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EStan -> RE: Will of the people: Does it matter? (5/12/2008 9:14:18 AM)
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Here's a couple of interesting articles about the selection of delegates:
Super Delegates - Wikipedia
Republican Primary - Wiki
Here's an excerpt from the first article:
Democratic Party rules distinguish pledged and unpledged delegates. Pledged delegates are selected based on their announced preferences in the contest for the presidential nomination. In the party primary elections and caucuses in each U.S. state, voters express their preference among the contenders for the party’s nomination for President of the United States. Pledged delegates supporting each candidate are chosen in approximate ratio to their candidate’s share of the vote. The party rules state (Rule 12.J): "Delegates elected to the national convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them." and (Rule 12.I): "No delegate ... shall be mandated by law or Party rule to vote contrary to that person’s presidential choice as expressed at the time the delegate is elected." [1]
By contrast, the unpledged PLEO delegates are seated without regard to their presidential preferences, just by virtue of being current or former elected officeholders and party officials. Many of them have chosen to announce endorsements, but they are not bound in any way. They may support any candidate they wish, including one who has dropped out of the presidential race.[3] The unpledged add-on delegates, who need not be PLEOs, are selected by the state parties after some of the pledged delegates are chosen,[1] but they resemble the unpledged PLEO delegates in being free to vote as they wish.
The process of selecting Democratic Party delegates is described here and here. These delegates fall into these categories:
District-level pledged delegates
At-large pledged delegates
Unpledged PLEO delegates
Unpledged add-on delegates
Pledged PLEO delegates
In both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, there are a number of state-level unpledged delegates. They are chosen by each state's party through a method of its choosing: convention, caucus, or state party leader vote.[4] State-level unpledged delegates tend to vote for the candidate who received the most votes from their state. But they are not required to do so, and some state parties give them more leeway than others). Many state Republican party delegations are made up entirely of unpledged delegates which gives them the distinction "winner take all".[5] Even with these traditions, unpledged delegates are allowed to change their vote at any time before the national convention. This is why both the Republican and Democratic parties have the potential for a brokered convention.
After doing a lot of research during the 2004 election, I believe our electoral system is about as close as you can get to representing ALL the people.
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