Not-so-Distinguished Party Leaders

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NPR explains that John Edwards, George McGovern and Mike Dukakis are not Distinguished Party Leaders, and therefore not superdelegates, and talks to two former Democratic nominees about it:

Dukakis is not a superdelegate, either — only winners are superdelegates.

Dukakis says he does not mind not being a superdelegate: "I don't have to deal with all the phone calls [from campaigns]," he says.
...
McGovern, like Dukakis, says that he does not mind not being a delegate.

"I get lots publicity, lots of recognition, but there are people I know in this state that have worked hard over the years," McGovern says. "Most people never hear of them, and this is a way to get them a little recognition."

and in the future?

Nonetheless, [Tad] Devine thinks the Democratic Party would be well-served by including former nominees for both president and vice president in the ranks of the supers.

"They've been through this process like no one else," he says. "I think to run as the candidates, to give that acceptance speech, to understand the way the campaign works from the inside and to have seen America through the eyes of a candidate, is a unique experience."

Fun article, but it totally ignores the currently most controversial losing nominee of all.

Superdelegate from Maine moves to Florida - Superdelegate total now 794

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Yesterday Tom Walsh of the Ellsworth American reported that Maine was going to lose two of their superdelegates because they were no longer registered to vote in Maine.

Two of the eight prominent Democrats appointed by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to represent Maine as super delegates at the Democratic National Convention aren’t eligible to do so under the DNC’s own residency requirements.

Neither former U.S. Sen. George J. Mitchell nor former Maine Governor Kenneth Curtis is a legal resident of Maine, as required by DNC rules stipulating that super delegates must “legally reside in their respective state.”

The DNC defines legal residency through voter registration. Neither Mitchell nor Curtis is registered to vote in Maine.

Curtis told the paper the following:

“It really doesn’t matter what state I’m from,” he said. “I am a delegate because of my term as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. I could just as well attend the convention with the Florida delegation, and, at this point, I’m not 100 percent sure that I will go. I’ll go only if my vote is meaningful.”

Sorry Ken... you're wrong. The DNC has confirmed to 2008 Democratic Convention Watch that they have officially moved Ken Curtis from Maine to Florida. Curtis has pledged his support for Hillary Clinton. Even as a Distinguished Party Leader, if a superdelegate is from Florida or Michigan they do not get a vote.

DNC Rule 9A (5) confirm that as a Florida resident Curtis has lost his superdelegate vote.

9. UNPLEDGED AND PLEDGED PARTY LEADERS AND ELECTED OFFICIAL
DELEGATES
A. The procedure to be used for certifying unpledged party leader and elected official delegates is as
follows:
Not later than March 1, 2008, the Secretary of the Democratic National Committee shall officially
confirm to each State Democratic Chair the names of the following unpledged delegates who
legally reside in their respective state and who shall be recognized as part of their state’s
delegation unless any such member has publicly expressed support for the election of, or has
endorsed, a presidential candidate of another political party:
...
5. All former Democratic Presidents, all former Democratic Vice Presidents, all
former Democratic Leaders of the U.S. Senate, all former Democratic Speakers of
the U.S. House of Representatives and Democratic Minority Leaders, as applicable, and
all former Chairs of the Democratic National Committee.

Thanks to commenters Craig and CBH for helping out with this.

Another thing this move does is change the superdelegate total to 794. I'm amazed that we're still seeing most news organizations still using the 796 total for superdelegates. With the passing of Tom Lantos the number went down to 795. Now with Curtis being moved to Florida it goes to 794.

Our totals now are 239 superdelegates for Clinton and 184 for Obama.

We'll see how long it takes for anybody to catch up to this.

Update: Georgia Representative John Barrow has just endorsed Obama
Obama now has 185 superdelegates to Clinton's 239.

Update II: Tom Walsh of the Ellsworth American just let me know that the DNC has started checking the legal residency by voter registration of all superdelegates.

Update III: And, of course, the total number of delegates is down to 4,047, which means it now takes exactly 2,024 delegates to win the nomination. (The number including MI and FL stays the same, as Curtis will have his vote in the Florida delegation is seated).

Update IV (March 3): And for those of you who just won't take our word for it:

Here’s what’s interesting: By moving Curtis out of Maine and into Florida, it drops the number of votes needed to win the Democratic nomination. 2025 is no longer the magic number. It’s now 2024.

Moreover, it Curtis (a Hillary supporter) is now ineligible to vote to seat the Michigan and Florida delegations at the convention. And since he’s now a Florida superdelegate, if the sanctions remain his vote won’t count at all.

Remember, we reported the story here 4 days ago. And kudos for reporter Tom Walsh for breaking the story in the first place.

