Superdelegates! Assemble!

Following the disastrous candidacy of George McGovern in 1972, the DNC decided on a major rule change to ensure that the will of the people (Democrat primary voters) would never again saddle the Party with a loser candidate. How's that working out for ya??

Despite all the tragic, maddening, outrageous, blatant, horrific, anti-democratic antics perpetrated by the seemingly immune Democrat Party, rarely challenged by anyone other than Conservative talk radio and bloggers, which just destroys my faith in this future of this country, I am nonetheless laughing myself to tears about this topic.

The power elite of the DNC gathered together (I imagine) in a meeting room somewhere. "We cannot allow another McGovern to happen!" they would cry. "We must have delegates who are not slaves of the people. Delegates who can vote for the best candidate!" Who could be trusted with such power? Anyone who can be relied upon to follow the DNC leadership. Let's not get bogged down with details at this point. Let's create the "superdelegate", then worry about how to control them. People like Susie Estrich, law professor at my own one-time stomping grounds of USC, and erstwhile head-honcho of the renowned Dukakis campaign, will ALWAYS pick a winner.

The success of this effort is, um, less than evident. Who have the Democrats selected as presidential candidates? Jimmy Carter, the least effective Democrat president in history. Mondale. Dukakis. Bill Clinton, the Democrat Party's version of Nixon. Al Gore. John "Swift Boat" Kerry. And now, Senator Barak Obama. Carter won once. Clinton won twice. After each one, the country was so disgusted with the Dem administrations, it elected a GOP candidate just to get the foul taste out of its mouth.

Senator Obama, a freshman senator?? His main qualification is his complexion?? A Chicago "machine" politician?? A "Neocom" (to coin a phrase) socialist with NO understanding of how to run ANYTHING??? Good choice, Superdelegates. Way to do your Superjobs.

Please, do NOT take this as a pro-GOP rant. The GOP has lost what should have been easy wins because of their own weanie-ness. But their candidates have been selected by the voting public (mostly). Most GOP candidates have held the office of governor, which tends to be a decent indicator of ability to run something. Senators don't have that. Perhaps McCain wasn't a great choice by GOP voters. GW Bush was a governor, but took his "New Tone" policy to such an extreme that it crippled and finally killed his bi-cameral advantage. No GOP president in how many decades had ever enjoyed a same-party Senate AND House?? And he lost it??? When given a chance to pick a SCOTUS Justice, he picked his legal advisor?? Okay, maybe the GOP picked less than perfectly. But it was the PEOPLE (mostly) of the GOP who were imperfect, not (mostly) the power elite.

Do Superdelegates work? (Laugh, guffaw, chortle!) Yeah, sure!