How Democratic Party insiders could make a comeback at the 2020 convention by jonward11
Democrats last year moved to restrict the role of party insiders, known as superdelegates, in presidential primaries in the hopes of convincing voters to put more trust in the party, but the size and structure of the 2020 primary now threatens to undermine that plan.
Superdelegates are DNC members, elected members of Congress and others, who are free to support whomever they want in the party primary. After supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., decried the perceived influence of superdelegates on the 2016 primary, the DNC made changes in an attempt to heal wounds opened by the fractious battle between Sanders and the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.
For those who pushed for reform, the prospects of superdelegates determining the candidate in a contested convention would look like a bait and switch. The DNC reforms were done in the name of increasing fairness and democracy, but a superdelegate process would come across to many as an insider-driven decision.
Kamarck and others also argued that if the primary result was not conclusive, the public would welcome the superdelegates’ role. “Were the superdelegates on the second round to facilitate a wholly new unity candidate, I believe the public would like it better than the alternative the pledged delegates had arrived at,” McDonald told Yahoo News.
“I don’t see it,” Cohen said. “I don’t think that would be popular. … Unless there is some legitimate reason, like health, I don’t think people are going to accept a candidate they had nothing to do with.” In 2016, for example, Donald Trump won all or most of the delegates in many states while garnering only 30 or 40 percent of the vote.
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