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Young People Are Super Delegates Too

With Obama and Clinton neck and neck in the race for the Democratic nomination, Super Delegates - party members, elected officials, and others who will automatically be granted a vote at the party's nominating convention - are getting a lot of ink these days.

Super Delegates sounds like a lot of old white guys in a smoke filled room - and in some cased, that's exactly what they are - but there are also a number of young Super Delegates, and it may be that they will have an outsized-say in who our nominee will be this year.

Here's a quick look at all the super delegates (to my knowledge) that are under the age of 36. The ones that are in bold are in the leadership of the College and Young Democrats of America. I'll have a longer post up later today outlining my thoughts on the criteria by which they should determine how to cast their ballot.

Update: I've added in whether or not these delegates have pledged to support a candidate. Most of this information comes from the Democratic Convention Watch. Where information conflicts with rumors in the youth vote community or with conversations I myself have had with the delegates, I've marked their status as "uncertain."

Name State Position Pledged?
Maria Chappelle-Nadal Missouri State Representative Undeclared
Francisco Domenech Puerto Rico YDA DNC Committeeman Clinton
Ed Espinoza California ???? Undeclared
David Hardt Texas YDA President Undeclared
David Holmes Texas ???? Clinton
Steven Horsford Nevada State Senator Obama
Awais Khaleel Wisconsin College Democrats Vice President Undeclared
Helen Langan Utah Utah National Committeewoman Clinton
Jennifer McClellan Virginia House of Delegates 71st District Clinton
Jason Rae Wisconsin DNC Youth Council Co-Chair Undeclared
Jeffrey Richardson D.C. Vice Chair of D.C. Democratic Party Obama
Dan Slater Colorado 1st Vice Chair of Colorado Democratic Party Obama
Sam Spencer Maine Democratic National Committeeman for Maine Undeclared
Crystal Strait California YDA DNC Committeewoman Uncertain
Lauren Wolfe Michigan College Democrats President Undeclared
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February 13th, 2008 1:31pm
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can you add a bar with their ages?

Submitted by KevinH on Wed, 2008-02-13 16:06.

... and also who, if anyone, they've pledged their support to? It would be interesting to see how the Gen X v. Older Millenials v. Younger Millenials break out.

Ages

Submitted by Michael Connery on Wed, 2008-02-13 16:32.

Don't know their ages, and many won't say who they are pledging - particularly the YDA/CDA folks - but I can take a look at the Convention watch blog and see if I can figure it out at all.

The Tyranny of

Submitted by feliduca (not verified) on Mon, 2008-09-29 09:28.

The Tyranny of Super-Delegates

Barack Obama's stirring victory in Iowa was also a good night for our democracy. The turnout broke records and young people – who were mobilized and organized – participated in unprecedented numbers. And now that Iowans have spoken – the first citizens in the nation to do so – here's the Democratic delegate count for the top three candidates (2,025 delegates are needed to secure the nomination):

Clinton – 169

Obama – 66

Edwards – 47

"Huh?" you say. "vanden Heuvel, you made a MAJOR typo."

In fact, those numbers are correct: the third-place finishing Sen. Hillary Clinton now has over twice as many delegates as Sen. Obama, and more than three times as many delegates as the second-place candidate, Sen. John Edwards. Why? Because the Democratic Party uses an antiquated and anti-democratic nominating system that includes 842 "super-delegates" – un-pledged party leaders not chosen by the voters, free to support the candidate of their choice, and who comprise more than forty percent of the delegates needed to win the nomination. Many have already announced the candidate they will support.

In a clear attempt to protect the party establishment, this undemocratic infrastructure was created following George McGovern's landslide defeat in 1972. It was designed to prevent a nominee who was "out of sync with the rest of the party," Northeastern University political scientist William Mayer told MSNBC. Democratic National Committee member Elaine Kamarck called it a "sort of safety valve."

In 1988, Reverend Jesse Jackson challenged the notion that these appointed delegates be permitted to vote for the candidate of their choosing rather than the winner of the state's caucus or primary. He was right to do so. Twenty years later, when the word "change" is being bandied about, isn't it time for the Democratic Party to give real meaning to the word? Strengthen our democracy by reforming the super-delegate system so that the people, not the party establishment, choose their candidate.

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