That’s what DNC Communications Director Luis Miranda said about superdelegates back in April.
While Hillary Clinton will try to claim she’s the presumptive nominee, it’s worth remembering the DNC has been adamant that superdelegates don’t officially count toward a candidate’s pledged delegate total until they vote at the convention in July. That means according to the DNC’s own rules, if Hillary Clinton doesn’t hit 2383 pledged delegates after Tuesday’s contests, any attempts to anoint Hillary Clinton the presumptive nominee will be premature.
Hillary Clinton’s nomination is not a done deal. A lot can change in 48 days, especially when the candidate who has the support of many of these unelected party bosses is still under investigation by the FBI.
DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz has said superdelegates are “free to decide [who to vote for] anytime up until July.” If Hillary is short the 2383 pledged delegates on Wednesday morning, will the DNC violate its own rules and declare Hillary Clinton the presumptive nominee without her having officially crossed the delegate threshold? If the media tries to declare Clinton the presumptive nominee, will the DNC vocally stand up for Sanders’ supporters or will they break their own rules and let Clinton push a false narrative?
If the DNC says Clinton is the presumptive nominee, it will indicate the DNC doesn’t want to give superdelegates who might be getting hot under the collar over Hillary’s legal woes an opportunity to change sides, especially with Sanders still nipping at her heels in the overall delegate count.
Declaring Hillary Clinton the presumptive nominee will further expose an already unfair superdelegate system as an anti-democratic and rigged method of choosing a nominee, one that looks utterly hypocritical in light of constant misleading Democrat rhetoric about being the party of enfranchising voters. And it only makes sense superdelegates should have to wait until the convention to cast their vote. Democrats are the so-called champions of voting rights, right?
And what if Bernie wins big on Tuesday?
Sanders is only 268 pledged delegates behind Clinton. With 694 pledged delegates at stake during the final contests, Bernie still has a puncher’s chance to overtake her in the pledged delegate lead before the convention in Philadelphia next month. Will superdelegates hypothetically pledged to Clinton be willing to swing the nomination from the voters’ choice to the Democrat establishment’s choice in Philadelphia?
And let’s not forget there are many states out there Bernie Sanders won but superdelegates bucked the will of the people (Michigan, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Indiana, Utah, West Virginia). Should those party insiders do the right thing and support Sanders just like their constituents, perhaps Clinton’s claimed lead isn’t really what it seems.
The multitude of Sanders supporters who are upset about the rigged superdelegate system have pledged to make their voice heard at the Democrat convention. 74-year old Bernie Sanders is the oldest candidate in the race. But he could be a comeback kid this Tuesday.