Here’s what I have to say to the Democratic officials, including 93 superdelegates, willing to burn down the house in order to stop Bernie Sanders: while I think Sanders is overzealous in his “don’t you dare” proclamations, it’s profoundly insulting, for all intents and purposes, to be conspiring—or at least openly announcing your willingness to do so—to stop him at any cost.
Like it or not, the Democratic National Convention effectively is a caucus system. In the event Sanders strolls in with a plurality, candidates can release their delegates to whom they wish. The reality is that, for many Democrats, Sanders is an acceptable second choice, and. yes, that might be where the delegates go on a second ballot.
For superdelegates to be in open revolt against Sanders at all, let alone this early, not only disparages Sanders voters but all the other Democratic voters, too. It’s telling not just Sanders voters that they might not count, but all Democratic voters, who have a right to see their chosen candidate release their delegates on a second ballot to the candidate or candidates of their choice.
I’d like to see that framing of this debate, this debate we shouldn’t even be having except that the Democratic establishment can’t seem to help their own vain, public self-immolations. The nascent superdelegate conspiracy against Bernie Sanders in fact insults the entire Democratic primary electorate.