Super
I've been wondering about the whole SuperDelegate thing. Though I've been a stalwart voter since I was 18, this is the first election where SuperDelegates have come up so much. At least as far as I can recall. And everyone I ask hasn't ever heard of them either. When did these extra-special voters appear? Where did they come from? And why do their votes matter more than mine?
In 1903, a Republican Wisconsin governor, "Fighting Bob" La Follette set up primaries so that the voters votes actually mattered. He had an ax to grind, in his ongoing crusade to revamp the Republican Party. Back then, the party was divided between shady, criminal "Stalwarts" and progressive, anti-corporate "Insurgents." (Uhm, guess who ultimately prevailed.) I was not aware that the Republican Party once stood in complete opposition to the fools in charge right now, but then I never excelled at Poli-Sci, and so this is probably not a surprise to many people.
In any case, La Follette had been working on the way the elections took place for a long time, and it was his firmly held belief that the people motor and hum our free democracy along.
Here's a brief rendition from Wikipedia on how thing went for ol' Fighting bob:
In 1891, La Follette claimed that Philetus Sawyer, one of Wisconsin's Senators and a powerful Republican leader, attempted to bribe him in order to fix a case. The incident cemented La Follette’s resolve to reform the party. The party dissidents who joined La Follette became known as "Insurgents" (or the "Progressive" faction), and their opponents within the party were called the "Stalwarts". The Insurgents stressed the need for more direct voter control and championed consumer rights. The Insurgents' call for reform gained more support after the Panic of 1893 shook up the economic, class, and ethnic assumptions held by most Americans.
In 1894, the Insurgents began to openly challenge the Stalwarts for leadership of the Republican Party. The Insurgents’ Nils Haugen sought the party nomination for governor in 1894, and La Follette followed in 1896 and 1898. His speeches decrying the sway of big business (especially the railroads) and his call for a more direct democracy (including direct election of nominees in party primaries) drew ever larger crowds.
In 1900, La Follette formed a coalition that temporarily disrupted the Stalwart hold on the nomination process. After securing the nomination, he “traveled to sixty-one counties, gave 216 speeches and spoke to 200,000 people.” He gave many of his campaign speeches (which often lasted over three hours) from the back of a buckboard wagon. He won the 1900 race for governor by 100,000 votes.
From 1901 until 1906, La Follette served as Governor of Wisconsin. During his first term, he proposed to set up a railroad commission, impose an ad valorem tax on the railroad companies, and establish a direct primary system. The Stalwarts blocked his agenda, and he refused to compromise with them.
During the 1902 elections, the Stalwarts organized to oppose La Follette’s nomination and moved to block any reform legislation. La Follette began working to unite insurgent Democrats to form a broad coalition. He did manage to secure the passage of the primary bill and some revision to the railroad tax structure.
When the legislative session concluded, La Follette traveled throughout Wisconsin reading the “roll call”; that is, he read the votes of Stalwart Republicans to the people in an effort to elect Progressives. During this campaign, La Follette gained national attention when muckraking journalist Lincoln Steffens began to cover his campaign.
With the press coverage and his successful re-election, La Follette rose to become a national figure. His message against “vast corporate combinations” attracted more journalists and more progressives.
It's kinda hard to imagine a politician of Fighting Bob's caliber thriving in today's political system.
So, back to SuperDelagates. They made their first appearance in the early 1980s. In 1992, Walter Mondale, one of the folks responsible for all this Superness—wrote an opinion piece in the NYT, letting readers know that while everyone is able to participate in our fine democracy, the participation of more knowledgable people matters MORE SUPERLY than the participation of your average citizen.
He wrote:
"The election is the business of the people. But the nomination is more properly the business of the parties. . . . The problem lies in the reforms that were supposed to open the nominating process. Party leaders have lost the power to screen candidates and select a nominee. The solution is to reduce the influence of the primaries and boost the influence of the party leaders. . . . The superdelegate category established within the Democratic Party after 1984 allows some opportunity for this, but should be strengthened."
Note the "but" after "The election is the business of the people." It was once pointed out to me that anything said after the word "but" is always, always a value judgement. According to this theory, the SuperDelegate system—and by extension our entire free democracy—is based on a value judgement.
Wheee! I heart tenuousness, don't you?
Let's harken back to Wikipedia, for a rundown on some of the issues important to Fighting Bob, the personification of the (according to Mondale) "reforms that were supposed to open the nominating process:"
As governor, La Follette championed numerous progressive reforms, including the first workers' compensation system, railroad rate reform, direct legislation, municipal home rule, open government, the minimum wage, non-partisan elections, the open primary system, direct election of U.S. Senators, women's suffrage, and progressive taxation. He created an atmosphere of close cooperation between the state government and the University of Wisconsin in the development of progressive policy, which became known as the Wisconsin Idea. The Wisconsin Idea promoted the idea of grounding legislation on thorough research and expert involvement. To implement this program, La Follette began working with University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty. This made Wisconsin a “laboratory for democracy” and “the most important state for the development of progressive legislation”. As governor, La Follette signed legislation that created the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Library (now Bureau) to ensure that a research agency would be available for the development of legislation.
And so, there you have it. SuperDelegates represent everything that is UnAmerican in our democracy, and Fighting Bob's fight appears to have been heartily, vindictively vanquished in the past 25 years.
