‘None of us like this delegate stuff’

John Knutson, chairman of the Maine Democratic Party, said Sunday that his add-on to the superdelegate lineup will be a Barack Obama supporter.

He said he is doing this to make sure Maine’s delegate count reflects the popular vote in the state, where Obama got 60 percent of the vote.

At current count, this would give Obama three of Maine’s eight superdelegates. There is one superdelegate for Hillary Clinton, and four are uncommitted.

Knutson gets to nominate one additional superdelegate, which will be confirmed by state delegates at the convention.

There has been growing concern about the impact the superdelegates will have on the Democratic presidential nominee. The concern was evident in the foothills of the New Hampshire mountains Sunday evening at a meeting of the Oxford County Democrats, when party leaders met with about 40 voters to discuss the superdelegate process.

Chairman Knutson, party vice-chairwoman Marianne Stevens and National Committeewoman Jennifer DeChant – all superdelegates – were bombarded with questions in a Fryeburg church meeting room with voters concerned that their vote would be overridden. Click here for video of the three superdelegates talking about their decisions.

Knutson and Stevens had a simple explanation for their choice – they are supporting Obama because Maine supported him. Knutson reached this conclusion after the caucuses, which Obama took with a 60 to 40 percent margin. Stevens reached the same conclusion two weeks later after talking to voters.

DeChant started by explaining how the superdelegate process came to be, click here for video. She remains uncommitted, and said she wants to wait until everyone in the country has voted.

One voter quipped: “It’s bad, bad policy, and needs to be abolished.

Knutson nodded, and offered to take statements from voters to send to the DNC about the system.

“I think superdelegates are a dumb idea, they shouldn’t be there,” Knutson said. “But they are there in this convention.”

Stevens had a slightly different take. She supports the system – to a point. When the system of unpledged delegates began, it was just the DNC representatives in the state party. Then, however, party officials added more and more people to the superdelegate lineup. At that point it had gone too far.

Knutson tried to ease the voters’ fears by reminding them that many of the superdelegates are elected officials, and if they go against the voters’ wishes it could be bad for their political careers.

“When all is said and done, you will be very pleased with how the candidate is chosen,” Knutson said.

Doug Bowen of Porter, an Obama supporter, said his biggest concern was that the nomination would be decided by a “backroom deal” – not by the people. He also worried about influence – promises of favors or gifts.

Bowen cited a situation in Washington state, where a superdelegate was quoted on National Public Radio, saying she made up her mind after her mother convinced her.

“I really believe that the foundation of Democracy is one person one vote,” Bowen said. “When you get away from that there’s room for all kinds of trouble.”

Bowen said Knutson’s answers did calm his concerns a bit.

“I felt really good about the number of people in the meeting,” he said. “I think the superdelegates got the message.”

DeChant came under fire when she said she was waiting until the rest of the country has voted.

“I don’t like that our vote won’t count,” said Mexico resident Paul Dumas, who is running for probate judge in Oxford County. “If you’re a superdelegate for Maine, Maine has voted. None of us like this delegate stuff.”

There are a number of different things she could base her decision on, DeChant said – Maine’s vote, Maine’s delegate count, the national popular vote, etc… She could also vote “present” on the first ballot at the convention, and decide only if it came to a second vote.

If there is a second vote on the floor, all delegates become free agents, and it could be an avenue for Michigan and Florida delegates to be counted. Both states were stripped of their delegates by the party for holding primaries too early.

Superdelegates are told to “use their best judgement”, DeChant said.

“The idea of voting against the popular vote is something that one would have to take really seriously,” DeChant said. But also they have to look at what happened in their state. “Because Obama won the state, what goes for the voters who stood in line and stood at the caucus for Hillary Clinton?”