JACKSON — Democrats across Mississippi will go to their graves believing that the 2000 presidential election was stolen from Democratic nominee Al Gore by Republic nominee George W. Bush and the U.S. Supreme Court in the most controversial and disputed presidential election in U.S. history.
After the court decision finally settled the election in Bush’s favor in an election in which Gore outpolled Bush by more than 500,000 votes, independent Florida recounts conducted by The Miami Herald and USA Today determined that Bush would have won in all legally requested recount scenarios, but that a statewide recount under the most generous standards would have given Gore a narrow victory.
It’s ironic that in the down-to-the-wire race for the Democratic presidential nomination, some Democrats may be claiming that the 2008 presidential election was “stolen” from them by Democrats.
Specifically, there’s concern among Democrats about the so-called “super delegates” — the 796 Democratic Party elected officials and other party notables whose final allegiances are not determined by individual state party caucuses or primaries. The super delegates can choose to support the candidate of their choice regardless of the outcome of the primaries or caucuses — and they may well possess the power to swing the nomination to either Illinois Sen. Barack Obama or New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Mississippi will have seven such delegates before the Democratic National Convention. State Democrats began their delegate selection process in earnest on Feb. 23 in precinct-level meetings statewide. Democrats continued the process of choosing their district level delegates and alternates after the March 11 presidential preference primary in district level conventions that began April 5.
The Mississippi Democratic State Convention will be held June 7 in Jackson. The Democratic National Convention will be held in Denver from Aug. 25-28.
Mississippi’s seven Democratic Party super delegates can vote for the candidate of their choice regardless of the votes received by candidates in the Democratic primary election. But the other 33 delegates will be assigned based on the proportion of votes each candidate receives in the March 11 vote.
Election returns from that primary shows that Obama won 20 delegates from the state and Clinton won 13.
Obama won the primary with 265,502 votes, or 61.2 percent. Clinton placed second with 159,221 votes, or 36.7 percent.
Democratic contenders who had already suspended their campaigns prior to March 11 split the remaining 2.1 percent.
A record 434,152 voters cast ballots in Mississippi’s 2008 Democratic presidential primary.
Mississippi has seven Democratic super delegates:
- State party Chairman Wayne Dowdy of McComb, who is uncommitted.
- Party Vice Chairperson Carnelia Pettis Fondren of Oxford, who is uncommitted.
- National committeewoman Johnnie Patton, who is committed to Obama.
- National committeeman Everette Sanders, who is committed to Obama.
- 2nd District U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, who is committed to Obama.
- 4th District U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor, who is uncommitted,
- The state’s final unpledged “add-on delegate,” who will chosen at the June 7 state convention.
So at present, based on how Mississippi Democrats voted, Obama has a 23-13 Mississippi delegate lead over Clinton. But should they choose, Mississippi’s super delegates could make an 11th-hour change of their allegiances to give Clinton a 20-20 tie among Mississippi’s 40 delegates to the DNC — effectively “stealing” the primary win from Obama.
Stranger things happen daily.
