Somewhat similar to the way in which the Democratic Party stripped delegates from Florida and Michigan over a primary election calendar, they now seem to be at odds with democracy itself and the people it represents, by brokering the party’s nominating process with “super-delegates” who are not chosen by voters.

What happened in the Democratic Party when it comes to terms such as”Democracy” and “We The People?”

The super-delegates  — 842 — comprise nearly 40 percent of the number of delegates needed to get the Democratic nomination.

The super-delegates automatically get to cast a vote at the convention to decide who the party’s nominee will be.

A super-delegate might be Democratic governors, members of Congress, former presidents, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, former vice president Al Gore, retired congressional leaders such as Dick Gephardt, and all Democratic National Committee member, some hand-picked by party chairman Howard Dean.

What happened to “we the people?”

The Republican Party does not have a similar super-delegate system.

The prospect is very possible that neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama will win a clear majority in the delegate count. 

Shouldn’t, for example the states of Florida and Michigan where delegates have been stripped from the democratic process, have voters return to the polls and pick the nominee in an election formally sanctioned by the party?

Within the Democratic Party there is dissension among the party leaders on this very issue.

Donna Brazile, who ran Al Gore’s 2000 campaign and a super delegate herself, has threatened to quit her leadership post in the party if the nomination process were to be decided by insiders.

There is not only a democracy issue here, there is a fairness question that must be addressed, for it is we the people who should be participating in the nomination process without barriers set up by political bosses, party insiders and political hacks.

For it is time that when we go to the polls to vote it is not for the lesser of two evils.

I couldn’t help but think of the following conversation when I saw former President Bill Clinton’s name on the super-delegate list when he received a call from his daughter Chelsea:

“Hi Dad.

“Hi Chelsea, how are you doing?”

“I’m doing fine Dad.  I’m just making some calls for Mom to super-delegates and you’re on the list and the campaign team didn’t want to leave any delegate behind in urging them to vote for my Mom.”

“Well, honey you know your mom has my vote.”

“Dad you know the machine we have here, and the strategists wanted to be sure that the person on our team that has the closest relationship with the super-delegate makes the call and urges a vote for my Mom.  I’m just doing my job.”

Well, Chelsea, you can count on me. Tell your Mom she has my vote.”

If you think Democracy is being eroded by the Democratic Party and We the People are being ignored, you can do your part to influence the super-delegates by going to the following site http://demconwatch.blogspot.com/2008/01/superdelegate-list.html , all of the super-delegates are listed here. Contact them and let them hear the people’s voice.