The Obama/Clinton contest has generated unprecedented interest and involvement in the nomination process. People are waiting hours in lines to get into clammy gymnasiums to caucus. Pop stars are singing about how badly they want change. Even my mom baked brownies and did crowd control as a caucus leader for Obama.
But this bubble of hope and enthusiasm will burst in an instant if superdelegates contradict the will of the people at the convention. “It will be disastrous if superdelegates determine the nomination,” says Justin Wood, of Respect Our Vote. Wood, a union representative and Presque Isle native, says cynicism about electoral politics is rampant, though many have suspended their doubt, at least momentarily, this season. But if superdelegates’ votes trump the voters’ wishes, that cynicism will only be confirmed.
Democracy for America’s political director Charles Chamberlain says that in a race as tight as this one, where Obama and Clinton may go to the convention with roughly the same amount of pledged delegates, the superdelegates should use their vote to make a slim lead into a commanding one. “If we’re talking a one-vote lead, the whole point of the superdelegates is to add their 800 votes to that one,” he says.
The bottom line is that the Democratic Party needs unite behind one candidate in order to fight effectively against the Republicans, says Chamberlain: “Superdelegates are supposed to make sure we leave the convention united, not to divide us.”
No longer Mainers
Former US senator George Mitchell and former governor Ken Curtis were originally Maine superdelegates, because of their ties to the state. But since Curtis and Mitchell are residents of Florida and New York, respectively, they will sit with those states’ delegations (if Florida’s delegates are seated at all) at the Democratic National Convention in August.
George Mitchell
Former US Senator, former US Senate majority leader
HOW HE’LL VOTE has not endorsed either candidate
TIES Served in Clinton’s White House; partner at the New York law firm DLA Piper, which is the top contributor to Clinton campaign
Ken Curtis
Lawyer, two-term governor of Maine, and former ambassador to Canada; chairman of Democratic National Committee
HOW HE’LL VOTE Clinton |
Maine’s Deciders
With the exception of Baldacci (who isn’t running for reelection and, to be fair, said he’d switch his vote if needed to preserve “party unity”), Maine’s superdelegates seem to understand the risks of overriding the voters’ decision.Spencer says he is likely to remain uncommitted until the primaries and caucuses are over: “If we can avoid it, it would be best if superdelegates did not prove to be decisive in this.” Still, he says he is being actively courted by people in both camps, many of whom he knows personally. Spencer worked in the White House during the Clinton years and his business partner, Bobby Monks, chairs Obama’s campaign in Maine.
Not surprisingly, Maine’s congressmen have also taken a wait-and-see stance. Michaud, whose primary issue is trade, originally supported John Edwards. With Edwards out of the race, Michaud’s spokeswoman Monica Castellanos says he’s taking a number of things into account now, including the candidates’ positions on the issues and the breakdown of the vote in his congressional district, which gave 916 state delegates to Obama and 715 to Clinton.
