Dan D'Ambrosio

Free Press Staff Writer

A growing number of Vermonters are expressing outrage that four of the state's most prominent Democratic Party superdelegates have committed to vote for Hillary Clinton rather than Bernie Sanders, despite Sanders' overwhelming victory in Vermont's primary.

By the end of last week, some 3,000 people had signed an open letter posted online by advocacy group Rights & Democracy that exhorted Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.; Gov. Peter Shumlin; former Gov. and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean; and party Committeewoman Billi Gosh to cast their superdelegate votes for "our fellow Vermonter Bernie Sanders," to "honor democracy in action."

James Haslam, executive director of Rights & Democracy, said a vote for Sanders is virtually dictated because the senator garnered 86.1 percent of the vote in the Vermont primary, receiving all 16 pledged delegates and "winning every single town in Vermont," as confirmed by the Secretary of State's Office.

"With this overwhelming and historic support, we request all Vermont superdelegates cast their votes for Senator Sanders," the letter states. "While some superdelegates might have made a 'promise' in the past to other candidates, it would be irresponsible and undemocratic to ignore the Democratic primary results."

At least four of Vermont's superdelegates, including Rep. Peter Welch and Secretary of State Jim Condos, have said they will vote for Sanders. "The people of Vermont have spoken," Condos said last month.

Billi Gosh rejects that perspective, saying Sanders' win in the Vermont primary has no affect on her support for Clinton.

"Bernie is from Vermont, I'm a superdelegate from Vermont, this is getting a lot of attention, but for me nothing has changed," Gosh said. "She's way ahead of him in pledged delegates."

Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, signed the open letter and said the superdelegate debate is "really a matter of the democratic process."

"The superdelegates in Vermont ought to be representing the will of Vermonters," Greenfield said. "I'm saying that 86 percent of the people in Vermont voted for Sanders in the primary, and it just seems absurd to me that these so-called superdelegates don't want to represent the view of Vermonters."

Greenfield said he thinks the entire purpose of superdelegates is to "undermine the democratic process" by reasserting control by party elites.

"One thing this election cycle is showing is that the traditional party establishment doesn't have the same control over the process as they used to," Greenfield said.

History shows that superdelegates have done nothing to re-establish Democratic Party control over the election process. They have never tipped the balance from a candidate who won the majority of pledged delegates to a candidate who trailed in delegates.

'I like Bernie Sanders'

The reference in the open letter to a "promise" to support other candidates applies to Sen. Leahy, who told the Burlington Free Press in February, before the New Hampshire primary, that he would be backing Clinton. He has made similar comments to multiple media outlets over many months.

"I won't say anything against Bernie Sanders. I like him. I work very well with him," Leahy said in an interview in Washington. "If he was the nominee, I would enthusiastically campaign for him. But I told him I gave my word to Hillary Clinton. I believe she'd make a great president, and I'll keep my word."

3 VT superdelegates pledge for Bernie Sanders

Leahy talked about his longstanding relationship with Clinton, working with her extensively when she was a New York senator and encouraging her to accept the position of secretary of state offered by President Obama in his first term.

Leahy told the Free Press that casting his superdelegate vote for Clinton was a matter of "conscience and commitment," adding he had a feeling "by the time the Democratic National Convention rolls around this summer, one of the candidates would have a clear majority of support."

This week, Leahy's campaign manager, Carolyn Dwyer, sought to clarify Leahy's position in response to the Rights & Democracy open letter. She wrote in an email that Leahy actually had not pledged his superdelegate vote.

"There has been some confusion on Senator Leahy's position, which we have tried to correct," Dwyer wrote. "Senator Leahy's personal support is with Secretary Clinton. His delegate vote will go to the candidate with the most pledged delegates at the National Convention."

When it was pointed out to Dwyer that Leahy was quoted saying it was a matter of "conscience and commitment" that he vote for Clinton, she responded in an email she understood the "confusion" surrounding the issue.

"Senator Leahy was speaking of his personal support and keeping his word when he was talking about 'conscience and commitment,' but that wasn't clear," Dwyer wrote. "I have been asked by other reporters and they have not been provided with a direct quote about his delegate vote so I have to assume he simply wasn't clear and it was left open to interpretation. We have tried to be clear in subsequent stories and ... comments as well as in our conversations with those contacting us on the issue."

Scott Coriell, spokesman for Gov. Shumlin, wrote in an email that Shumlin will continue to support Hillary Clinton for president.

