It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's a SUPER Delegate!

“What’s a delegate?” my daughter asks on our morning drive to school.

I explain to her that delegates are people who are elected to represent their state’s votes in the national nominating conventions before a Presidential election.

“I don’t get it,” she says. And she continues to say that, each morning and afternoon as we hear report after report about the election on the car radio.

She was even more confused after hearing an NPR interview with Crystal Strait, one of the youngest women to be elected to the National Democratic Committee, and one of the Super Delegates being courted by both the Clinton and Obama campaigns.

“Super Delegate? What’s the difference between them and delegates?” she asked.

Considering the fact that she was having trouble grasping the whole delegate concept in the first place, I didn’t even try to explain the Democratic party’s complicated system of naming a nominee.

“Wait until the convention this summer,” I said. “Then you’ll understand.”

She continued to express confusion about delegates and Super Delegates, and even posed the question to her Mr. Green (her social studies teacher), whose explanation left her just as confused as mine had done.

So when the MOMocrats were invited to blog at the California state convention – and told that we could bring our kids – I decided this might be the perfect way to show her the system in action.

One of the handouts we were given along with our press credentials was a list of California’s 2008 Super Delegates. That’s how we began our quest to actually meet a few of these very important individuals (who have become increasingly so as we wind up the state primaries and caucuses without a confirmed candidate).

They weren’t too difficult to find. Out of the party’s 794 (as of today) Super Delegates, California has 66. Nearly half of those are on the list by virtue of the fact that they are members of Congress (including Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein and my own Congressman, Brad Sherman). The rest are Democratic National Committee members, who include more legislators, other elected officials, and individuals who have worked long and hard for the party.

One of those individuals was sitting at our table during last night’s rousing speech by Nancy Pelosi. Garry Shay is a member of the DNC's Rules Committee and was pretty forthcoming about his intentions. “I’m pledged to Hillary,” he told us. (He also gave us some tips on where to find the best convention parties, which would be a lot more useful to me if I wasn’t attending with my kid.)

“What’s so super about you?” Megan asked him. “Do you fly?” She and everyone else at the table laughed at her little joke.

Garry patiently explained what the Super Delegates are and how they are chosen.
I’m not sure that Megan’s comprehension of the process is any better, but that’s OK. She was impressed enough to ask Shay to autograph the placard she held during Pelosi’s speech.

“When you get back to school, you can show that to Mr. Green. He’ll see that you’ve learned something while you’re here,” I told her.

With that thought, our quest became more serious: Not just to meet Super Delegates, but to add their autographs to the placard.

“Go talk to him,” Shay instructed my daughter, as he pointed to a tall gentleman who was shaking hands and posing for pictures in the center of the ballroom. He was Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi, who was more than happy to give an autograph to a future Democratic voter.

Alas, Garamendi is NOT on our list of Super Delegates. “But whenever Schwarzenegger leaves the state, he’s the guy in charge,” I told Megan. Believe it or not, she was impressed by that.

We ended the evening at a hospitality reception for bloggers, hosted by Crystal Strait. She’s the same young woman whose NPR interview sparked my daughter’s interest in Super Delegates in the first place.

Crystal posed for a photo and gave Megan her autograph. She also attempted to explain her role in the party’s nomination process, that she considers herself an "unpledged delegate." Not so "super."

I’m not sure Megan understands it any better than she did before we got here, and after this election, I’m not all that certain she will need to. The allotment of delegates and existence of Super Delegates was created to ensure that the party’s eventual Presidential candidate is nominated fairly. This year, it threatens to break the party apart before we even get to start campaigning for the general election.

I have a feeling that four years from now, we will be hearing a lot less about delegates of the Super kind.