Last week, I spoke with "Mr. Super," an undeclared superdelegate who has started a blog that aims to "debunk myths, offer insight, and answer questions about the 2008 Democratic nomination process for president of the United States." Mr. Super wishes to remain anonymous but has confirmed that he is an elected member of the DNC. We discussed the state of the race, the role of superdelegates, and what impact the long primary has had on the party.
Mori Dinauer: Have you been contacted personally by either the Clinton or Obama campaign?
Mr. Super: I have been contacted by both, actually, on a regular basis. They both have been very professional and very gracious. The life of a DNC member is very average. We're not as exciting or as influential as people make us out to be. [We're not] these huge Washington fat cats. But life is different these days. It's definitely an exciting time, compared to what our normal existence is like.
MD: Besides the obvious high-profile ones, are certain superdelegates considered more valuable or more influential than others?
MS: At this point, no. I think every delegate, not just superdelegates, but every delegate, even those at the district level, are all equally important. The only difference with superdelegates is that you don't need to wait for an election day to pick one up.
MD: You've said that most superdelegates are more accurately described as "undeclared" rather than "undecided," noting that "A super without a preference is like a sports fan without a favorite team."
MS: It's not our role to create pressure. It is our role to make the will of the people more decisive than it may appear to be. So in other words, if Clinton were to pull out a razor-thin victory in delegates down the stretch, I think it would be the role of supers to move into her column and create that decisive spread. I'm using her just as an example, not to show preference.
MD: So the ultimate test of a superdelegate is to respect the will of the voters?
MS: I think so. I don't think that we'll know what the final will of the voters is until Memorial Day (May 26).
MD: What happens if there isn't a decisive answer by Memorial Day?
MS: That's a significant hurdle for us. I think that not only is it up to us to find a resolution but it's equally incumbent on the candidates to find a resolution.
MD: When it gets to that point does it become more incumbent on you, the party leaders, to get together and figure out what they're going to do?
MS: I don't know if we physically need to get together. We talk amongst ourselves every day. We have our own listservs, we have our own networks.
MD: Why did you start the blog?
MS: A lot of people don't know who superdelegates are. I think that the missing link to public perception about superdelegates is information. People don't know who we are, what we think, and this is an opportunity to share these thoughts with them Another thing that really got under my skin was people talking about Florida and Michigan and not understanding the back story there and why the DNC has really dug in its heels on this issue. The truth is that the leadership of Florida and Michigan failed their constituents. It was wholly the leadership of those states. They knew what they were doing when they did it and for them to cry "disenfranchisement" when they knew what they were doing is disingenuous.
MD: What reforms should we consider for the next time around?
MS: I'd like to see fewer superdelegates -- we should cut the number in half. I think [pre-Super Tuesday primaries] helped create a competitive race this time. I wouldn't rule out having all the early states going on the same day. I would like to see a campaign that starts around President's Day (the third Monday in February) -- how fitting would that be -- and then have it end 90 days later. A three-month campaign in the spring with a 90-day delegate allocation window. So if a state wants to go early, let them go early! But if they're not in the delegate-allocation window, they know ahead of time that they're not getting delegates. And that's why it's important that we stick to our guns on this Florida and Michigan thing. Because if we don't stick to our guns with this, all hell's gonna break loose next time.
MD: Is a repeat of a situation like 1968 a real fear among superdelegates and party leaders?
MS: I think it'd be more accurate to say that we're mindful of that but I also think we're committed to making sure it does not happen. It's hard to believe, but we're a very organized party, we're very motivated, and we will get this party united in order to win in November. And I think the campaigns are on the same page with us on that as well. If we're divided through the summer it hurts us on so many fronts. And I don't think anybody wants to see that.
MD: So the campaign is a manageable problem up until the summer?
MS: Most nominations in recent history have been decided around Memorial Day. We've dealt with Memorial Day benchmarks in the past; it's actually a normal time for us to have a presumptive nominee. I also think there's only three impact primaries left on the calendar. And that's April 22 [in] Pennsylvania; May 6 you've got North Carolina and Indiana; and May 20 you've got Kentucky and Oregon. Nothing after that is going to change the outcome of this election. Nothing after that offers enough delegates to tip it significantly in either direction.
