The “superdelegates” are those delegates to the Democratic National Party that are not selected through the primary or caucus process. They get their position by being elected party members or members of the party establishment. Near as I can figure, the Indiana based superdelegates are as follows:
Sen. Evan Bayh (IN)
DNC Joe Andrew (IN) – Former DNC national chairman
DNC Dan Parker – Indiana state Democratic Party chair
DNC Phoebe Crane – DNC member out of Whitestown, IN
DNC Bob Pastrick – DNC member and (I believe) former East Chicago mayor
(These folks have already apparently endorsed Hillary Clinton)
Rep. Peter Visclosky (IN-01)
Rep. Joe Donnelly (IN-02)
Rep. Brad Ellsworth (IN-08)
Rep. Baron Hill (IN-09)
Cordelia Lewis Burks – Indiana state Democratic Party vice-chair
Connie Thurman – DNC member out of Marion County
(These folks have apparently not endorsed anyone yet.)
The “committed” superdelegates are not under a formal obligation to stick with their commitments, though obviously it would probably be at least awkward to back out on whatever deal they made with the candidate to whom they pledged support. In recent history, these superdelegates have just been a formality – their votes haven’t made any more difference than Indiana’s Presidential primary has made. At the time the Clinton endorsements came out, there probably wasn’t any reason to think that this year would be much different. But, now things are shaping up to be interesting. I’d hope even the committed delegates would consider keeping their minds open in the event Indiana should go big for a fellow midwesterner as opposed to the Senator from New York. (Even if we do share a time zone with the former and not the latter. — You probably didn’t think I could work time into this.)
Update In the comments, Wilson points out that Andre Carson would be a superdelegate if he wins the IN-07 special election. From what I know, that’s correct, but the DNC rules seem like they can be pretty byzantine with respect to delegates, so there could well be some sort of an exception out there. Also, recently in the news — not with respect to Indiana, Joe Lieberman was stripped of his superdelegate status under the Zell Miller rule. Crazy Zell was a southern Democratic senator who not only endorsed the Republican candidate, but went so far as to give a vitriolic anti-Kerry speech at the Republican convention in 2004. Obviously you wouldn’t want such a Democratic official making big decisions at the Democratic convention.
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I’m not sure I’d want Mr. “New Sidewalks for a Vote” (Bob Pastrick) supporting me. He personally has not been convicted of anything (yet) but many of those around him have been.
What the Reverend said.
This just goes to show how deeply the corrupt East Chicago machine goes into the Democrat Party in Indiana.
Pastrick should be in jail, not at the Democrat convention.
I have reminded André Carson that he’ll be a SuperDelegate ex officio after he wins the Special Election on March 11 for the 7th Congressional District in Indianapolis…
A neighbor tosses me his Newsweeks when he’s done. The Feb 4 edition has an article called “When Math Warps Elections” that’s interesting (if a bit dumbed down). But what I really liked was the link to a fun “game” at The American Mathematical Society.
I’m going to give some of it away – with the votes so far, Barack Obama wins using all three methods. But look what happens to Huckabee depending upon the method! Are you serious??? I would have thought it would be the opposite result for him. I’m scared!
Oh, and look at the point spread between first and second place on each method.
I surprised myself by ranking Giuliani dead last.
Wow… Huckabee over Giuliani? My world is crumbling, Doug.
I think deep down, I get the feeling that Huckabee doesn’t believe his own b.s. I don’t think his social policies are probably that far different from mine, and I don’t think he’d get too far with changing the Constitution to fit God’s law — of course, it’s physically impossible for the government to mandate my continued pregnancy, so I can afford to make that gamble.
Giuliani, on the other hand, strikes me as a narcissist and essentially a fascist at heart. Civil liberties of any kind are probably a matter of great indifference to a guy like Rudy.
A gas holiday gives a quick fix until something more substantive can be accomplished. Americans are selling personal items to make ends meet. Why would giving them an extra $50 now hurt. Have the oil companies finance the tax holiday. You can’t retrofit a 747 from jet fuel to natural gas in midair. Hillary Clinton is not stupid, she understands this and has said she is going after oil company windfall profits. Americans have made bad decisions to buy gas guzzlers but they can not sell them and buy fuel efficient cars tomorrow or not even the next six months. They need quick fixes until they can make long term changes. I will vote for John McCain before I vote for Barrack Obama.