Given the close race between Hiliary Clinton and Barack Obama for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, the use of super delegates seems more than probable. Super delegates are current officeholders, party officials, and former officeholders or officials. In the instance that a candidate does not receive the target number of delegates needed to secure the nomination for presidency, super delegates cast votes at the national party convention to decide the candidate.
Although these individuals are declared to endorse neither candidate, such a requirement is more of an ideal than a reality. However, should the delegates vote according to how their constituencies voted or should the candidates vote based on their own opinion?
For as long as representatives have existed, there has been the debate between the “trustee” vs. “delegate” role of the representative. If a representative considers himself to be a trustee, then he believes that he has been voted in office to express his views, because trust has been established between him and his constituency. On the other hand, a delegate will use his power to endorse public policy that his constituency wants and to try to strike down measures that his constituency is opposed to. When reflecting on these definitions, I came to the understanding that perhaps the reason why George W. Bush does not always act according to public opinion is because he believes that he serves more of a trustee role than a delegate role as president of the United States. Since the idea of a trustee role may not always be in agreement with the will of the people, such may explain why some individuals misinterpret President Bush’s actions in office.
The importance of the trustee vs. delegate role comes into importance in the use of super delegates. For example, should congressman who serve as super delegates cast their vote by whom they find to be the better candidate for president or for whom their home constituency decided who should be the better candidate in either the primary or the caucus?
I personally believe that the super delegates should take on a trustee role in this matter. Since usually only people who feel strongly about a candidate get out and vote in primaries, there are a lot of individuals who chose not to vote in the primary, but are willing to endorse a candidate. As a result, since the primary or caucus results are not always representative of true public opinion, I think that super delegates should vote based on their own opinion without the consideration of their constituency’s.
What do you think?
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