Delegated power: Party, process and popular vote

“If politics were really a serious business, of course, the indifference of the press and the people to such serious issues would also be a serious matter. But politics is not drama. It is a comic sideshow. And we should no more expect politicians to be men of character or wisdom than we should expect a porn star to recite Shakespeare’s sonnets or a sword-swallower to lecture in fluent Sumerian.”

Chester A. Arthur

21st U.S. President

That quote from the late 1880s could have been said today as we watch political pundits decry the current state of politics, question our country’s future and debate the caliber of our candidates. One of the most heated discussions going on now is about how the delegates are selecting their candidates, and what happens if we have a have a “contested convention.”

So what does that really mean and what are the guidelines?

First, we must recognize that in politics that we should expect the unexpected. Deep party strife suggests that there could be a brokered convention on the Republican side. In short, this means that previously pledged delegate support can be pulled and given to another candidate.

The most notable brokered convention occurred in 1924 when Democratic dark horse candidate John W. Davis and running mate Charles Bryan were selected over front runners William B. McAdoo and Al Smith by the Democrats. It reflected deep political divisions regarding Klan support for the Democratic Party and thus paved the way for Davis’ nomination. The Democrats lost the 1924 presidential election to Calvin Coolidge and Charles Dawes.

Flash forward to today. The 2016 national party conventions promise to be equally interesting. Democratic and Republic party rules mandate specific numbers for a candidate to receive the presidential nomination. The Democratic Party calls for a candidate to receive 2,382 delegates out of a total of 4,765. The Democratic primary is principled on proportional representation, which means that a candidate could come in second and still come away with a sizeable number of delegates. This is why it takes so long for a Democratic Party candidate to receive the official presidential nomination.

Republican Party rules mandate that a candidate receive 1,237 delegates out of a total of 2,472. In the past, the Republican Party nomination process was based exclusively on a winner-take-all approach. However new rules allowed the Republic Party to implement proportional representation primaries until March 14. Some pundits suggest that the new rules were designed to prevent states from leapfrogging to have an early primary where they could exert more influence amongst the electorate. Afterward, a winner-take-all approach would remain in effect. In short, this allows candidates to pay particularly close attention to high delegate count primaries.

The seemingly well thought out primary process is relatively new and, surprisingly, not as democratic as one might think.

The modern primary system links back to the 1968 Democratic primary in which Hubert Humphrey received the Democratic nomination without winning a single primary, though he did win caucuses. (A primary is more linked to group voting rather than individual voting as practiced in Georgia and Alabama). The 1968 Democratic primary was chaotic, and people questioned how much say the public had in selecting a presidential nominee.

There is no gain saying that our modern primary system offers greater access for the American public to participate. However, it is illusory to believe that this is a holistic process. Party officials feared a repeat of the violent and raucous 1968 Democratic National Convention. Hence, about 12 years later, the Democratic Party created “superdelegates,” or unpledged party officials.

By 1984, these superdelegates became a permanent fixture within the Democratic Party. These delegates include members of Congress, governors, former presidents and other notables. The Democratic Party has 717 superdelegates. These superdelegates can make or break a candidate, especially if there is no clear winner.

The Republican Party does not use the superdelegate term, but make no mistake about it — they have 437 unpledged party officials (also known as at-large delegates) who also have the final say in determining party nomination outcome. Many critics rail that superdelegates belie the true intent of the Democratic primary process. However, political parties have had a difficult time relinquishing power to the general public.

Just look at the passage of the 17th Amendment in 1913. It finally gave the general public the right to directly elect U.S. senators. Prior to that, state legislators had the final say. This means that it took almost 150 years for the general public to elect our federal senators. Therefore, we should not be surprised that “super” or “at-large” delegates have become attached to the presidential nomination process.

On the one hand, these delegates could really alienate the public, as their votes are so heavily weighted in comparison to the general public’s votes. On the other hand, maybe it’s like a Party Knows Best checkpoint. Political parties nominate candidates and promote party policy objectives. Fairness and equity are relative concepts in politics.

The real question is whether the greatest threat to our country stems from public or party. Our constitutional architect James Madison was decidedly mixed. He argued that we needed a political system that protected people from the government as well as from each other. The Electoral College system insulates the full impact of popular will, and decidedly similar checks remain in the primary process as well.

Several states have not yet voted, and undoubtedly there will be more cutting debates that will elicit public joy and angst. However, make no mistake about it — the political parties are watching.

This story was originally published April 30, 2016 at 7:19 PM with the headline "Delegated power: Party, process and popular vote."