Superdelegates are one of the types of delegates that vote to select the party’s presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention every four years. Their role came about as a consequence of the McGovern-Fraser Reforms of the early 1970s, when Democrats became concerned that the complete exclusion of party leaders from the selection process had led to the selection of risky, potentially unelectable candidates (such as McGovern himself). The role of superdelegate was officially created in 1984. Unlike the slates of delegates selected by Democratic Party voters in the primary or caucus process, a superdelegate is not pledged to vote for any particular candidate at the convention. Super delegates are appointed by party leaders (as an automatic consequence of their elected position), and are referred to in the party’s delegate formula as “party leaders and elected officials,” or PLEOs. Approximately 20 percent of the Democratic Party’s nominating delegates are PLEOs, or super delegates.
Prior to the Campaign of 2008, super delegates played no discernible role in influencing Democratic nomination outcomes, although it could be argued that the support of superdelegates for former vice president Walter Mondale in his front-runner campaign for the 1984 Democratic nomination helped to deflect what at least for a time appeared to be a credible challenge by Colorado Senator Gary Hart. In that instance, Sen. Hart—who had actually won the New Hampshire primary—did trail the former vice president in the pledged delegate count as the primary season progressed, but Mr. Mondale’s lead in that count was small and thus the nomination was not entirely secured. The former vice president’s nomination may have hinged on his command of nearly all the superdelegates. However, in most presidential elections, the candidate who eventually receives the party’s nomination has accrued more than enough delegates through primaries and caucuses that they easily earn a majority of the convention’s votes. Nevertheless, in 2008, two strong Democratic candidates emerged in the primary process: Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama. Both candidates racked up impressive primary-season victories, and were running neck and neck as late as June, aided, in part, by the proportional allocation of delegates in Democratic primary contests (whereas Republican primaries at this time were still winner-take-all affairs).
It became clear by the end of June that neither Sen. Clinton nor Sen. Obama had won enough delegates to earn a majority at the convention. The decisions of the superdelegates became pivotal, and arguments erupted within the Democratic Party over how those delegates should vote. Some Democrats (including Obama) argued that superdelegates should be required to vote the way that their state as a whole voted. However, Obama was relying on the support of superdelegates such as Edward Kennedy, despite failing to win the Massachusetts primary. Clinton, on the other hand, argued that superdelegates should be able to vote independent of their state. The debate was never clearly resolved. Rather, the Clinton and Obama camps negotiated an agreement, and during the first vote counting at the convention, Clinton called to halt the vote and freed her delegates, effectively awarding their votes to Obama. Bill and Hillary Clinton campaigned for Obama throughout the fall, and after Obama won the election, he selected Hillary Clinton to serve as Secretary of State.
In the aftermath of the 2008 election, Obama’s supporters formed the Democratic Change Commission, which lobbied the Rules and Bylaws Committee of the DNC for changes in the powers of the superdelegates, either by requiring them to vote the way their state’s citizens voted (on the basis of the state’s primary or caucus results), or by stripping them of their voting power altogether. While the Rules and Bylaws Committee agreed to expand the number of elected delegates at the convention, which would reduce the proportion of superdelegates to about 15 percent of the convention total, they were unwilling to place any other limits on the role of the super delegates.
Superdelegate clout, while potentially significant, in practice has remained mostly unremarkable. As Elaine C. Karmack of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government wrote after the 2008 presidential election, “Superdelegates have played a role in only two of the nine post-reform conventions, and in neither one did they act contrary to the will of the voters as expressed in the primaries.” While many uncertainties cloud a reasonable forecast for 2016, the odds at least indicate that superdelegates should continue to behave as they have in the past.
See also Frontloading
Curry, Tom. “What Role for Democratic ‘Super-Delegates’?” MSNBC, April 26, 2007. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18277678/ns/politics/t/what-role-democratic-super-delegates/. Accessed October 1, 2015.
Karmack, Elaine C. Primary Politics: How Presidential Candidates Have Shaped the Modern Nominating System. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 2009.
Rudin, Ken. “Superdelegates Primer: What You Need to Know.” NPR, April 14, 2008. www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89292254.
Woodard, Colin. “Democratic Party to Keep Controversial Superdelegates.” Newsweek, August 2, 2010. http://www.newsweek.com/2010/08/02/democratic-party-to-keep-controversial-superdelegates.print.html. Accessed October 1, 2015.