Who the Super-Delegates Are and Why They Need to Hear From You!

The technical name, as given by the Democratic Party Rules, for a super-delegate is “unpledged party leader and elected official delegates”. This name goes far in explaining the position. Unlike most convention delegates, the super-delegates are not selected based on the party primaries and caucuses in each U.S State. Instead, the super-delegates 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.

This past Sunday (02/18/2008) The New York Times ran a front page article saying the Democratic Nomination may very well come down to super-delegates. The article went on to say that many of these super-delegates have ties to the Clinton Campaign or to the Clintons themselves, but that they live in states where Obama won the primary.

That means that this year a super-delegate following their own allegiance as opposed to the interests of the majority of voter’s in their state could make the difference in the election. And, as the description of super-delegates says, they are in no way obligated to vote with the majority. However, there is good reason why they should.

Many super-delegates are themselves elected officials and therefore voting against the majority in their state means, in many cases, voting against their own constituents. It is imperative that we not let this happen. It is imperative not only that we vote against politicians who hold their own allegiances above our interests, but that we let them know that we will vote against them.
The way to do this is by writing letters to your state’s super-delegates and letting them know just what a violation of your trust it would be for them to knowingly vote against what you and many others have voted for. Indeed, that using their votes to override yours undermines the very spirit of democracy.
To this end, I am posting a link to a site which lists all of the super-delegates, where they are from, and to whom they have pledged their support. These pledges are not written in stone, they can be changed, but not without incentive, not without your voice. The site also lists all delegates who have not yet pledged support to either candidate. So, find your delegate, and write them, or call them, or email them and let them know that if they vote against you then you will vote against them.

http://demconwatch.blogspot.com/2008/01/superdelegate-list.html