When asked whether those party insiders had a responsibility to align themselves with the popular vote, she responded: “That’s not the way the process works.… [Superdelegates] are to exercise independent judgment. It’s very important that they exercise that judgment based on who they believe will lead to the best nominee.… Superdelegates are supposed to take all that information on board and supposed to be exercising the judgment that people would have exercised if this information and challenges had been available several months ago.” O.K., I get it. Despite all these heady months of spirited, hopeful, and, yes, joyful participation in caucuses and primaries, it’s alright that our votes are ignored because we are simply not in the loop. If the superdelegates override the popular will, it means we were just playing “democracy”—like playing “dress-up” or “doctor.” When it comes to the serious work of choosing the Democratic nominee, the little people must step aside and let the insiders do what we would have done if only we had known better. We told ourselves our voices mattered. What were we thinking? FALSE CONSCIOUSNESS
Hillary: The New Queen of Mean?
Senator Clinton’s endorsement of the elite’s right to override the people’s vote puts her smack in the middle of the 20th century and its dominant leadership model. That model was invented to concentrate and manage complexity at the top, when most of the rank and file was uneducated and considered ill-equipped for meaningful participation. Large centralized hierarchies, including political parties, unions, corporations, and government bureaucracies, were its hallmark. Information stayed at the top. Only commands flowed down.
