Friend of a Super Delegate
 

One of my friends is a Super Delegate for the Democratic Party! He is not an elected official and says that he has not made up his mind yet. Obviously, he is being courted heavily by both Clinton & Obama.

It's very exciting!

That is very cool!!!!! Though I hate the idea of Super delegates, I kinda wish we had the system for the Republican Party because I would love to be one!

I think he is stunned by all of the attention. When he attends political events people want to have their picture made with him because he's a Super Delegate -- it's funny.

Last time I spoke with him he had recently had a phone call from Bill.

I think a call from Bill would seal it for me... that guy has to have some great stories.

How do you become a Super Delegate?

As I understand it, they are party leaders. Many are elected officials -- mayors, governors, etc. My friend is an officer of the Democratic Party in his state.

That's just too cool! I don't like the Super Delegate idea, either, but your friend must feel pretty excited about the Convention. Does he have to state his preference prior to the Convention?

I don't know. I'm more of a Republican myself, but I'm excited to watch what happens with the Democrats this year. He personally likes Hillary best, but is waiting to commit to either side (which must be very difficult with all the persuassive calls!).

I'm too much of a independent to get sucked into republican or democrat labels, but I think being a super delegate would be really cool. I would also be sure to tape all the phone calls just to prove that the conversations really happened!

Of course, if someone told me that George Clooney was going to call me if I declared myself one way or the other, I might consider it. :D

You won't believe this, but my friend DID meet George Clooney a couple of years ago -- didn't his dad run for Governor or Senator of Kentucky?

He doesn't have to and he can change his mind at any time. The pressure of course is crazy.

It's not THAT hard to become a super delegate - I know quite a few. A lot of College Democrats presidents are members. It is crazy the amount of calls that they get - one of my friends has stopped answering his phone at all because he's trying to write his thesis and can't handle the interruptions!

Once upon a time, when I was a delegate (non-super), I got calls continuously. I would like to think that it's just the super delegates that are under the gun by now!

My friend is still uncommitted!

^^^ can they wait until the actual convention to decide? I keep hearing bout super delegates changing sides, but do you really have a side before you vote?

I'm not totally sure -- I guess they can. I would imagine most will be confirmed by at least June.

They can, but there's a lot of pressure. Even the pledged delegates can sit down at the convention and vote for Kermit the Frog if they like. They only have sides if they've publicly stated support for one candidate or the other. They could totally be Liar McLiarsons and that's why each news station has a slightly different count.

I was listening to Rush Limbaugh the other day and he had a caller who was picked as a super delegate. The caller only voted in the Texas primary because he was a member of projoect chaos. At least one superdelegate is going to vote for whichever candidate is polling worse against McCain at the time of the convention.

This doesn't seem right to me. Super delegates are given that distinction by the Democratic party. Surely, they wouldn't give it to someone likely to actually be a Republican. It's mainly big party players, right?