Superdelegates, Come On!

Democratic political veteran Tad Devine (of the Mondale and Gore general election campaigns, among others) opines in the Times today that he wants the Democratic superdelegates (elected and party officials guaranteed a seat at the convention) to avoid committing to any candidate, so that they can react to the final primaries and push someone over the top, thus avoiding a convention deadlock ("Superdelegates, Back off"-- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/opinion/10devine.html).

This, Devine says, is what he helped Mondale do in '84--called in enough superdelegate chits to get Mondale to assured nomination status the day after Hart beat Mondale in California.

I disagree that waiting for this kind of call to decide after the last primary is what superdelegates should do. These people were given convention seats because of their presumed political expertise, specifically so that they could use their judgment to select the best candidate for the nation and party. That's what they should do.

I also disagree with the notion that superdelegates should be compelled or coerced to pledge their vote in agreement with the judgment of the primary electorate. Leaving aside the question of how that would be decided (national or local popular vote, national or local pledged delegates), they should determine for themselves the constituency they represent and do what they think best.

What I do want is the opposite of what Mr. Devine suggests. That is, they should announce their decision when they come to it, rather than holding back for one, two, or X more primary results. Once they have announced their pledges (or, if they truly cannot decide, announced their intention to remain uncommitted until a) something specific happens or b) some policy position is resolved), then the voters in the remaining primaries can decide what they think of the decisions of the superdelegates and whether they want to follow the Supers' leadership.

Finally, I question the premise Devine suggests, that Mondale had outpolled Hart in '84, and more generally, that it was a good thing that Mondale got the nomination. With all respect to Walter Mondale, a fine American and a fine Democratic senator and Vice President, does anyone think Hart would've done worse than Fritz in the '84 smackdown with Reagan? Mondale won 13 electoral votes.