Editing Superdelegate (section)

====1984 and 1988====
In 1984, only state party chairs and vice chairs were guaranteed superdelegate status. The remaining spots were divided two ways. Democratic members of Congress were allowed to select up to 60% of their members to fill some of these spots. The remaining positions were left to the state parties to fill with priority given to governors and big-city mayors, led by Democrats and based on population. In the [[1984 United States presidential election|1984 election]], the major contenders for the presidential nomination were [[Gary Hart]], [[Jesse Jackson]], and [[Walter Mondale]]. Entering the final handful of primaries on June 5, Mondale was leading Hart in the delegate count, with Jackson far behind. The battle for delegates became more dramatic that night when Hart won three primaries, including the big prize of California in a cliffhanger. The Mondale campaign said, and some news reports agreed, that Mondale secured the needed 1,967 delegates to clinch the nomination that night in spite of losing California. But the [[Associated Press]] concluded he was "barely short of the magic majority." Mondale wanted to make it indisputable that he had enough delegate votes, and his campaign set a deadline of one minute before noon; he made 50 calls in three hours to nail down an additional 40 superdelegates and declared at a press conference that he had 2,008 delegate votes. At [[1984 Democratic National Convention|the convention]] in July, Mondale won on the first ballot.<ref name=Berman>{{Cite news | last = Berman | first = Ari | title = Not So Superdelegates | work = [[The Nation]] | date = February 18, 2008 | url = https://www.thenation.com/article/not-so-superdelegates/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1345&dat=19840606&id=aVdOAAAAIBAJ&pg=5968,1105065&hl=en|title=Mondale loses California, but near majority|publisher=[[Associated Press]]|date=June 6, 1984|access-date=August 7, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19840608&id=I31WAAAAIBAJ&pg=6138,3741353&hl=en|title=Mondale claims win; Hart fights on|newspaper=[[The Miami Herald]]|date=June 7, 1984|access-date=August 7, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/06/07/democrats-rally-to-bid-by-mondale/992c7f80-ce95-4bb4-84ae-3d857a88b423/|title=Democrats rally to bid by Mondale|newspaper=[[The Miami Herald]]|date=June 7, 1984|access-date=August 7, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/06/07/calls-yield-delegates-to-mondale/bb6112f3-9748-4c2e-ae52-b04e515b9918/|title=Calls yield delegates to Mondale|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=June 7, 1984|access-date=August 7, 2016}}</ref>

In 1988, this process was simplified. Democrats in Congress were now allowed to select up to 80% of their members. All Democratic National Committee members and all Democratic governors were given superdelegate status. This year also saw the addition of the ''distinguished party leader'' category (although former DNC chairs were not added to this category until 1996, and former House and Senate minority leaders were not added until 2000). In 1992 was the addition of a category of unpledged "add-ons", a fixed number of spots allocated to the states, intended for other party leaders and elected officials not already covered by the previous categories. Finally, beginning in 1996, all Democratic members of Congress were given superdelegate status.<ref name="TerryMichael">Terry Michael, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080528190503/http://terrymichael.net/PDF%20Files/DNC_PrezNomProcess.pdf The Democratic Party's Presidential Nominating Process]}}. March 2004 (pages 14-15)</ref> The superdelegates have not always prevailed, however. [[Howard Dean]] took an early lead in delegate counts before the first primaries in the [[2004 Democratic Party presidential primaries|2004 Democratic presidential primaries]],<ref>{{cite web| last1 = Lynch| first1 = Dotty |first2=Beth |last2=Lester | title = Dean Leads 'Superdelegate' Count | publisher = [[CBS News]]| date = January 17, 2004| url = https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dean-leads-superdelegate-count/ | access-date =May 18, 2008}}</ref> but was later defeated by [[John Kerry]], who won a succession of primaries and caucuses and, ultimately, the nomination. In 1988, a study found that delegates selected through the primary and caucus process were not substantively different from superdelegates in terms of issue viewpoints. However, superdelegates are more likely to prefer candidates with Washington experience than outsider candidates.<ref>Richard Herrerra, "Are 'Superdelegates' Super?" ''Political Behavior,'' vol. 16, no. 1. (March 1994), pp. 79-92.</ref>