April 2008

For my first blog post, I feel it is probably most appropriate to present what I will be attempting to identify by attending the Democratic National Convention this coming August. As anyone who is following the news regarding the Democratic Primary knows, the race is incredibly close and every delegate will count. I will be looking specifically at the “Superdelegates” and the system under which they function. I want to see if the superdelegates vote the way their specific constituency did, or if they side with a certain candidate. My goal is to create a database of all Democratic superdelegates and examine whether or not they side with their constituency initially and at the convention. At the end of the convention, the data will be compiled, and a final analysis of the superdelegates will be presented. By the numbers, does the system undermine democracy?