Are Superdelegates Just Another Form of Voter Suppression?

Over the last several election cycles charges of voter suppression are often hurled against what used to be termed the Loyal Opposition.

Most recently, the idea of using a photo ID for identification is a flash point, with one side suggesting that those living on the margins of society frequently do not have the wherewithal to afford picture IDs, while the opposing argument is that most states require photoIDs to access the basic services provided to the poor.

Super delegates have seldom been mentioned in this regard, as yet another clever way to suppress the will of the people. However, the question is certainly a valid one, especially in view of the Democratic primaries where we have Bernie Sanders winning state-after-state. After each victory, we are assured that these victories are all for naught, given Hillary Clinton’s overwhelming grasp on the superdelegates, chosen by the Democratic Party establishment. Bernie, the once-obscure, small-state senator, and avowed socialist, is now making a significant dent into the received wisdom of who can be (or should) be allowed to carry the Democratic flag into the 2016 President Election.

The cry heard from the Left is that Hillary is safe because the bulk of the
super delegates currently back her, and thus the will of the people can rather readily be thwarted.

On the Republican side, we have the opposite problem, where the party leadership is said to be in disarray precisely because there is no mechanism to rather easily overrule the apparent will of the people.

Can you imagine the anger and cries of foul play if the situation were
reversed and, say, Ted Cruz or Donald Trump, were denied the Republican Party nomination because the majority of the unelected, non-representative, Uber-delegates were dedicated to reversing the vote of the people?

It has not yet reached this point, but if the Sanders campaign reaches parity with that of Clinton in terms of the elected delegates, what happens when the electorate realizes that the nomination will actually fall into the hands of those non-elected, non-representative, electors answerable to none?

This MetaCommentary was written by Paul JJ Payack

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