'Superdelegates' could decide presidential nomination
Bloomington Herald-Times
Feb. 18, 2008
By Colin Bishop
With the Democratic presidential primary a neck-and-neck race between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the nomination may very well come down to the so-called "superdelegates," Democratic Party appointees whose unpledged votes could decide this year's Democratic nomination.
Indiana has 11 such superdelegates, among them local Reps. Baron Hill and Brad Ellsworth, both of whom say they are undecided as to who they'll endorse at this year's Democratic National Convention. Hill has also refrained from making an endorsement.
Superdelegates are designated by the Democratic National Committee and assigned based on their status as current or former elected officeholders, as well as their membership with the DNC. The superdelegate system is unique to the Democratic Party, and, unlike regular delegates whose votes are pledged based on state primary and caucus results, the superdelegates can cast their nomination vote for whomever they'd like.
"The superdelegate question is that some Democrats think it's wrong that these delegates make an independent decision," said Indiana University political science professor Marjorie Hershey. And if neither candidate has won a majority of the party's delegates going into the Democratic National Convention in late August, then the superdelegates will play a prominent role.
Read the entire story at: http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/7565.html
Learn more about Indiana University at: http://www.indiana.edu
