delegate" is an elected offical, former president, or democrat party big wig who can vote for whoever they want at the convention. A garden variety delegate is a delegate to the national convention who is "pledged" to a particular candidate at the convention based on the primary results of their states primary. 2) A delegate is one who goes to the convention to vote for the parties nominee. Usually someone politically active at the local and state level within the party and/or local/state level elected officals.

3) A candidate obtains the nomination by gathering the most delegates.

Oh, and further on Super Delegates, the republican party doesn't have them. The democrates have them because they don't trust their own voters to make the right decision. So the Super Delegates were created to override the "regular folks" if the party bosses thought they were making the wrong decision.

Good enough?

[Red Badger]

3) Why on earth would any “delegate” (be they super-or-no) “pledge” themselves in advance to any given Candidate? Wouldn’t it be wiser to hold fire until the very last, ugly minute? Pledging just seems to be bad poker, that’s all.

Unlike "votes" in elections, these votes can be bought and sold, legally. They hold off announcing for the highest "bidder"..........

[Izzy Dunne]

1) What is a “Superdelegate” and how does that vary from a common garded-variety “delegate”?

Not a "dumb" question.

The parties hold primaries in the winter / spring to let the public vote on who should be the nominee of the party in the fall.

Ordinary delegates are elected by those primaries, and are legally bound to vote for their announced candidate (at least on the first ballot) at the party convention in August.

The Democrats have "superdelegates", who are party elders, and big shots, comprising about 20% of the total delegate count. The supers are not bound by anything but their own conscience (maybe not even that), so they can vote however they like, and change their minds at any time.

The point is, supposedly, to avoid a scenario like the following:

• Suppose candidate C and candidate O are more-or-less tied after the primaries.
• Suppose candidate O has more delegates, but not a clear majority.
• Suppose candidate O is an unknown flaming left-wing racist sexist Marxist socialist nanny-state incompetent hustler who doesn't stand a chance in the fall.
• Suppose candidate C is a known flaming left-wing racist sexist Marxist socialist nanny-state incompetent hustler who has a better chance in the fall.

In that (hypothetical) situation, the superdelegates should overrule the elected-delegates majority and select candidate C as the nominee to stand in the general election. At least that's the Democratic theory.

However, also suppose that candidate C is a woman (there's never been a woman President), and suppose that candidate O is black (there's never been a black President).

Blacks have been energized, because it's not just ANY flaming left-wing racist sexist Marxist socialist nanny-state incompetent hustler running, but it's THEIR flaming left-wing racist sexist Marxist socialist nanny-state incompetent hustler running.

Women are energized, because it's not just ANY flaming left-wing racist sexist Marxist socialist nanny-state incompetent hustler running, but it's THEIR flaming left-wing racist sexist Marxist socialist nanny-state incompetent hustler running.

Given that blacks have a noisier history of rioting and mayhem when their ox gets gored than women do, the chances of turning a higher vote count for candidate O into a victory for candidate C are low.