"She is currently leading in pledged delegates," Coriell wrote. "To his knowledge, there has not been a scenario in recent history where superdelegates vote against the candidate who wins the most delegates and votes. He doesn't expect that to change this year."

Howard Dean did not return a message seeking comment but has been vocal on Twitter about his unchanging support for Clinton and his belief that superdelegates are bound to follow their conscience.

'Doesn't change a thing'

Vermont Democratic National Committeewoman Billi Gosh was steadfast in the face of the call to change her superdelegate vote.

"No, it doesn't change a thing," she said Friday. "I chose Hillary way back last summer. I pledged my support to her, promised her personally I would be with her. I didn't put any caveats on it, like if you do not win the primary in Vermont."

Gosh said she supported Clinton in the 2008 election as well and received the same pressure to back candidate Barack Obama as she is receiving now to vote for Sanders.

"(Obama) was getting the votes. A lot of people in that case did change; I did not," Gosh said. "I stayed with (Clinton) until she officially released us at the convention on the second day."

NH GOP urges Dem delegates to back Bernie Sanders

Through Friday, Clinton had 469 superdelegates to Sanders' 31, according to a RealClearPolitics report. Clinton has 1,280 pledged delegates to Sanders' 1,030.

"If you look at the numbers, there's some huge primaries coming up, but so far she's gotten 58 percent of the votes, 2.5 million more votes than Sanders," Gosh said.

For Sanders to catch up, she said, he would have to win about 60 percent of the remaining votes in the primaries.

"That's a pretty high bar for him to reach in terms of pledged delegates, so I'm sticking with her because she's going to be the winner, and she's superbly qualified," Gosh said. "The country is ready for a woman president, and I think the fact we have this extremely capable and experienced woman running is the nexus we've been waiting for, for a long time."

Gosh also points out that Sanders is not a Democrat.

"He is running on the Democratic ticket because he wanted a party organization behind him," Gosh said. "He has not raised any money for any other candidates or for the party itself. Hillary, of course, has for decades been raising money. She is the real Democrat."

That said, Gosh agreed she would support Sanders if he wins the popular vote — "which he's not going to do," she added. She hopes a Sanders loss won't also mean a loss of Sanders voters.

"I just hope when this happens that his people, who are so passionate, and in some ways idealistic, will stick with the process and not abandon it, because if they want change and real revolution, they have to be organized and pursue it," Gosh said. "They can do that with the Democratic Party. We are ready to accept them with open arms."

Insiders try to win back control

Bert Johnson, chairman of the political science department at Middlebury College, said it would be "very unusual" for superdelegates to go against the will of elected delegates at the national convention.

"If Sanders won the majority of elected delegates, I don't think the superdelegates would stand in his way," Johnson said.

Then why, one might ask, does the Democratic Party have superdelegates to begin with — especially since the Republican Party lacks them?

"We've had them since 1984," Johnson said. "The goal was to bring party insiders back into the nomination process after they were excluded after 1968 election reforms. In the 1970s, primaries and open caucuses were elevated as a way to select delegates. The Democrats were upset the system produced (George) McGovern and (Jimmy) Carter, a couple of candidates outside the system."

In Johnson's opinion, superdelegates have failed to affect the election process in any meaningful way.

"I think it has not achieved what they were intending to achieve, which was to give control back to party elites," he said. "They have not made the difference. Clearly in 2008, an outside candidate, Barack Obama, won the nomination."

Superdelegates persist, Johnson said, because it costs too much time and money to get rid of them by rewriting the rules.

"Like the Electoral College, superdelegates don't make sense," he said.

James Haslam, founder of the nonprofit Rights & Democracy, agrees and said, "It strikes us as fundamentally undemocratic to have Vermont superdelegates support the candidate Vermonters are not supporting."

Howard Dean strongly disagrees, as he made clear on Twitter in debates with dozens of Sanders supporters. Last month, responding to a tweet that took him to task for failing to "represent the people," Dean wrote, "Super delegates don't 'represent people.' I'm not elected by anyone. I'll do what I think is right for the country."

Nevertheless, others around the country are asking their superdelegates to "follow the will of the people," Haslam said.

"We're not alone in holding our superdelegates accountable," he said.

This story was first published on April 10, 2016. Contact Dan D’Ambrosio at 660-1841 or ddambrosio@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DanDambrosioVT.

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