Sometimes being a Democratic Party superdelegate is not so super; just ask Rep. Jared Huffman.

Huffman, one of California’s 70 superdelegates, has found himself in a pickle due to his pledge of support to Hillary Clinton in October. Supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, of which there is no shortage in the 2nd Congressional District that Huffman represents, cried foul after Huffman’s announcement on his Facebook page.

“Considering the terrible GOP candidates, the imperative of winning in this very consequential election cycle, and the opportunity to create a wave election in 2016 that returns both the Senate and the House to Democrats, I believe Hillary is our best candidate,” Huffman wrote. “For that reason, and with lots of respect for Bernie, I am endorsing Hillary Clinton and pledging my support as a ‘Super Delegate’ to her at the Democratic convention.”

Since then, however, Huffman has adjusted his position slightly.

“Initially when I endorsed Hillary Clinton I spoke a little more definitively about my superdelegate vote than I should have,” Huffman said Wednesday.

Huffman now says he will wait and see which candidate has the most pledged delegates going into the Democratic convention in July and vote for that candidate.

“I think the most democratic thing I can possibly do is to support the candidate who wins the most pledged delegates,” Huffman said. “I’m not going to go against the will of the voters as expressed in the primaries and caucuses.”

Listen to district

David McCuan, Sonoma State University associate professor of political science, said, “Any threat to Rep. Huffman would come from his left flank, so he does need to listen and to engage that part of his constituency interested in many of the issues that Sen. Sanders advocates for in his campaign.”

But Huffman’s recalibration hasn’t fully satisfied some of Sanders’ supporters.

Ruth Carter of Marinwood said, “I have written to his (Huffman’s) office as have other people I know, asking that he abide by the people whose district he is representing. If this district supports Bernie, we would appreciate it if he would do what his district wants.”

At the May 1 caucus where Sanders’ 2nd District delegates were selected, Carter, head of the Marin chapter of Progressive Democrats of America, was the top vote-getter among women — virtually assuring her a ticket to the convention.

Dotty LeMieux, a veteran Marin political campaign consultant who finished third among the four women selected as 2nd District Sanders delegates, said, “It would be good if these people didn’t pledge ahead of time before they see what their district does.”

‘Undemocratic’

West Marin progressive activist and author Norman Solomon was the top vote-getter among the men seeking to serve as 2nd District Sanders delegates. In 2012, Solomon competed with Huffman for the Democratic nomination for the 2nd District congressional seat.

Solomon said, “The superdelegate system is undemocratic, and the only remedy is for members of Congress to pledge to cast their convention votes for president in line with the wishes of constituents. It doesn’t speak well of Rep. Huffman that he has carefully dodged that option. Apparently he wants to cast his superdelegate vote for Clinton and he doesn’t want his constituents getting in the way.”

David Kunhardt, a Corte Madera solar energy developer who was the second-place finisher among men seeking to serve as 2nd District Clinton delegates, said, “Superdelegates are those who have been elected by their constituents, and are in positions of leadership. Hillary reached out to them early, and, based on past working relationships in the party, won over the majority of them. The fact that Bernie does not have that history or those links — he was not even a Democrat until recently — should surprise no one.”

So far, 520 of the party’s 718 elected officials and party leaders who are granted a vote as superdelegates have publicly stated their support for Clinton. Just 39 are supporting Sanders while 160 have not announced their preference. Sanders is far behind Clinton in pledged delegates, but even if he manages to bridge that gap in the remaining primaries, to win the nomination he would still need 159 of the superdelegates not supporting Clinton to switch allegiances.

Best against Trump

One of the arguments that Sanders’ supporters are making to superdelegates is that some polls have shown that their candidate would perform better in a head-to-head match-up with Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee. A CNN poll conducted at the end of April found Clinton with a 13 percent edge over Trump while Sanders had a 16 percent advantage.

Huffman, however, doesn’t think poll numbers tell the whole story.

“Because all of Hillary’s negatives are baked in and Sen. Sanders has really not experienced any attacks or negative campaigning directed at him,” Huffman said, “if he were the nominee, there would be several months of withering attacks and attempts to redefine him in ways that could be tough to overcome.”

Solomon said, “A case can be made either way, and there’s no reliable crystal ball on the question. So it comes down to — or should come down to — what we believe in, rather than convenient horse-racing and deference to the powerful corporate candidate.”

Some Clinton supporters have suggested that given the odds against him Sanders should end his bid for the nomination in the interest of party unity and beating Donald Trump in November, but Huffman said he sees no reason for Sanders to drop out of the race.

“No, I think that Bernie is doing just fine,” Huffman said. “I really respect the way he has tried to stay on his message and not taken it into areas that could cause lasting damage to Hillary Clinton if she is the nominee. Some of his supporters have not shown that same restraint.”

And as for the superdelegate system, Huffman said, “I think we should eliminate superdelegates completely. They really make no sense to me.” —— (c)2016 The Marin Independent Journal (Novato, Calif.) Visit The Marin Independent Journal (Novato, Calif.) at www.marinij.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. AMX-2016-05-07T23:16:00-04:00