He may have a chance of winning the popularity polls, but that doesn't guarantee him the nomination. The Democratic National Convention were quick to change their rules after Jimmy Carter was able to capture public opinion in 1975 and use that to gain the delegate votes needed to become the Democratic nominee (and from there the Presidency). Since the party leadership didn't approve him they refused to work with him.
Barack Obama used the party's superdelegate system created to stop the rise of another Jimmy Carter to secure the nomination, but he made sure he was vetted by the party leadership as he did so. I don't think Sanders gives a fig about the party leadership, he's on a political crusade, so I don't expect him to win the nomination. I'll still vote for him if the primaries come to Colorado, and I'll certainly vote for him if he secures the nomination, but I don't expect it.
The US government, like US elections, operate at a remove from the actual citizens. When it comes to deciding who will be the nominee of the party, delegates aren't legally obligated to vote the way they're told. For a long time, neither was the electoral college although many states have changed their own rules to require it. That's why we refer to our government as a republic, with representatives voting on behalf of their constituents but not necessarily as their constituents tell them to vote.
He may have a chance of winning the popularity polls, but that doesn't guarantee him the nomination. The Democratic National Convention were quick to change their rules after Jimmy Carter was able to capture public opinion in 1975 and use that to gain the delegate votes needed to become the Democratic nominee (and from there the Presidency). Since the party leadership didn't approve him they refused to work with him.
Barack Obama used the party's superdelegate system created to stop the rise of another Jimmy Carter to secure the nomination, but he made sure he was vetted by the party leadership as he did so. I don't think Sanders gives a fig about the party leadership, he's on a political crusade, so I don't expect him to win the nomination. I'll still vote for him if the primaries come to Colorado, and I'll certainly vote for him if he secures the nomination, but I don't expect it.
Ah! thanks for that. As a canadian looking in, I'm not all that familiar with the inner workings of the american system.
The US government, like US elections, operate at a remove from the actual citizens. When it comes to deciding who will be the nominee of the party, delegates aren't legally obligated to vote the way they're told. For a long time, neither was the electoral college although many states have changed their own rules to require it. That's why we refer to our government as a republic, with representatives voting on behalf of their constituents but not necessarily as their constituents tell them to vote.