Changes

After [[Ted Kennedy]]'s [[primary]] challenge and [[President Carter]]'s loss to Reagan in 1980, Democrats rewrote their nominating and convention procedures for the fourth time in twelve years<ref>See Broder, below.</ref>. Anticipating a two-way contest in 1984 between Sen. Kennedy and former Vice President [[Walter Mondale]]<ref>Bad blood existed between the Humphrey-Mondale and Kennedy machines going back to [[Hubert Humphrey]]'s 1960 Presidential primary campaign. Humphrey later wrote of the [[Massachusetts liberal|Kennedy machine]], "underneath the beautiful exterior there was an element of ruthlessness and toughness I had trouble either accepting or forgetting."</ref>, the original point of contention between them was over bound delegates which Sen. Kennedy wanted to loosen, while the Mondale machine wanted a candidate to be able to go so far as to replace a "disloyal delegate"<ref>[http://academic.regis.edu/jriley/413%20democratic_party_convention_rule.htm Democratic party convention rule changes]. academic.regis.edu . Delegates must march in lockstep.</ref>.  

After [[Ted Kennedy]]'s [[primary]] challenge and [[President Carter]]'s loss to Reagan in 1980, Democrats rewrote their nominating and convention procedures for the fourth time in twelve years<ref>See Broder, below.</ref>. Anticipating a two-way contest in 1984 between Sen. Kennedy and former Vice President [[Walter Mondale]]<ref>Bad blood existed between the Humphrey-Mondale and Kennedy machines going back to [[Hubert Humphrey]]'s 1960 Presidential primary campaign. Humphrey later wrote of the [[Massachusetts liberal|Kennedy machine]], "underneath the beautiful exterior there was an element of ruthlessness and toughness I had trouble either accepting or forgetting."</ref>, the original point of contention between them was over bound delegates which Sen. Kennedy wanted to loosen, while the Mondale machine wanted a candidate to be able to go so far as to replace a "disloyal delegate"<ref>[http://academic.regis.edu/jriley/413%20democratic_party_convention_rule.htm Democratic party convention rule changes]. academic.regis.edu . Delegates must march in lockstep.</ref>.  

The Mondale machine, supported by Chairman Jim Hunt and union bosses, more importantly wanted to do something about outsiders and [[New Left]] “extremists”<ref>Reforming the Presidential Nomination Process, Steven S. Smith & Melanie J. Springer, p.7, below.  www.brookings.edu </ref> they felt had taken over the party<ref>[[Jane Fonda]] and [[Tom Hayden]] are interesting case studies; by 1980 Fonda was calling herself a "small 'd' democrat" advocating “industrial policy” and [http://www.janefonda.com/tag/campaign-for-economic-democracy/ “economic democracy”] while Hayden was entering the ranks of the “establishment” electoral process through the California Democratic machine. Fonda’s terminology [https://go.berniesanders.com/page/event/detail/volunteeractivityormeeting/4v4xs remarkably resembles views] espoused by [[Bernie Sanders]], who also began a career in electoral politics outside the Establishment Democratic Party in the early 1980s. Fonda and Hayden became involved in the ‘save the whales’ and [[Greenpeace]] movement. By 1979 after the U.S. withdrawal from South Vietnam, the [[Democide|Cambodian genocide]] in which 2 million persons were murdered was well under way, and a popular reaction against the “anti-establishment” New Left peace movement of the 1960s took hold in the United States. Bumper stickers with slogans such as “nuke the whales” became fashionable.</ref><ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/30/arts/jane-fonda-of-the-80-s-mellower-but-still-an-activist.html JANE FONDA OF THE 80'S MELLOWER BUT STILL AN ACTIVIST], By MICHIKO KAKUTANI, ''[[New York Times]]'', March 30, 1981.</ref><ref>See also ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=RbpdkYGh65kC&pg=PA191&lpg=PA191&dq=%22Russia+Iran+Disco+Suck%22&source=bl&ots=ARPrGgswYE&sig=YV0lNWWWR2nyPc4lwg7V4B-tRwo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZxMuXvMPMAhVR5WMKHcElCZcQ6AEINTAF#v=onepage&q=%22Russia%20Iran%20Disco%20Suck%22&f=false Russia Iran Disco Suck]'' for a summary of the popular mood in the late 1970s.</ref>.  The Mondale and Kennedy machines agreed to do away with portions of the McGovern-Fraser Commission (known as the "reform movement") that had striped influence and power from elected government office holders in the nomination process<ref>[http://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/01/15/Democratic-party-rule-makers-recommended.-today-that-delegates-to/3774379918800/ UPI Reporting on the Hunt Commission by ARNOLD SAWISLAK], Jan. 15, 1982.</ref> and paved the way for outsiders and an "insurgent candidate" . The rules the Democratic National Committee (DNC) adopted from Hunt Commission recommendations didn't just allow or encourage incumbents to return, it guaranteed them seats outside the regular [[Democracy|democratic]] selection process. The Kennedy faction wanted to cut the number from about 800 reserved seats in half<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/01/17/democrats-and-unintended-consequences/d4741a07-05a2-47b1-bd33-b04458338005/ Democrats and Unintended Consequences], By David S. Broder, ''[[Washington Post]]'', January 17, 1982. </ref>, but over the years the base number of other delegates was expanded to meet the target of about 1-in-6 rather than the 1-in-3 originally proposed.  [http://www.foxnews.com/person/e/susan-estrich.html Susan Estrich], who was to manage Michael Dukakis' 1988 presidential campaign<ref>Estrich and Dukakis are ranking members in the Massachusetts Kennedy machine which tried to resurrect the 1960 alliance and victory with Texas Democrats on the Dukakis/Bentsen ticket.</ref> strenuously objected to the plan, and derisively coined the term "super-delegate", whom she claimed would disproportionately be white males<ref>[https://www.hks.harvard.edu/news-events/news/news-archive/history-of-superdelegates A History of 'Super-Delegates' in the Democratic Party], Elaine Kamarck, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, 2016.</ref>. Nevertheless, the idea became rule, and the figure of about 800  positions has held<ref>The number varies cycle to cycle based upon the number of Congressional seats, Governorships, and other offices the Democratic party  controls, and when vacancies occur during the 90 day window for selection or at the time the Credentials Committee convenes. Superdelegatges have been likened to the ruling ''[[Nomenklatura]]'' of the Soviet era. </ref>, while the requirements for non-elected office holders chosen outside of the  primary and caucus system has only been expanded<ref>Democratic party convention rule changes, academic.regis.edu , above.</ref>. The "Old Democrats" had retaken power with a vengeance.

