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Sen. [[Gary Hart]] won 26 states and 1164 delegates at the convention<ref>In a General Election, 26 states would be enough to win the Presidency under the 12th Amendment in the event of an Electoral deadlock.</ref>. Walter Mondale won 17 states and is said to have amassed about 1600 delegates. [[Jesse Jackson]], the first African-American to win states in a major party primary, questioned the disparity between his vote total and delegate count, but even the New Left turned New Democrat, Gary Hart, echoed the DNC in poo-poo'ing Jackson's complaint<ref>See above, DISPARITY BETWEEN JACKSON'S VOTE AND DELEGATE COUNT VEXES PARTY, By DAVID E. ROSENBAUM, ''New York Times'', May 20, 1984.</ref>.

Sen. [[Gary Hart]] won 26 states and 1164 delegates at the convention<ref>In a General Election, 26 states would be enough to win the Presidency under the 12th Amendment in the event of an Electoral deadlock.</ref>. Walter Mondale won 17 states and is said to have amassed about 1600 delegates. [[Jesse Jackson]], the first African-American to win states in a major party primary, questioned the disparity between his vote total and delegate count, but even the New Left turned New Democrat, Gary Hart, echoed the DNC in poo-poo'ing Jackson's complaint<ref>See above, DISPARITY BETWEEN JACKSON'S VOTE AND DELEGATE COUNT VEXES PARTY, By DAVID E. ROSENBAUM, ''New York Times'', May 20, 1984.</ref>.

By convention time Hart was beating President Reagan by 10 points in national polls, but Mondale won nomination by capturing virtually all the Superdelegates.  Even at this late date more than 30 years later it is hard to ascertain just exactly how many Superdelegate votes there were at this crooked convention. As of April 2016 Wikipedia's 1984 Democratic Primaries page does not even mention the term "Superdelegate" anywhere.  Multiple original sources put the figure between 550 and 800; ''[[Nation (magazine)|The Nation]]'' magazine says "roughly 700" <ref>[http://www.thenation.com/article/not-so-superdelegates/ Not So Superdelegates], By Ari Berman Editorial, ''The Nation'', January 31, 2008.</ref> and ''[[Salon Media Group|Salon]]'' says 550 <ref>[http://www.salon.com/2015/02/15/exclusive_americas_last_great_convention_mondale_jackson_hart_dish_to_salon_about_wild_1984_dnc/ America’s last great convention: Mondale, Jackson & Hart dish to Salon about wild 1984 DNC], Phil Hirschkorn, ''Salon'', Feb 15, 2015.</ref>. Wikipedia is silent on the matter. Whatever the result, it is patently clear the Democratic establishment was not going to let anyone other than Walter Mondale win the nomination after Sen. Kennedy forfeited<ref>[https://www.princeton.edu/csdp/events/Zaller021102/Zaller.pdf Beating Reform:The Resurgence of Parties in Presidential Nominations, 1980-2000], Marty Cohen , David Karol, Hans Noel, Daniel Zaller, University of California Los Angelas, 9/17/01, p. 14 pdf. www.princeton.edu </ref>.

By convention time Hart was beating President Reagan by 10 points in national polls, but Mondale won nomination by capturing virtually all the Superdelegates.  Even at this late date more than 30 years later it is hard to ascertain just exactly how many Superdelegate votes there were at this crooked convention. As of April 2016 Wikipedia's ''1984 Democratic Primaries'' page does not even mention the term "Superdelegate" anywhere.  Multiple original sources put the figure between 550 and 800; ''[[Nation (magazine)|The Nation]]'' magazine says "roughly 700" <ref>[http://www.thenation.com/article/not-so-superdelegates/ Not So Superdelegates], By Ari Berman Editorial, ''The Nation'', January 31, 2008.</ref>; ''[[Salon Media Group|Salon]]'' says 550 <ref>[http://www.salon.com/2015/02/15/exclusive_americas_last_great_convention_mondale_jackson_hart_dish_to_salon_about_wild_1984_dnc/ America’s last great convention: Mondale, Jackson & Hart dish to Salon about wild 1984 DNC], Phil Hirschkorn, ''Salon'', Feb 15, 2015.</ref>. Wikipedia is silent on the matter. Whatever the result, it is patently clear the Democratic establishment was not going to let anyone other than Walter Mondale win the nomination after Sen. Kennedy forfeited<ref>[https://www.princeton.edu/csdp/events/Zaller021102/Zaller.pdf Beating Reform:The Resurgence of Parties in Presidential Nominations, 1980-2000], Marty Cohen , David Karol, Hans Noel, Daniel Zaller, University of California Los Angelas, 9/17/01, p. 14 pdf. www.princeton.edu </ref>.

