The Democratic Party has 4,049 delegates scheduled for its convention
Whoever wins needs 50% + 1, or 2,025 delegates. 3,253 of these delegates are up for grabs in the primary election voting process, but 796 are given to party leaders, insiders, advisors, and top contributors. These super-delegates can vote for whomever they like.
The process was instituted following the massive general election loss of George McGovern, a candidate popular with the progressive left who was then easily defeated by Nixon - who was actually seen as the moderate.
Hillary Leads in Superdelegates 2:1
You can't be friends with everyone in politics unless your ability to grant favors and influence is infinite. Its inevitable that Hillary won't win every single party super-delegate, but what has been counted so far indicates she has a huge lead within the party. Bill and Hillary have been supporting pillars of the Democratic party for decades now - since even before Bill took office in Washington D.C., they've played well within the system and supported their allies. Loyalty and seniority play into Hillary's huge superdelegate lead - remember, these are important attributes in unions and Democratic politics alike.
If the voting ties; Hillary wins
Bad news for Obama fans, but unless Hillary does something to anger the establishment of the party, there's no way they will abandon her and her husband's legendary fundraising abilities. Obama is making a big splash, and he's surely noted for fast advancement through the party ranks, but the Democrats still have a debt to repay the Clinton family for decades of service to the cause.
If Obama wins the Vote; Hillary can still win
Even if the super delegates aren't enough, Hillary could call on her majority of the superdelegates to re-instate the delegates from Michigan and Florida. She will easily be able to argue that these states are important to any party general election strategy - the party won't want to alienate them as early as the nominating convention.
Right now, Hillary's lead looks safe - and her campaign is a masterwork of utilizing party machinery. Say what you will about her policies, but Hillary knows how to win.
Obama supporters independently seek delegate support; campaign asks them to back off
Some of Barack Obama's supporters, independent of the official campaign, had decided to start a letter-writting campaign following the Super-Tuesday results and increased news and opinion coverage of the party super-delegates. Not long after the first emails and faxes started pouring into the offices of the super-delegates, PR managers at the Obama campaign headquarters got into contact with the organizers, asking them to take the pressure off the delegates.
Then today (2/8/08), Obama picked up a few more super delegate's pledges: this was following a speech he gave on the campaign trail. Obama is hoping it is his speaking skills, his connection and leadership of his followers, and the way he can translate frenzied support into orderly progress.
Some want to see super-delegates eliminated - see it as party elitism
The other question that's been circulating around various discussions online is if the Democratic party needs super delegates at all. So what if the party wins an election, if the candidate doesn't represent the majority view of the party? From a public viewpoint, this is a valid argument. What good is a candidate who isn't aligned with the voters' interest. From the party's perspective, there is money and power at stake. Howard Dean may not care one way or another who is elected or what policies they persue, other than how those policies affect the party's fundraising abilities and voter popularity. So long as the people will turn out for the 2nd place candidate, holding on to that federal money and power comes first.