The Mondale machine, supported by Chairman Jim Hunt and union bosses, more importantly wanted to do something about outsiders and [[New Left]] “extremists”<ref>Reforming the Presidential Nomination Process, Steven S. Smith & Melanie J. Springer, p.7, below.  www.brookings.edu </ref> they felt had taken over the party<ref>[[Jane Fonda]] and [[Tom Hayden]] are interesting case studies; by 1980 Fonda was calling herself a "small 'd' democrat" advocating “industrial policy” and [http://www.janefonda.com/tag/campaign-for-economic-democracy/ “economic democracy”] while Hayden was entering the ranks of the “establishment” electoral process through the California Democratic machine. Fonda’s terminology [https://go.berniesanders.com/page/event/detail/volunteeractivityormeeting/4v4xs remarkably resembles views] espoused by [[Bernie Sanders]], who also began a career in electoral politics outside the Establishment Democratic Party in the early 1980s. Fonda and Hayden became involved in the ‘save the whales’ and [[Greenpeace]] movement. By 1979 after the U.S. withdrawal from South Vietnam, the [[Democide|Cambodian genocide]] in which 2 million persons were murdered was well under way, and a popular reaction against the “anti-establishment” New Left peace movement of the 1960s took hold in the United States. Bumper stickers with slogans such as “nuke the whales” became fashionable.</ref><ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/30/arts/jane-fonda-of-the-80-s-mellower-but-still-an-activist.html JANE FONDA OF THE 80'S MELLOWER BUT STILL AN ACTIVIST], By MICHIKO KAKUTANI, ''[[New York Times]]'', March 30, 1981.</ref><ref>See also ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=RbpdkYGh65kC&pg=PA191&lpg=PA191&dq=%22Russia+Iran+Disco+Suck%22&source=bl&ots=ARPrGgswYE&sig=YV0lNWWWR2nyPc4lwg7V4B-tRwo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZxMuXvMPMAhVR5WMKHcElCZcQ6AEINTAF#v=onepage&q=%22Russia%20Iran%20Disco%20Suck%22&f=false Russia Iran Disco Suck]'' for a summary of the popular mood in the late 1970s.</ref>.  The Mondale and Kennedy machines agreed to do away with portions of the McGovern-Fraser Commission (known as the "reform movement") that had striped influence and power from elected government office holders in the nomination process<ref>[https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/01/15/Democratic-party-rule-makers-recommended.-today-that-delegates-to/3774379918800/ UPI Reporting on the Hunt Commission by ARNOLD SAWISLAK], Jan. 15, 1982.</ref> and paved the way for outsiders and an "insurgent candidate" . The rules the Democratic National Committee (DNC) adopted from Hunt Commission recommendations didn't just allow or encourage incumbents to return, it guaranteed them seats outside the regular [[Democracy|democratic]] selection process. The Kennedy faction wanted to cut the number from about 800 reserved seats in half<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/01/17/democrats-and-unintended-consequences/d4741a07-05a2-47b1-bd33-b04458338005/ Democrats and Unintended Consequences], By David S. Broder, ''[[Washington Post]]'', January 17, 1982. </ref>, but over the years the base number of other delegates was expanded to meet the target of about 1-in-6 rather than the 1-in-3 originally proposed.  [http://www.foxnews.com/person/e/susan-estrich.html Susan Estrich], who was to manage Michael Dukakis' 1988 presidential campaign<ref>Estrich and Dukakis are ranking members in the Massachusetts Kennedy machine which tried to resurrect the 1960 alliance and victory with Texas Democrats on the Dukakis/Bentsen ticket.</ref> strenuously objected to the plan, and derisively coined the term "super-delegate", whom she claimed would disproportionately be white males<ref>[https://www.hks.harvard.edu/news-events/news/news-archive/history-of-superdelegates A History of 'Super-Delegates' in the Democratic Party], Elaine Kamarck, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, 2016.</ref>. Nevertheless, the idea became rule, and the figure of about 800  positions has held<ref>The number varies cycle to cycle based upon the number of Congressional seats, Governorships, and other offices the Democratic party  controls, and when vacancies occur during the 90 day window for selection or at the time the Credentials Committee convenes. Superdelegatges have been likened to the ruling ''[[Nomenklatura]]'' of the Soviet era. </ref>, while the requirements for non-elected office holders chosen outside of the  primary and caucus system has only been expanded<ref>Democratic party convention rule changes, academic.regis.edu , above.</ref>. The "Old Democrats" had retaken power with a vengeance.

