Q and AExplaining 'super' in delegates

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jun 20, 2008

Question: Several of us were talking about the superdelegates during the recent elections and we came up with some questions we'd like to ask: Who elects them? And how? Where did they meet? Why do we need them? Any thing else about them we should know? - A.K., Horton.

Answer: "The Democratic National Committee's rules and bylaws set aside a portion of national delegates for leaders and elected officials," said Jenny Davidson, communications director of the Kansas Democratic Party.

These are often referred to in the media as "superdelegates," but are actually called unpledged delegates since their support for a candidate is not bound to the results of the caucuses/primaries held in each state, she said.

Unpledged delegates consist of elected Democratic National Committee members, Democratic governors, congressional representatives and other party leaders.

Kansas has nine unpledged delegates and 32 pledged delegates this year, Davidson said.

Kansas' superdelegates this year are:

n Larry Gates, Kansas Democratic Party chairman.

n Teresa Krusor, Kansas Democratic Party vice chairwoman.

n Lee Kinch, Kansas Democratic Party national committeeman.

n Randy Roy, Kansas Democratic Party national committeewoman.

n Congressman Dennis Moore.

n Congresswoman Nancy Boyda.

n Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

n Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson

n Helen Knetzer, National Federation of Democratic Women president.

A candidate needs 2,025 delegates for the nomination, according to Wikipedia, the computerized user-written encyclopedia.

"Unpledged delegates are considered a part of each state's national delegation and therefore, they only meet when and where the rest of the delegation meets," said Davidson.

This year's Democratic National Convention will be Aug. 25-28 in Denver.

"The Democratic Party established this system in part as a response to the nomination of George McGovern in 1972," said Wikipedia. "McGovern took only one state and had only 37.5 percent of the popular vote. Then, in 1976, Jimmy Carter was a dark-horse candidate with little national experience. Superdelegates were implemented in 1984."

"Superdelegates are designed to act as a check on ideologically extreme or inexperienced candidates."

If you have a question for retired Capital-Journal newsman Dick King, call 295-5610 and leave a message, e-mail page2@cjonline.com or write to The Topeka Capital-Journal, 616 S.E. Jefferson, Topeka 66607.

Go to cjonline.activote.com for 2008 election news. The site offers local and national information on the election.