I’m normally not a fan of Rosemary Roberts, but she has an interesting column in today’s N&R on the superdelegates.
If you knew this you’re smarter than I am. Superdelegtes are in large part the brainchild of Gov. Jim Hunt, who in 1982 was named chairman of the Democratic Party’s Commission on Presidential Nominations. Roberts goes on:
In the early 1970s, Sen. George McGovern’s failed presidential candidacy showed how the left-wing faction could damage the Democratic Party. Later, Jimmy Carter’s presidency (1977-1981) symbolized how a president who played the “outsider” role to an extreme could have bad relations with Congress and injure the party.
So the Democratic Party decided to make changes. Hunt’s commission created superdelegates who were supposed to be a firewall that prevented the wrong person from getting the presidential nomination. It was based on the premise that seasoned politicians know better than the average voter what is best for the party and nation.
So what’s changed? The radical left-wing faction is still damaging the party, and is Obama not considered an outsider despite his years in the Senate? Isn’t that what the change mantra’s all about?
But this also illustrates the mentality of the man many North Carolinians wanted to send to the Senate in place of Jesse Helms back in 1984. It’s not a comforting thought, even 24 years after the fact.
Bonus observation As if we should trust Gov. Whathisname —- The Meck Deck’s Jeff Taylor isn’t even that kind today — to help decide the nominee, no matter how poor the choice.
