Superdelegate Decision Making during the 2008 Democratic Primaries

The race for superdelegate support during the extended competition between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination offers a unique opportunity to examine the behavior of party elites with regard to their party's rank and file. The choice and timing of superdelegates' endorsements were examined, as well as measures of superdelegate loyalty, enthusiasm, considerations of candidate viability, and strategic endorsements. Did superdelegates endorse candidates based on personal or political ties, or to settle old political scores, as much of the press coverage suggested? Did superdelegates try to hijack the nomination for a candidate other than the one preferred by party rank-and-file participants in primaries and caucuses? We find that, taken in the aggregate, superdelegate endorsements were based on systematic considerations about candidates' standing as measured by national opinion polling, state support for candidates, and the candidate delegate count. Furthermore, female superdelegates showed more enthusiastic support for Clinton, while elected officials who were superdelegates were more likely to support Obama. Related Articles DeWitt, Jeff R. and Richard N. Engstrom. 2011. “The Impact of Prolonged Nomination Contests on Presidential Candidate Evaluations and General Election Vote Choice: The Case of 2008.” Politics & Policy 39 (5): 741-759. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2011.00311.x/abstract Bode, Leticia, and Valerie M. Hennings. 2012. “Mixed Signals? Gender and the Media's Coverage of the 2008 Vice Presidential Candidates.” Politics & Policy 40 (2): 221-257. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2012.00350.x/abstract Shafie, David M. 1998. “Women and Representation at Major Party Conventions, 1972-1992. Southeastern Political Review 26 (1): 45-77. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-1346.1998.tb00471.x/abstract Related Media Film Clips: TPM TV. 2008. “David Wilhelm on the Role of Super-Delegates.” YouTube . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpzCBPE3j6k State of the Black Union. 2008 “Hillary Clinton Speech.” http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/204090-3 La carrera por el apoyo de los superdelegados durante la extensa competencia entre Hillary Clinton y Barack Obama por la nominacion presidencial en 2008 del partido Democrata ofrece una oportunidad unica para examinar el comportamiento de la elite del partido en relacion al resto de sus miembros. Se examino la eleccion y coordinacion de los superdelegados para expresar su apoyo, asi como sus niveles de lealtad, entusiasmo, consideraciones de viabilidad del candidato, y ratificaciones estrategicas. ?Fueron las ratificaciones de los superdelegados basadas en lazos politicos o personales? ?Trataron los superdelegados de aduenarse de la nominacion de un candidato que fuera diferente del preferido debido a su posicion en el partido en las elecciones primarias y los caucuses? Encontramos que en agregado, las ratificaciones de los superdelegados se basaron en consideraciones sistematicas de la posicion de los candidatos, medida por encuestas de opinion nacional, apoyo estatal por el candidato, y la cuenta de delegados del candidato. Ademas, las mujeres superdelegadas mostraron un apoyo mas entusiasta por Clinton, mientras que oficiales elegidos que a su vez eran superdelegados mostraban una mayor probabilidad a apoyar a Obama.