Congressional Black Caucus Opposes Changes To Party Rules

Bernie Sanders wants to change the rules of the Democratic Party regarding how their presidential candidate is chosen -- even though he's only been a Democrat for a few months, and lost his presidential bid fair and square (by winning fewer states, fewer votes, and fewer delegates). He wants to make it easier for an outsider to claim the nomination, and for Republicans to cross-over and disrupt our primary system.

The Congressional Black Caucus is unanimously against the changes proposed by Sanders, and I wholeheartedly agree with them. Here is the letter they sent to the Clinton and Sanders campaigns, the DNC, and Democratic congressional leaders. They wrote:

To Whom It May Concern:

The Democratic Members of the Congressional Black Caucus recently voted unanimously to oppose any suggestion or idea to eliminate the category of Unpledged Delegate to the Democratic National Convention (aka Super Delegates) and the creation of uniform open primaries in all states.

The Democratic Party benefits from the current system of unpledged delegates to the National Convention by virtue of rules that allow members of the House and Senate to be seated as a delegate without the burdensome necessity of competing against constituents for the honor of representing the state during the nominating process.

The origin of the unpledged delegate selection process authored by Congressman James E. Clyburn, DSC is attached to this letter. It accurately chronicles the use of the unpledged delegate system and sets out with particularity the reasons why this system was enacted many years ago. The system of allowing members of Congress to serve as unpledged delegates has worked quite well. There is no need to succumb to the pressure of a few individuals to make this change. We oppose any change to the current delegate selection process for members of Congress.

The CBC is opposed to any state nominating system that would allow independent or Republican voters to participate in a Democratic Primary. The Democratic Party primary is the process used by the party to allow political aspirants to compete for their party’s nomination. Allowing independent or Republican voters to participate in the Democratic primary would dilute minority voting strength in many districts across the country.

Finally, the members of the Congressional Black Caucus respectfully request that we be included in any discussion that will change the system of unpledged delegates. In addition, we should be included in any discussion that would seek to change the nominating rules to open primaries. These are significant issues that directly affects our ability to effectively participate in the political process. Thank you.

Sincerely,

G.K. Butterfield

Chairman Democratic Caucus of the Congressional Black Caucus

You can access Rep. Cleburne's writing referenced above right here.