Super-Delegate Democracy?

I’d like to believe my colleague Dick Morris and his assessment about the state of the race for the Democratic candidate for president. Namely, I’d like to believe that Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) will prevail in his contest over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.).

Obama has racked up an impressive number of victories in the past several weeks and he is likely to sweep the “Potomac Primary” being held in Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland tomorrow. Obama has shown strength in the Northeast, Midwest and the West Coast. In short, Obama has amassed a remarkable number of supporters, black and white, rich and poor, who are willing to pull the lever for him from coast to coast. Sen. Clinton, as has been widely discussed, has shown resilience on either coast (read: New York, California and Northeastern states).

Yet, even with a sweep tomorrow, Sen. Obama will still remain in a neck-and-neck contest with Sen. Clinton for the foreseeable future. We could well have a scenario where the candidate will remain unknown heading into the Democratic Campaign Convention held later this year in Denver. And will the people whose voices we have heard from asking for a change propel him into victory? I fear the so-called “super-delegates” will instead push this contest over the finish line in favor of Sen. Clinton.

Nearly one-fifth of the total of delegates at stake for the Democrats this year are super-delegates — delegates who are able to cast their votes based on their status as office holders (current or former) or party officials. More than 800 of these delegates are at stake and include the likes of former President Bill Clinton, Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe and former Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.). I have a hard time believing that millions of Americans who have cast their votes for their party’s nominee want a D.C. smoke-filled back room set of deals and promises to determine who will be their party’s standard-bearer in November. Yet that appears to be exactly where we’re headed.

Perhaps I’m a cynic, but I sense the Obama campaign will be steamrolled in favor of the Clinton political machine, which will vacuum up super-delegates faster than a Hoover. I hope Dick Morris is right and I’m wrong: If the Clintons are able to secure the nomination via back-room deals rather than the direct vote of the American people, I think Sen. Obama is in a world of trouble. What a shame that would be.