PrintMarch 26, 2008
"The Bredesen Plan"
Moderate Democratic Governor of Tennessee Phil Bredesen has come up with what sounds like a great idea; hold a convention of Democratic party Superdelegates in June and have them vote for either Clinton or Obama then rather than allow the contest to drag on until August and hurt the party's chances for victory in November:
“Invite the candidates to come and talk if they want, and then literally call the roll,” he explained. “We should not go through the summer and have a divided and exhausted Democratic Party. The inescapable conclusion is: OK, you’ve got to find some way to bookend and bring it to closure earlier. How do you do that? Do it in June rather than August."This plan makes a lot of sense - which is why it won't be adopted.
The governor said he decided to push the plan because of what he called a “sea change” in opinion among Democrat elites. What once appeared to be a once-in-a-generation blessing – having two strong candidates with significant appeal among Democrats – seems more like a burden now, as the race drags on toward April and May contests that are unlikely to offer any more clarity than the muddled results of the last three months.
“Ninety days ago, everybody was talking in warm terms about both the candidates: ‘Isn’t it wonderful?’ ‘Whoever’s president is going to be great,’ ” the governor said. “It has gotten vastly more polarized now, and that really concerns me.”
To Bredesen, an even-keeled political pragmatist, superdelegates are certain to ultimately decide the nominee, so it makes no sense for them do later rather than sooner.
Hillary Clinton is going to want to take the supers one at a time - armtwisting some, buying off others. Such a scenario will play out in between the end of the primaries in early June and the beginning of the convention at the end of August.
Obama, on the other hand, might not agree simply because the outcome of such a caucus is unknown. He would benefit if the superdelegates came around to his candidacy on their own without much pressure as a result of his commanding position of being in control of more pledged delegates and having won the popular vote.
Then there are the hardcore 100 or so supers who want to wait until the convention and see who is a better candidate against McCain and then vote accordingly.
Just goes to show that what makes perfectly good sense is not always the best political course.
