Robert Shrum: Banish all superdelegates
Superdelegates are a latent, undemocratic pathogen in the Democratic Party. They’re superfluous because they have never dared overturn the verdict of the primaries and caucuses. If they did, they would shatter the party and delegitimize the nominee they imposed. Superdelegates are a poison pill that Democrats have never swallowed.
Nor do the Barry Goldwater and George McGovern election losses make a convincing case for “saving” a party from the people. The pre-Vietnam War, vastly popular Lyndon Johnson was unbeatable in 1964, when he trounced Goldwater. Eight years on, Richard Nixon was a near lock for re-election, although George McGovern’s defeat was amplified by a running mate who had to step down because of undisclosed bouts of depression.
The Goldwater nomination was arguably good for the GOP’s future. It was the seedbed of the Reagan revolution; Ronald Reagan stepped onto the political stage with a nationally televised speech for Goldwater. Similarly, McGovern attracted a new generation of activists, including Bill and Hillary Clinton, who have had influence ever since.
Members of the Democratic National Committee fiercely defend superdelegates, a patronage system for themselves. But the convention itself can abolish the system. Bernie Sanders could demand it, and Hillary Clinton could happily accede because she won’t need these unrepresentative ringers to be renominated in 2020.
Instead of their own battalion of superdelegates, the GOP should borrow other reforms from the Democrats, including a rule that delegates have to be elected, not selected in a voter-free process like Colorado’s, which Donald Trump rightly called “rigged” for Ted Cruz.
Both parties should banish unpledged, unelected delegates. The winner of Tuesday’s GOP Pennsylvania primary collects 17 delegates; the other 54 are free to roam. This is a fig leaf for boss rule.
It’s time to realize Teddy Roosevelt’s summons at the dawn of presidential primaries: “Let the people rule.”
Robert Shrum, a senior adviser for the Al Gore and John Kerry presidential campaigns, is the Warschaw Professor of Politics at the University of Southern California.