During her speech at the Democratic National Convention, Maine Delegate Diane Russell insisted that accepting to remove two-thirds of superdelegates was democratic.
“This is what democracy looks like” Russell said, to cheers. Some in the audience began chanting: “This is what democracy looks like.”
Russell, who was a delegate for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, also said at one point that reforming the superdelegate rules was “never about this election” but was about future nominations.
Sorry, but changing the way superdelegates are allowed to vote is absolutely about this election, as well as future elections. Hillary Clinton didn’t get enough pledged delegates to clinch the nomination. She only received 2,205 pledged delegates, leaving her 178 delegates shy of the needed 2,383. The difference was made up by superdelegates, who could vote however they wanted instead of being tied to state election results.
Granted, Sanders received fewer delegates (just 1,846), but Clinton’s superdelegate support helped her earn some of the pledged delegates, by making her appear to be the preferred candidate of the Democratic Establishment. Unlike the Republican Establishment, there hasn’t been much of a revolt against the Democratic Party elites.
Even reforming the superdelegate process doesn’t fix the lack of democracy displayed by Democrats this primary. In addition to the superdelegate votes putting Clinton over the top, there was also the recently revealed behind-the-scenes manipulation from the Democratic National Committee. It became clear that from the beginning, the primary process was rigged against Sanders in favor of Clinton.
So no, Russell, this is not what democracy looks like, but at least the problems might be fixed going forward — if the DNC actually sticks to the superdelegate reforms that would require two-thirds of them to vote in line with state results.
Ashe Schow is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
