Explaining the Delegate System
A journalist called me this week asking if I could go on camera to explain the delegate system. This was for an international broadcast. Apparently people in other countries are following the U.S. presidential campaign and trying to figure out how it all works. Which is no surprise, since it’s complicated. Here are two resources:
1) A brief article in The American Prospect.
2) An NPR interview with political scientist Burdett Loomis.
[Hat tip to Scott McClurg for #2]
Comments
One of the things that looms in the background as important are the so-called superdelegates. They make up like 20% of the Democratic convention delegates and could play an interesting role if things remain tight past February 5th. To my knowledge, there is next to no research on how the superdelegates make decisions, probably because they all usually stay out of it until the decision has already been made.
Posted by: Scott McClurg![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.themonkeycage.org/nav-commenters.gif)
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January 27, 2008 12:46 AM
With an interesting wrinkle, though....endorsements. Naturally, nobody can tell the superdelegates they can't switch from who they endorsed, but I gotta figure that makes for some discomfort. Most are, of course, uncommitted so far, but over 200 HAVE endorsed. (see list here ).
Posted by: Matt Jarvis | January 28, 2008 04:01 PM