Will the 2008 Democratic nominee for president of the United States be selected by superdelegates?

This is really vague. The superdelegates will "determine" the nominee because either candidate will need their support to receive the nomination; it can't be done at this point from pledged delegates alone. Is the question "will the superdelegates select a nominee who does not receive the majority of the popular vote?" or "will the superdelegates determine the nominee at the convention?"- as it is, the answer would have to be yes, because a candidate who -wasn't- selected by superdelegates would be unable to secure the nomination.

--d

I agree with dansolomon, the question as written, is vague (remember "wind chill"? ;-)

Things to keep in mind ...
"Pledged Delegates" can also change their vote -- like Electors in the Electoral College they are not bound to vote to any delegate - albeit they usually vote for the candidate they are pledged to.

In that same way, "Pledged Delegates" to, for example, John Edwards, will (likely) change their vote at the convention.

From a blog quoting the Washington Post:

The Washington Post's Paul Kane: "We've done a bad job of explaining this, but it is now basically mathematically impossible for either Clinton or Obama to win the nomination through the regular voting process (meaning the super-delegates decide this one, baby!).

"Here's the math. There are 3,253 pledged delegates, those doled out based on actual voting in primaries and caucuses. And you need 2,025 to win the nomination. To date, about 55% of those 3,253 delegates have been pledged in the voting process -- with Clinton and Obamb roughly splitting them at about 900 delegates a piece. That means there are now only about 1,400 delegates left up for grabs in the remaining states and territories voting.

"So, do the math. If they both have about 900 pledged delegates so far, they need to win more than 1,100 of the remaining 1,400 delegates to win the nomination through actual voting.

"Ain't gonna happen, barring a stunning scandal or some new crazy revelation. So, they'll keep fighting this thing out, each accumulating their chunk of delegates, one of them holding a slight edge and bothing finishing the voting process with 1,600 or so delegates. And then the super delegates decide this thing. That's the math."

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4462722>

[Flagged]

From looking at the market I get the impression that pete is asking if the superdelegates will be the deciding factor in the nomination process. In that which ever nominee gets the majority of super delegates should be the winner? But I have to agree that the way in which the market is worded is to confusing. So I'm going to send an email out to pete to ask exactly what he is asking. If I don't get a response I'll void.

Ryan
Hubdub U.S. Politics Content Editor

"In that which ever nominee gets the majority of super delegates should be the winner?"

Umm ... depending on the outcome, a candidate may not need a MAJORITY of super delegates to get to the 2,025 delegates necessary to win the nomination.

Perhaps the question could be phrased "Will the 2008 Democratic nominee for president of the United States be selected without the votes of super delegates?"

IMNHO, the likelihood of a "no" prediction to such a question would need to be fairly high, as it it generally held that the remaining candidates will not win based on winning the remaining "pledged delegates".