Myths cloud the real role of Dems' superdelegates

ELECTION '08 | They're not the party's elite

Myth No. 1: The name. These men and women are not named "superdelegates" by the Democratic National Committee, which makes all the rules for choosing the Democratic nominee for president. Their official name is "unpledged delegates," to contrast them with the pledged delegates chosen by either caucus or primary election. The name superdelegate was coined years ago in a speech by the commentator Susan Estrich.

Myth No. 2: The superdelegates are elected party leaders. Some, a distinct minority, are or have been elected to important positions (Jimmy Carter, current congressmen and governors). By far, most are low-level party activists, union leaders, and quite simply people with clout.

Myth No. 3: The superdelegates are the "elite" of the party, according to repeated Associated Press articles. This is absurd. Surely, some (a small minority) deserve that descriptive word -- for example some of the congressmen and governors. But by far, the majority are so far from being elite it is almost laughable to use that term.

Myth No. 4: The superdelegates vote as a bloc. Under the rules, they sit with their state's delegation. Their votes are tallied and announced right along with the other delegates. There is no provision whatsoever for a separate tally of the superdelegates.

Myth No. 5: The superdelegates may commit their votes. Their official name -- unpledged delegates -- directly contradicts that notion. When the convention opens, they will still be defined as unpledged delegates.

Myth No. 6: The superdelegates can vote at any time. Currently, the media has them voting right now. But the rules clearly provide that they shall vote only as a part of each state's delegation, and that occurs only after the candidates have been nominated and while the roll call of the states is taking place. The rules clearly contemplate that as unpledged delegates, they will not vote in any fashion before the convention commences.

Myth No. 7: The superdelegates are representative of the party. In truth, they are predominantly white males.

On many occasions in the past, two or more candidates for the presidency have been unable to muster a majority of delegates before the convention. Nobody has ever suggested in that situation, a poll taken informally long before the convention opens can determine the party's nominee for the presidency.

Even if these 796 individuals were indeed party leaders or the elite of the party as they are being called, the current proposals to turn presidential candidate selection over to them would take the Democratic Party right back to the old days (for example, in 1968 and 1972) when the party leaders did in fact choose the candidate in secret sessions behind closed doors; minorities and women had little participation.

It is astounding that Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is advocating for superdelegates to select the Democratic nominee for president this far in advance of the convention when two candidates are still in the race and in a procedure that is so much at variance with both the DNC rules and the reforms he has so loudly espoused in the past.

Dan Walker is a former governor of Illinois. E-mail: govdan@gmail .com.