Chicago Daily Observer

The continuing contest for the Democratic presidential nomination has become a frenzy of debates and proclamations about democracy. Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign has been particularly vociferous in claiming that its candidate stands for a transformative, participatory new politics. It has vaunted Obama’s narrow lead in the overall popular vote in the primaries to date, as well as in the count of elected delegates, as the definitive will of the party’s rank and file. If, while heeding the party’s rules, the Democratic superdelegates overturn those majorities, Obama’s supporters claim, they will have displayed a cynical contempt for democracy that would tear the party apart.

Now here’s my plan:

The Michigan and Florida delegations will be seated at the convention and Barack Obama wins the nomination. It’s all settled a month or more before the Democratic National convention in August.

Everybody’s happy except the Clintons. (You’re extra happy if you revel in a bit of schadenfreude over the Clintons.)

How do we reach this happy conclusion? A deal is likely to be struck with the superdelegates, who will in good conscience be following the will of da peepul.

I will outline the contours of the deal, but first let me take a moment to defend the concept of superdelegates.

There will be a total of 4,049 delegates to the convention who will vote to nominate the next Democratic candidate. Of these, 3,253 will have been elected in the caucuses and primaries that began in Iowa and end in Puerto Rico in June. The latter were ... Read More...