Of course, I think this is excluding Michigan and Florida. It would be a mess royal if those delegates aren't seated at the convention.
The superdelegate system is in there as a firewall in case a really poor nominee is in a position to be the party standardbearer. Of course, they didn't stop Mondale from being the nominee in 1984, but Reagan wasn't going to get beaten anyway.
The fact the party apparatus has long been in the tank for Hillary Clinton and encouraged her run, despite some squeamishness now she may not get the majority of pledged delegates needed for the nomination, is the reason Obama has little or no chance of being the nominee. John Edwards' chances and Joseph Biden's chances of being the nominee were small in part because they didn't have the establishment support, despite both candidates' obvious electability in the general election.
The best scenario is for the party to pick a different candidate to go up against McCain in order to please all factions. It is also the least likely scenario. The convention promises to be a mess no matter what happens.
Now today some in the Obama campaign and in the media are dismissing the importance of Hillary Clinton's victories in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island as unimportant. For they argue that, by any careful analysis of the delegate selection process under the present Democratic Party proportional representation system, whatever delegate totals Senator Clinton wins through the end of this year's primary season, will not be able to overcome Senator Obama's current unsurpassable lead over Senator Clinton and therefore Obama will deserve the support of the so-called "super delegates" and should gain the nomination. But that is not how it works as we have seen in past Democratic conventions. A lead in pledged delegates is not enough. You still have to convince your party that you are the best nominee. That is what the next stage of this election is all about.
