In the face of fervent opposition from Democratic elites who “think their vote is more important” than the will of the party’s base, the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) Rules and Bylaws arm cleared a major hurdle in the fight to curtail the power of superdelegates on Wednesday by approving a plan that would end their ability to cast votes for the presidential candidate on the first ballot at the party’s convention.
“The activists that have been concerned that superdelegates will overturn the will of the voters should feel good about this,” DNC member Elaine Kamarck said in a statement.
While the plan to gut the influence of superdelegates — who have been free since 1984 to put their weight behind any candidate no matter how the public voted — has received broad support from Democrats and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as an important first step toward making the party’s process more “open and transparent,” establishment figures who stand to lose power if the plan is implemented are staging a last-minute “revolt” to block the rule change.
As investigative reporter Alex Kotch noted in a Twitter thread on Wednesday, at least two of the Democratic insiders who are clinging desperately to their undue influence as superdelegates happen to be corporate lobbyists — a fact that Politico neglected to mention in its reporting on the party elites’ “longshot bid to block the measure.”
“They don’t realize it but they’re proving the point of Sanders and everyone else who’s opposed to superdelegates,” Kotch writes. “Many prioritize corporate interests over those of everyday people and thus automatically support the less progressive candidate.”
Two of the three superdelegates who are opposed to the Sanders plan:
One is a health care lobbyist
Another is a former lobbyist(Politico neglects to include this info) https://t.co/uVobZfIUFe
— Alex Kotch 🔥 (@alexkotch) July 11, 2018
As lobbyists, they somehow think their vote is more important than other people’s votes.
LOL: pic.twitter.com/lq51raARqV
— Alex Kotch 🔥 (@alexkotch) July 11, 2018
The U.S. Rep quoted in the article who’s opposed to the change, Gerry Connolly (Va.), accepts a bunch of corporate PAC money from good corporate citizens like Northrup Grummon and AT&T. https://t.co/s7KWJGWEGq
Here are his assets: https://t.co/zSAIX3IyxJ pic.twitter.com/ETmjX0H2Qo
— Alex Kotch 🔥 (@alexkotch) July 11, 2018
Responding to Politico’s story on the superdelegates’ last-ditch attempt to undermine the push to curtail their power, The Humanist Report offered an alternative headline:
Here’s a more apt headline: “Petulant elites throwing tantrum at prospect of their votes not being 10,000x more powerful than regular peasant votes.” https://t.co/oUlaXY9jLt
— The Humanist Report (@HumanistReport) July 11, 2018
Wednesday’s vote in favor of the plan to ensure superdelegates cannot overturn the will of voters on the first ballot of the presidential nomination process was the final step before the proposal heads to a vote before the full DNC next month.
“Any attempt to derail the rules changes at the summer convention is thought to be a long-shot,” concluded Astead Herndon of the New York Times.