Doug Kendall, over at Huffington Post, has focused like a laser on the danger facing our party.
Analyzing a news article that shows that neither candidate has any hope of securing the nomination via pledged delegates alone, Kendall writes:
What that means is a nomination fight brokered at the convention by super-delegates. At best, a lot of backroom dealing and arm-twisting will eventually produce a majority of delegates for the candidate who comes in with the most delegates pledged in the voting process....
And that's the best case scenario. What if either Obama or Clinton comes out of the primary process with a pledged delegate lead, but is denied the nomination by super delegates? Maybe the party elders will decide in their great wisdom that Obama is more electable or Clinton deserves it more, or maybe the losing candidate will simply twist arms harder or promise more. In either case, the result could rip the party apart as a good and strong candidate who has won the primary/caucus process gets deprived of the nomination. And what if the yet to be named "credentials" committee decides to seat a Michigan delegation even though Obama kept his name off the ballot out of respect for the party's decision and these votes swing the election to Clinton? It could be 1968 in Chicago all over again.
The only sure way to avoid a disatrous struggle is for enough super-delegates to promise to support the candidate who wins through the democratic process.
And this will only happen if ordinary Democrats, led by the netroots, call for action. The super-delegates are elected representatives and accountable to us.
That's where rank and file Democrats could play a role. These super delegates hold a position of trust in the party, a position bestowed upon them, in one way or another, by members of the party. It would seem fair for these party members to ask these super delegates what they are doing to avoid a convention fight in August that could doom the party's chances in November.
We need to do more than ask. We must demand that super-delegates support the real winner.
How do we make this happen? I'm just a dKos lurker with not a lot of time or organizing skill. Ideas?