So by now you might’ve heard a little something about superdelegates. And before I get too far into this, I recently found out that, technically, there’s no such thing as a superdelegate in the Democratic Party. Superdelegates are officially “unpledged party leaders and elected official delegates”.
Um, yeah, right. Not exactly the case here in New Jersey with all the early pledges of love and support, right? Let me see if I can break this down: New Jersey has a whopping 20 superdelegates out of a total 796. Before Super Tuesday, 13 superdelegates vowed their support to Senator Clinton (D-NY) and 1 to Senator Obama (D-IL). The remaining superdelegates were undeclared.
This pledge of support was before Senator Clinton even won New Jersey with 54% of the vote to Obama’s 44% on Super Tuesday. Well after Obama’s recent sweep of primary and caucus wins in Nebraska, Louisiana, Washington, Virgin Islands, Maine, Maryland, Virginia, DC, Wisconsin, and Hawaii (in case you miscounted, that’s 10 wins in a row), people started thinking. Enough to get Jersey folk talking, concerned about how our superdelegates will vote and if our own votes will even count. There’s brewing concern that with the race so close between Clinton and Obama and only a handful of primaries and caucuses left , and no real winner based on the numbers, the Democratic Nominee will be left for our superdelegates to decide…potential for a hot mess. (Insert big sigh). Ultimately, will the voters be heard?
Well, it seems as if some of our elected leaders are listening. In recent days, 2 of New Jersey’s superdelegates endorsed Senator Obama. Senator Dana Redd (D-Camden), state Democratic vice chairwoman, who once pledged her support to Senator Hillary Clinton switched, endorsing Senator Obama. Donald Norcross, member of the Democratic National Committee, who was previously uncommitted, will also vote for Senator Obama.
The week before last, it was Democratic National Committeewoman Roz Samuels who got the ball rolling when she changed her vote. Samuels said, "I started tuning in and listening to all the Democratic candidates. I liked what I saw and heard from Barack Obama and my opinion of him as a presidential candidate began to slowly change. He energizes the younger people and gives them hope."
Until those recent switches, Rep. Steven Rothman (D-9th Dist) was the sole New Jersey superdelegate to support Senator Obama in a state brimming with Senator Clinton supporters…after all, we’re only right next door to Clinton’s home state of New York.
So that brings Senator Obama’s superdelegate count to 4, not quite enough to secure the nomination. Now, I’m not a mathematician, just your local citizen journalist, but it seems to me, that if Senator Obama won 44% of the vote in New Jersey, shouldn’t he receive 44% of the superdelegate votes? And should “regular” delegates vote for the candidate that won in their districts so that the will of the people is done? Questions, many Jersey folks are wondering about. As clichéd as it sounds, only time will tell here in New Jersey to see who else will make that switch so that the Democratic nomination is secured proportionally.
To keep your eye on New Jersey’s superdelegates, log onto http://demconwatch.blogspot.com/2008/01/superdelegate-list.html