The Hunt Commission (or "counter-reform movement") discarded the proportional allocation rules from the 1970s in favor of winner-take-all. Prior to proportional representation there was the “unit rule”, a delegation had to vote as a unit, now known as “winner-take-all”. McGovern-Fraser scraped the unit rule in favor of [[affirmative action]], or “proportional representation”, rather than actual votes cast. Today’s “unpledged” Superdelegates are party bosses whose cronies, the “pledged delegates”, earn their seats in state machines by working to elect Superdelegates in previous elections. Together they function as a unit, wherein the boss makes a deal to throw his weight behind a candidate -- a re-creation of the 19th century political machine that [[Progressive]] reformers such as Bob La Follette fought to eliminate<ref>La Follette wanted to do away with caucuses and conventions completely, which he said were [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lhbum&fileName=07510/lhbum07510.db&recNum=226&itemLink=r?ammem/lhbum:@field%28DOCID+@lit%28lhbum07510div10%29%29%23075100227&linkText=1 "prostituted to the service of corrupt organization"] and wanted to rely on the direct open primary so that  "nominations of the party will not be the result of 'compromise' or impulse, or evil design...[but rather] the candidates of the majority, honestly and fairly nominated." [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/lhbum:@field(DOCID+@lit(lhbum07510)):@@@$REF$ Robert La Follette's Autobiography], pp. 195-200.</ref>.

The Hunt Commission (or "counter-reform movement") discarded the proportional allocation rules from the 1970s in favor of winner-take-all. Prior to proportional representation there was the “unit rule”, a delegation had to vote as a unit, now known as “winner-take-all”. McGovern-Fraser scraped the unit rule in favor of [[affirmative action]], or “proportional representation”, rather than actual votes cast. Today’s “unpledged” Superdelegates are party bosses whose cronies, the “pledged delegates”, earn their seats in state machines by working to elect Superdelegates in previous elections. Together they function as a unit, wherein the boss makes a deal to throw his weight behind a candidate -- a re-creation of the 19th century political machine that [[Progressive]] reformers such as Bob La Follette fought to eliminate<ref>La Follette wanted to do away with caucuses and conventions completely, which he said were [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lhbum&fileName=07510/lhbum07510.db&recNum=226&itemLink=r?ammem/lhbum:@field%28DOCID+@lit%28lhbum07510div10%29%29%23075100227&linkText=1 "prostituted to the service of corrupt organization"] and wanted to rely on the direct open primary so that  "nominations of the party will not be the result of 'compromise' or impulse, or evil design...[but rather] the candidates of the majority, honestly and fairly nominated." [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/lhbum:@field(DOCID+@lit(lhbum07510)):@@@$REF$ Robert La Follette's Autobiography], pp. 195-200.</ref>.