Editing Superdelegate (section)

====2008 election====
At the [[2008 Democratic National Convention]], the superdelegates made up approximately one-fifth of the total number of delegates. The closeness of the race between the leading contenders, [[Hillary Clinton]] and [[Barack Obama]], led to speculation that the superdelegates would play a decisive role in selecting the nominee, a prospect that caused unease among some Democratic Party leaders.<ref>{{cite news |title=Neck and Neck, Democrats Woo Superdelegates |work=The New York Times |first=Adam |last=Nagourney |author2=Hulse, Carl  |date=February 10, 2008 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/us/politics/10superdelegates.html?scp=2&sq=superdelegates&st=nyt }}</ref> Obama led in pledged delegates at the end of voting in the state contests while not winning enough to secure the nomination without the superdelegates.<ref>{{Cite news| last = Seelye| first = Katharine Q.| title = For Clinton, a Key Group Didn't Hold| newspaper = [[The New York Times]]| date = June 5, 2008| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/us/politics/05superdelegates.html?emc=eta1}}</ref> In May 2008, however, Obama took the lead in superdelegate endorsements for the first time;<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna24556427|title=Obama takes lead in superdelegates, AP reports|publisher=NBC News|date=May 10, 2008}}</ref> Clinton dropped out four days after Obama clinched the nomination.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/06/07/us/elections/clinton-sanders-delegate-fight.html|title=If You Think the Democratic Primary Race Is Close, the 2008 One Was Even Tighter|newspaper=New York Times|date=June 8, 2016|author=Alicia Parlapiano |author2=Karen Yourish }}</ref>

Pledged delegates from state caucuses and primaries eventually numbered 3,573, casting 3,566 votes, resulting in a total number of delegate votes of 4,419. A candidate needed a majority of that total, or 2,209, to win the nomination. Superdelegates accounted for 19.6% of convention delegates, while delegates chosen in the Democratic caucuses and primaries accounted for approximately four-fifths (80.4%) of the Democratic convention delegates.<ref name="NYT">{{Cite news | title = The Primary Season: 2008 Democratic Calendar | newspaper = [[The New York Times]] | date = January 7, 2007 | url = http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/primaries/democraticprimaries/index.html }}</ref><ref name="cnnscorecard">{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/scorecard/ |title=Election Center 2008: Delegate Scorecard |work=CNN }}</ref> At the convention, Obama won 3,188.5 delegate votes and Clinton won 1,010.5 with 1 abstention and 218 delegates not voting.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.demconvention.com/roll-call-results/ |title=2008 Democratic National Convention Roll Call Results |date=August 2, 2008 |access-date=August 2, 2008 |publisher=Democratic National Convention Committee|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080903201153/http://www.demconvention.com/roll-call-results/ |archive-date = September 3, 2008}}</ref>