*Thanks to Paul Rockwell at The San Jose Mercury for helping me understand this shit. His article appears at:
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_8793401?nclick_check=1
In 1903, a Republican Wisconsin governor, "Fighting Bob" La Follette set up primaries so that the voters votes actually mattered. He had an ax to grind, in his ongoing crusade to revamp the Republican Party. Back then, the party was divided between shady, criminal "Stalwarts" and progressive, anti-corporate "Insurgents." (Uhm, guess who ultimately prevailed.) I was not aware that the Republican Party once stood in complete opposition to the fools in charge right now, but then I never excelled at Poli-Sci, and so this is probably not a surprise to many people.
In any case, La Follette had been working on the way the elections took place for a long time, and it was his firmly held belief that the people motor and hum our free democracy along.
Here's a brief rendition from Wikipedia on how thing went for ol' Fighting bob:
In 1891, La Follette claimed that Philetus Sawyer, one of Wisconsin's Senators and a powerful Republican leader, attempted to bribe him in order to fix a case. The incident cemented La Follette’s resolve to reform the party. The party dissidents who joined La Follette became known as "Insurgents" (or the "Progressive" faction), and their opponents within the party were called the "Stalwarts". The Insurgents stressed the need for more direct voter control and championed consumer rights. The Insurgents' call for reform gained more support after the Panic of 1893 shook up the economic, class, and ethnic assumptions held by most Americans.
In 1894, the Insurgents began to openly challenge the Stalwarts for leadership of the Republican Party. The Insurgents’ Nils Haugen sought the party nomination for governor in 1894, and La Follette followed in 1896 and 1898. His speeches decrying the sway of big business (especially the railroads) and his call for a more direct democracy (including direct election of nominees in party primaries) drew ever larger crowds.
In 1900, La Follette formed a coalition that temporarily disrupted the Stalwart hold on the nomination process. After securing the nomination, he “traveled to sixty-one counties, gave 216 speeches and spoke to 200,000 people.” He gave many of his campaign speeches (which often lasted over three hours) from the back of a buckboard wagon. He won the 1900 race for governor by 100,000 votes.
From 1901 until 1906, La Follette served as Governor of Wisconsin. During his first term, he proposed to set up a railroad commission, impose an ad valorem tax on the railroad companies, and establish a direct primary system. The Stalwarts blocked his agenda, and he refused to compromise with them.
During the 1902 elections, the Stalwarts organized to oppose La Follette’s nomination and moved to block any reform legislation. La Follette began working to unite insurgent Democrats to form a broad coalition. He did manage to secure the passage of the primary bill and some revision to the railroad tax structure.
When the legislative session concluded, La Follette traveled throughout Wisconsin reading the “roll call”; that is, he read the votes of Stalwart Republicans to the people in an effort to elect Progressives. During this campaign, La Follette gained national attention when muckraking journalist Lincoln Steffens began to cover his campaign.
With the press coverage and his successful re-election, La Follette rose to become a national figure. His message against “vast corporate combinations” attracted more journalists and more progressives.
It's kinda hard to imagine a politician of Fighting Bob's caliber thriving in today's political system.
So, back to SuperDelagates. They made their first appearance in the early 1980s. In 1992, Walter Mondale, one of the folks responsible for all this Superness—wrote an opinion piece in the NYT, letting readers know that while everyone is able to participate in our fine democracy, the participation of more knowledgable people matters MORE SUPERLY than the participation of your average citizen.
He wrote:
"The election is the business of the people. But the nomination is more properly the business of the parties. . . . The problem lies in the reforms that were supposed to open the nominating process. Party leaders have lost the power to screen candidates and select a nominee. The solution is to reduce the influence of the primaries and boost the influence of the party leaders. . . . The superdelegate category established within the Democratic Party after 1984 allows some opportunity for this, but should be strengthened."
Note the "but" after "The election is the business of the people." It was once pointed out to me that anything said after the word "but" is always, always a value judgement. According to this theory, the SuperDelegate system—and by extension our entire free democracy—is based on a value judgement.
Wheee! I heart tenuousness, don't you?
Let's harken back to Wikipedia, for a rundown on some of the issues important to Fighting Bob, the personification of the (according to Mondale) "reforms that were supposed to open the nominating process:"
As governor, La Follette championed numerous progressive reforms, including the first workers' compensation system, railroad rate reform, direct legislation, municipal home rule, open government, the minimum wage, non-partisan elections, the open primary system, direct election of U.S. Senators, women's suffrage, and progressive taxation. He created an atmosphere of close cooperation between the state government and the University of Wisconsin in the development of progressive policy, which became known as the Wisconsin Idea. The Wisconsin Idea promoted the idea of grounding legislation on thorough research and expert involvement. To implement this program, La Follette began working with University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty. This made Wisconsin a “laboratory for democracy” and “the most important state for the development of progressive legislation”. As governor, La Follette signed legislation that created the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Library (now Bureau) to ensure that a research agency would be available for the development of legislation.
And so, there you have it. SuperDelegates represent everything that is UnAmerican in our democracy, and Fighting Bob's fight appears to have been heartily, vindictively vanquished in the past 25 years.
*Thanks to Paul Rockwell at The San Jose Mercury for helping me understand this shit. His article appears at:
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_8793401?nclick_check=1
posted by ingalagringa at
Saturday, April 05, 2008
1 Comments:
The nomination is the business of the parties, yes.
Which are made up of, you know, the people.
Funny the things we say when we start treating groups of people as if they weren't made up of people.
I agree with you. Super Delegates are bad news.
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