Super Delegate v Delegatge and Politcal Cartoon of the Day

This Political Cartoon Deals with the almost Cartoon Like Vice President referred to as Dick Cheney. The Political Cartoon illustrates how he always seems to tie his businesses in with reconstruction efforts in Iraq and other government contracts. This is more of an animated alternate Reality than a Fictional Political Cartoon. But now on to the real stuff:

Twice now Dick Cheney has looked the American public in the eye and said "So?" "Fuck You!" "What do I care what you think."

So, public sentiment be damned, he's going to do what he damn well wants to no matter the cost in lives, dollars or what we think. Our kids lives; Iraqi lives; the majority's opinion doesn't matter; he doesn't give a crap.

So, that means that before the super delegates vote, they must think long and hard about what democracy, will of the people and the popular vote means, because if they don't do the right thing, they will 'so' what they reap and the Democratic party will die an untimely death.

Whoever, Obama or Hillary, ends up winning the popular vote and a majority of delegates, then the super delegates must go with the people's choice.

Democrats are already disillusioned by a cowardly Democratic Congress that can't say no to a bullying, fear-mongering president.

The arrogance of the party leadership to say do it their way or they'll travel the highway to the convention without Michigan and Florida, turned out to be not only incredibly stupid, but disenfranchised thousands of voters along the way.

Disenfranchisement, was written on every signpost after the 2000 election, yet the DNC chose to do exactly what the Republicans did to more than half the country...made our votes not count...the only thing that counted were five Supreme votes.

Nobody knows how many fragile, disillusioned Democrats are out there.

I don't even know if I'm one of the 'fragile.' I do know that I'm already thinking about how I will react if the Supers don't do the right thing by us.

So, the Supers better take heed and not make the mistake of emulating the Supremes by saying "So?" to us.

Current Unofficial 2008 Delegate Totals:

Before squabbles between the national parties and some state parties over the scheduling of early primaries, the the Democratic national convention in August 2008 was to include 4,416 Democratic delegate votes (and approximately 4,436 actual delegates, since some territories are allowed to split delegate votes into ‘half delegates’). A simple majority, or 2,209, was to be required for the nomination.

The Republican national convention in September 2008 was to include approximately 2,517 delegates. A simple majority, or 1,259, was to be required for the nomination.

But the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee have reduced the delegations in the following states as a sanction for those states scheduling 1st tier events before the parties' official window': New Hampshire (GOP only); Michigan (Dem and GOP); Florida (Dem and GOP); South Carolina (GOP only) and Wyoming (GOP only).

The new official, 'post-sanctions' delegate totals are 4,049 for the Democrats (with 2,025 needed to win) and 2,380 for the Republicans (with 1,191 needed to win).

National Convention Delegate Types

There are 2 basic types of pledged delegates; district level and At Large. District level delegates are almost always associated with congressional districts (occasionally with state senate districts or with artificial 'delegate districts').

At Large delegates are considered statewide delegates.

Democratic Pledged Delegates: For the Democrats, these 2 categories of delegates are always pledged; they are the defined as the state's "base delegation" and are pledged by definition. The Democrats have a third type of pledged delegate; pledged party leaders and elected officials (PLEO) which is a separate group equal to 15% "Add on" to the "base delegation". PLEO delegates are typically big city mayors, legislative leaders, county party officials, etc. District, At Large and PLEO delegates together comprise the Democratic pledged delegation for a state. District level delegates are pledged or bound by the results of the primary or caucus in the particular districts, while At Large delegates are bound by statewide primary votes or state convention preferences.

Democratic pledged delegate allocation is standardized by the Democratic National Committee. District level delegates are allocated proportionally to Presidential candidates based on the presidential primary vote (or caucus/convention preferences) in that district. At Large and PLEO delegates are allocated proportionally to presidential candidates based on the Presidential primary vote (or caucus/convention preferences) statewide. In all cases, Democratic presidential candidates must receive 15% of the vote to qualify for delegate allocation in a jurisdiction.

Republican Pledged Delegates:

For the Republicans, delegate types are more amorphous. Some state Republican parties treat all their pledged delegates as At Large (New Hampshire), some treat them all as district delegates (Rhode Island), and some use both district and At Large designations.

Republican delegate allocation of pledged delegates is not standardized. Some states award all their delegates "winner take all" to the presidential candidate with the most statewide presidential primary votes (New York and New Jersey). Others award 3 district delegates to the winner of the particular CD, and award the At large delegates to the statewide winner (GA, OK). Others directly elect delegate candidates on the presidential primary ballot, with the delegate candidate receiving the most votes going to the national convention, either pledged to specific presidential candidates (Illinois) or as un-pledged delegates (Pennsylvania). Other states use some version of district or statewide proportional allocation, with specific rules varying significantly.

In some circumstances, pledged delegates are 'released' from their pledge to support a specific candidate. For the Democrats, At Large and PLEO delegate spots awarded to candidate A are released if candidate A withdraws from the Presidential race before the delegates themselves are selected. If the delegates are selected, candidate A keeps those delegate votes in spite of his/her withdrawal. Democratic district delegates are not released; even if candidate A withdraws after winning district delegates in New Jersey, those delegates remain bound to candidate A for one ballot at the national convention.

For the Republicans, pledged delegates can be released from their pledge by the withdrawn candidate, depending on state party rules.

To track pledged delegates, the Associated Press determines each state party's delegate allocation method, programmatically applies that method to the vote on primary or caucus night as appropriate. These totals are then examined in Washington D.C. and edited for consistency and completeness before being distributed to AP members and customers.

Un-pledged Delegates, or Super delegates

Un-pledged delegates are by definition "free agents" who are unbound by any prior Presidential primary or caucus results in the states. Their votes at the national convention are completely at their own discretion.

The Democrats base the number of un-pledged delegates which are apportioned to a state on 5 calculations: the # of state Democratic National Committee members; the number of Democratic Members of Congress; Democratic Governors; "distinguished Party leaders" (such as former Presidents or VP's, former Senate leaders or House Speakers from the state, etc); and finally an "add-on" group of un-pledged delegate spots based on the state's DNC member votes. Because the first 4 categories of un-pledged Democratic delegates are generally high profile elected officials, they are often called the "Super delegates". For the Democrats, these delegates are always free agents, able to vote for whoever they wish at the national convention.

The Republicans again are more decentralized and less standard in their usage of un-pledged delegates. Some states consider all of their delegates to be un-pledged (Pennsylvania), while other states designate their At large delegation as un-pledged (Illinois). Others have no un-pledged delegates; the entire delegation is considered pledged (Connecticut).

Un-pledged delegates should not be confused with "Uncommitted" delegates. The latter are usually pledged delegates who are bound to vote "uncommitted" at the national convention because the Presidential preference "uncommitted" did well enough in the Presidential primary or convention to qualify for pledged delegates. In other words, "uncommitted" is much like a Presidential candidate who won pledged delegates.

To determine the non-binding preferences of un-pledged delegates, the Associated Press calls and interviews them, and tracks their preferences.