One state, Wisconsin is recorded as having voted ''twice'' according to the official surviving record in primaries and caucuses under the new rules Mondale's DNC machine engineered. The official record shows Hart winning a plurality, 44% to Mondale's 41%; three days later in a highly unusual move, the "Wisconsin caucus" delivered a 54% to 29% majority (see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries,_1984#Results_by_state Wikipedia: results by state]) to Mondale in a winner-take-all closed caucus.  Wisconsin Democrats sued the DNC over its efforts to enforce the [[undemocratic]] rules formulated by the [[Winograd Commission (Democratic Party)|Winograd Commission]] targeting the 80 year old body of law behind Wisconsin's primary system, which the McGovern-Fraser compromise used to expand primaries to dozens of other states. The DNC appealed to the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] and won, forcing Wisconsin Democrats to abandon the direct primary election and adopt a closed caucus method of delegate selection. Because the state legislature had not acted yet, "voters" became "participants" and only allowed to express a non-binding "presidential preference”<ref>[http://www.bustle.com/articles/144701-what-is-a-binding-primary-or-caucus-these-distinct-events-require-delegates-to-do-this What Is A Binding Primary Or Caucus?], MORGAN BRINLEE, February 29 2016. bustle.com </ref><ref>The ruling did not apply to Republicans which were in compliance with state law and national party rules of delegate selection. </ref>, essentially disenfranchised. The reforms of ''Fighting'' Bob La Follette, founder of the [[Progressive]] movement, were completely undone.<ref>See [https://ballotpedia.org/Democratic_Party_of_U.S._v._Wisconsin_ex_rel._La_Follette Democratic Party of U.S. v. Wisconsin ex rel. La Follette], ballotopedia.org  </ref>

One state, Wisconsin is recorded as having voted ''twice'' according to the official surviving record in primaries and caucuses. The official record shows Hart winning a plurality, 44% to Mondale's 41%; four days later in a highly unusual move, the "Wisconsin caucus" delivered a 54% to 29% majority (see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries,_1984#Results_by_state Wikipedia: results by state]) to Mondale in a winner-take-all closed caucus.  Prior to the convention Wisconsin Democrats sued the DNC over its efforts to enforce the [[undemocratic]] rules formulated by the [[Winograd Commission (Democratic Party)|Winograd Commission]] which targeted an 80 year old body of law standing behind Wisconsin's primary system. The McGovern-Fraser Commission used Wisconsin's experience and model to expand primaries into dozens of other states. The DNC lost, but appealed to the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] and won a reversal. Wisconsin Democrats were forced to abandon the direct primary election and adopt a closed caucus method of delegate selection. Because the state legislature had not acted yet, "voters" became "participants" and only allowed to express a non-binding "presidential preference”<ref>[http://www.bustle.com/articles/144701-what-is-a-binding-primary-or-caucus-these-distinct-events-require-delegates-to-do-this What Is A Binding Primary Or Caucus?], MORGAN BRINLEE, February 29 2016. bustle.com </ref><ref>The ruling did not apply to Republicans which were in compliance with state law and national party rules of delegate selection. </ref>, essentially disenfranchised. The reforms of ''Fighting'' Bob La Follette, founder of the [[Progressive]] movement, were completely undone.<ref>See [https://ballotpedia.org/Democratic_Party_of_U.S._v._Wisconsin_ex_rel._La_Follette Democratic Party of U.S. v. Wisconsin ex rel. La Follette], ballotopedia.org  </ref>

Under the original rules, Superdelegates were not supposed to "commit" to  a candidate until the convention. Hart says he and his wife personally spoke with all of them to ask for their support, but virtually all were committed to Mondale for 2 years already<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080218151847/http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/02/gary-hart-how-s.html Gary Hart: How Superdelegates Did Me In in '84], Interview with Jennifer Parker, ABC News, Feb. 13 2008.</ref>.

Under the original rules, Superdelegates were not supposed to "commit" to  a candidate until the convention. Hart says he and his wife personally spoke with all of them to ask for their support, but virtually all were committed to Mondale for 2 years already<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080218151847/http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/02/gary-hart-how-s.html Gary Hart: How Superdelegates Did Me In in '84], Interview with Jennifer Parker, ABC News, Feb. 13 2008.</ref>.

After the Mondale-Hart debacle, another player who ran McGovern's [[Texas]] campaign, [[Bill Clinton]], helped organize the [http://www.blackcommentator.com/46/46_cover.html Democratic Leadership Council] (DLC). By 1992 the DLC had taken over the Democratic National Committee, but it failed to reform Mondale's rules of special privileges for party insiders. The DLC, made up originally of New Leftists, as "New Democrats" followed the view of old guard Democrats that the party had been hijacked by [[extremist]]s, and the new Superdelegate structure could be used by a new generation of insiders to keep control. But the New Democrats went a step further: they sold out their leftist idealism for corporate greed.

After the Mondale-Hart debacle, another player who ran McGovern's [[Texas]] campaign, [[Bill linton]], helped organize the [http://www.blackcommentator.com/46/46_cover.html Democratic Leadership Council] (DLC). By 1992 the DLC had taken over the Democratic National Committee, but it failed to reform Mondale's rules of special privileges for party insiders. The DLC, made up originally of New Leftists, as "New Democrats" followed the view of old guard Democrats that the party had been hijacked by [[extremist]]s, and the new Superdelegate structure could be used by a new generation of insiders to keep control. But the New Democrats went a step further: they sold out their leftist idealism for corporate greed.

===Sold to the highest bidder, 2008===

===Sold to the highest bidder, 2008===