Democrats from all over the state of Wisconsin gathered this weekend in the Green Bay area for their state convention. Friday got the event started with speeches on hot topics affecting voters and the Democrats are expected to vote on several resolutions making up the party's platform. As expected the Democrats are not united on every issue, including who should be the party's presidential nominee and whether or not superdelegates should be a thing of the past.
Unlike your typical delegate who will cast their vote for the presidential nominee based on their constituents support, superdelegates have the choice of voting for who they want in office. And being that they make up 15 percent of the delegates voting nationwide, they absolutely have the power of choosing the presidential nominee. But today a vote was cast in an effort to end the superdelegate system all together.
The argument against superdelegates is coming to the forefront today in Wisconsin.
“It's important to stand up and be recognized and say something is not right, how can we change it?" Says Tom Breu a Democrat running for the 1st Congressional District in the upcoming election
During Wisconsin's primary Bernie Sanders beat Hilary Clinton by about 13 percentage points. But the majority of superdelegates have voted against the peoples will. Six of the ten Wisconsin superdelegates are backing Clinton right now with just one supporting Sanders and that leaves just three that are undecided at this point.
"Bernie sanders won the state with 57 percent of the vote. Yet we have the majority of the superdelegates in the state that are supporting Hilary Clinton," says Kevin Phillips a Democrat from Random Lake Wisconsin in Ashwaubenon for the convention.
That argument is actually the driving force for today's vote. The party had to decide whether superdelegates should be a thing of the past.
"The Wisconsin state Democratic Party just voted to abolish the superdelegate system," adds Phillips who was anticipating such an outcome.
But the matter didn't go through unanimously. Many voiced concerns about taking the superdelegates out of the equation.
"A few strong minds sometimes are a better balance," says Deborah Monicken a delegate from the 7th District.
Some questioning whether it was the best decision for the party as a whole.
"Sometimes those people who were voted in by popular vote have a better handle on individuals and issues that the general populous does not," adds Monicken.
And while not everyone was on the same page on this matter at today's convention, it seems like most are prepared to back whoever the party endorses, for the parties sake.
Today’s vote to end the superdelegate system is a non-binding resolution. That basically means that it’s essentially advice for the National Democratic Party. If it were to be supported on the national level it wouldn't take effect until 2020.
