Lanny Davis argues that the superdelegates were intended to be an "independent" check on the whims of those meddling voters. I'm sure this will convince Clarence Thomas, but since I'm not an originalist it seems to me that delegates are free to vote by whatever criteria they choose, which includes doing what's best for the party, and which would therefore include ratifying a clear choice by the party's voters. I'm also confident that this will, in fact, happen.For comic value, though, David Sirota notes this gem in Davis's historical argument:
We were also reminded that before these reforms, the "smoke-filled rooms" of Democratic Party leaders had led to the nomination and election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Adlai Stevenson and John F. Kennedy.Jeez, countless tickets to work with and when picking random examples he can't even identify three decent candidates? It's this kind of rhetorical skill that has made Davis such an effective defender of progressive values on Fox News.
--Scott Lemieux
