Worried about the impact on the African-American population if superdelegates are eliminated, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) sent a letter to presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Harry Reid, expressing staunch disapproval of such a measure.
“The Democratic Members of the Congressional Black Caucus recently voted unanimously to oppose any suggestion or idea to eliminate the category of Unpledged Delegate to the Democratic National Convention (aka Super Delegates) and the creation of uniform open primaries in all states,” says the letter, which was obtained by POLITICO.
Sanders, a champion of the open primary and a fierce critic of the super delegate process, finds his position clearly at odds with the elected leaders for one of the groups he has had difficulty connecting with throughout his campaign. Despite a message that would seem to resonate with African-Americans, it was Clinton, not Sanders, who enjoyed a comfortable among Black voters.
Historical precedent is one of the reasons the CBC is opposed to eliminating super delegates. Rep. James Clyburn explained that history in his own letter accompanying the CBC’s. Super delegates were created to make sure minority voices have a say in the selection of the presidential nominee.
Sanders, and some other high profile Democratic leaders like Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, say the system is unfair and if superdelegates are to remain, they should mirror the results of the state primary. Several states agree and passed resolutions advocating for the change. As the system currently stands, a candidate can win a state, and all of the super delegates could still vote for the winner’s opponent–something that has happened to Sen. Sanders this election cycle.
The CBC expressed in the letter that the voices asking for a new process, or returning to the old process, are not numerous enough to warrant change.
“The system of allowing members of Congress to serve as unpledged delegates has worked quite well. There is no need to succumb to the pressure of a few individuals to make this change. We oppose any change to the current delegate selection process for members of Congress,” they wrote.
Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver, a member of the CBC, says there is no negotiating room on this issue.
“The black caucus is immovable on this subject because our number one concern is going to be an always be the highest level of minority participation as possible at the convention,” Cleaver said. “You’re going to see the same thing with the Hispanic Congressional Caucus. Mr. Sanders, if he had met with either or what’s called the tri-caucus, he would have found out there is no flexibility.”
Sen. Sanders has made no comment in response to the letter.
Featured image by Phil Roeder, available under a Creative Commons 2.0 license.
