The super power of super votes

Superdelegates have been part of Democratic Party lexicon since 1982. But for 26 years few people have known -- or much cared -- who they are or what they do.

Now people care -- a lot.

These delegates -- nearly 800 of the party's top honchos nationwide -- could end up deciding whether Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton runs against Republican John McCain for president.

Party rules allow superdelegates to vote at the national convention for any candidate they choose. Their votes need not correlate with any primary or caucus results.

That makes some Democrats cringe. They shudder at the specter of party leaders handing the nomination to Candidate B, who drew fewer votes than Candidate A through dozens of states, thus overriding millions of ordinary voters.

Current trends suggest that Obama, with his winning streak and momentum, could reach the primary finish line on June 3 with more popular votes than Clinton but without the 2,025 delegates needed for nomination. Superdelegates, who constitute about 20 percent of all delegates, could conceivably give Clinton the boost needed to reach 2,025.

On the other hand, a Clinton surge in upcoming primaries could make Obama the one needing superdelegate support.

Never before has a Democratic presidential nominating contest been close enough, long enough for superdelegates' votes to matter. How vital has their role become this year? Rumors that a single superdelegate -- civil rights pioneer John Lewis--might switch allegiance from Clinton to Obama became the nation's biggest political story for a few hours Friday.

Here in Illinois, most of the party's 32 superdelegates are household names. Holding the title by virtue of their elected office are people such as Dick Durbin, Rod Blagojevich, Mike Madigan, Jesse Jackson Jr., Emil Jones, Melissa Bean, Danny Davis … and Barack Obama.

A few are less prominent but still well-known legislators and activists. Most either hold party positions that automatically make them superdelegates or have been appointed by the state party or Democratic National Committee. Among them: the Rev. Willie Barrow, recently retired state AFL-CIO president Margaret Blackshere, and state legislators Carol Ronen and Iris Y. Martinez.

A few superdelegate slots are open. The seat of the late John Stroger is vacant. Madigan, as state party chairman, is entitled to make three additional appointments in May.

By any reasonable interpretation, superdelegates are mostly the party's highest-ranking members. Hence, again, the concerns about morale if the party hierarchy ends up overruling voters.

In truth, Democrats dreamed up the superdelegate concept precisely because the hierarchy wanted greater influence. This occurred after the party's base nominated George McGovern, who went on to be buried in a 1972 landslide against Richard Nixon, and Jimmy Carter, who defeated Gerald Ford only narrowly in 1976 even though post-Watergate Republicans were largely down and out. Superdelegates, created six years later, were meant to ensure the nomination of electable candidates.

But party leaders did not envision then what they face now: a rank-and-file electorate highly energized but evenly divided between two popular candidates. A rank-and-file electorate that could feel betrayed by the superdelegates' decision.

Tom Hynes, an Illinois superdelegate, thinks the party had a constructive idea back in 1982 that it carried too far.

"I think that it is a good idea to have some people who qualify automatically by virtue of the office they hold, but current rules provide for too many people," Hynes said. "The governor of a state, for example, and certain other leaders being superdelegates, I have no problem with that. But having 20 percent of the delegates be superdelegates is too much"

Among Illinois superdelegates, support for Obama is overwhelming if not quite unanimous. U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, who has a long-standing and close relationship with the Clintons, has not declared his allegiance.

At the national level, however, Clinton is widely presumed to enjoy wider backing among superdelegates because so many maintain strong ties to Bill Clinton forged during his presidency.

Despite worries that the superdelegates' votes could split the party, University of Chicago political science professor Mark Hansen envisions a constructive and possibly unifying role.

"After Texas and Ohio (March 4 primaries), superdelegates could put their heads together and basically decide who's going to get the nomination based on the popular vote," Hansen said.

"They could take their case to the loser and say: 'You can either gracefully bow out, or we're going to announce that the nominee is going to be your opponent.' They have a pretty strong incentive to avoid a deadlocked convention and not to waste the summer shouting back and forth about who gets to be the nominee."

In the meantime, though, both campaigns' lobbying of superdelegates is intense. Hynes and Dick Durbin are among those working on superdelegates in other states on Obama's behalf.

Some superdelegates report receiving dozens of calls, e-mails and letters from the Clinton and Obama camps. One uncommitted California superdelegate told the San Diego Union Tribune: "I've been hearing from everybody and their brother. If God calls, that'll make up my mind."