Updated - Maine superdelegate confusion

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A small paper in Maine thinks its discovered a scandal in the DNC superdelegate lists:

Two of the eight prominent Democrats appointed by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to represent Maine as super delegates at the Democratic National Convention aren’t eligible to do so under the DNC’s own residency requirements. Neither former U.S. Sen. George J. Mitchell nor former Maine Governor Kenneth Curtis is a legal resident of Maine, as required by DNC rules stipulating that super delegates must “legally reside in their respective state.”

The DNC defines legal residency through voter registration. Neither Mitchell nor Curtis is registered to vote in Maine. Voter registration records for the Manhattan borough of the city of New York show Mitchell registered to vote there as a Democrat on April 22, 2004. Voter registration records in Sarasota County show Curtis registered to vote in Florida as a Democrat on Feb. 7, 2005.

Under the DNC’s residency requirements, Mitchell could be a member of the New York delegation and Curtis a member of the Florida delegation, but not Maine’s delegation.

Well, lets dispose of Mitchell first. The DNC moved Mitchell to the NY delegation in their latest list, so there is no issue there.

“I’m a registered voter in Florida,” Curtis told The Ellsworth American in a telephone interview, adding that he’s lived year-round in Sarasota for more than two years. “I gave up on winters in Maine. “It really doesn’t matter what state I’m from,” he said. “I am a delegate because of my term as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. I could just as well attend the convention with the Florida delegation, and, at this point, I’m not 100 percent sure that I will go. I’ll go only if my vote is meaningful.”

Curtis is much more interesting. If he is truly a resident of Florida, then he needs to be moved to the Florida delegation. And if that happens, poof, he vanishes from the superdelegate list, as Florida and Michigan are not currently assigned any delegates, either pledged or unpledged. We will follow up on this.

Update: Curtis has endorsed Clinton, while Mitchell remains uncommitted.

Update II: The DNC has confirmed to us that Curtis has been moved to Florida which means Clinton loses his vote as a superdelegate.

Obama and Clinton each get a Former DNC Chair's Endorsement

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If you read Matt's Distinguished Party Leaders post a couple weeks ago you'll remember that all former DNC Chairmen are superdelegates. Today we can cross off two of the DPL's from our non-endorse list and move them to the endorsement list.

Pennsylvania Governor (and former DNC Chair) Ed Rendell endorsed Hillary Clinton today. He is considered a DPL in the superdelegate world and not a Governor. Barack Obama followed up with a lesser known DPL when Former DNC Chairman Fred Harris from New Mexico endorsed him.

Rendell served as DNC Chairman from 1999 to 2001 and Harris served from 1969 to 1970.

So what is a "Distinguished Party Leader?"

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As we unravel the mystery of who is a superdelegate for the 2008 Democratic Convention, there is a special category of superdelegates called "Distinguished Party Leaders". What is a Distinguished Party Leader, or, as we like to call them here, DPLs?

All former Democratic Presidents, all former Democratic Vice Presidents, all former Democratic Leaders of the U.S. Senate, all former Democratic Speakers of the U.S. House of Representatives and Democratic Minority Leaders, as applicable, and all former Chairs of the Democratic National Committee. - DNCC

And who are the DPLs? Here's a list, along with the delegation they are a part of, and any endorsement they may have made:

President Jimmy Carter - GA President Bill Clinton - NY - Clinton Vice President Walter Mondale - MN - Clinton Vice President Al Gore - TN Speaker Jim Wright - TX - Clinton Speaker Tom Foley - WA - Clinton House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt - MO - Clinton Sen. Majority Leader Robert Byrd - WV - Obama Sen. Majority Leader George Mitchell - ME Sen. Majority Leader Tom Daschle - SD - Obama

DNC Chairman Fred Harris - NM - Obama DNC Chairman Robert Strauss - TX DNC Chairman Ken Curtis - FL - Clinton DNC Chairman Charles Manatt - CA - Clinton DNC Chairman Paul Kirk - MA - Obama DNC Chairman David Wilhelm - OH - Obama DNC Chairwoman Debra DeLee - MA - Clinton DNC Chairman Chris Dodd - CT - Obama DNC Chairman Steven Grossman - MA - Clinton DNC Chairman Joseph Andrew - IN - Obama DNC Chairman Roy Romer - CO - Obama DNC Chairman Ed Rendell - PA - Clinton DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe - VA - Clinton

Some of these people also qualify as a superdelegate in other ways. Dodd and Byrd are Senators, and Rendell is a Governor. But don't worry, they only get one vote. The DNC classifies them as DPWs, so, for example, the Pennsylvania delegation lists 1 DPW, but 0 Governors. But other sources, such as the GreenPapers, classify them under their current office, which is what we do also. Also, former DNC Chairman Don Fowler is a current member of the DNC, so he is listed as a DNC member, not as a DPW.