VOA慢速英語(yǔ)：超級(jí)黨代表票：候選人背后的神秘力量

[00:00.00]If you count the delegates won by Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton [00:05.03]and Bernie Sanders, the race is close. [00:08.93]Clinton, after a big primary win Saturday in South Carolina, [00:13.44]had 90 elected delegates, compared to 65 for Sanders, [00:18.10]according to RealClearPolitics.com. [00:21.86]But when you count other delegates, Clinton’s lead is much larger [00:25.94]– 543-85, the political website said. [00:30.24]The reason: “superdelegates.” [00:34.12]“They are unlike other delegates in that they are not elected in primaries or caucuses, [00:40.92]don't represent a particular candidate, [00:43.77]can endorse whomever they wish, and are not bound [00:47.24]on the first ballot or anysubsequent ballot,” [00:51.78]said Norm Ornstein. He is a government and politics expert [00:56.91]at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute. [01:00.73]Superdelegates are party leaders [01:04.08]who make up 15 percent of the 4,763 Democratic delegates. [01:10.30]A majority of the 4,763 delegates is needed to win the Democratic presidential nomination [01:18.18]at the party’s convention this summer in Philadelphia. [01:21.68]Clinton, former U.S. secretary of state, [01:26.14]and Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, [01:28.76]are the two remaining Democratic presidential candidates. [01:32.60]Most delegates to the Democratic and Republican conventions [01:40.59]are elected in primaries and caucuses. [01:42.59]Superdelegates are not elected. They are governors, mayors, [01:46.12]members of Congress and other party leaders who automatically become delegates. [01:53.45]President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden [01:57.66]are among the Democratic super delegates. [02:01.68]The Republicans have 2,472 delegates to select their presidential nominee. [02:08.00]About 7 percent are superdelegates. [02:11.92]The Republican National Committee says the party adopted a rule in 2012 [02:18.39]that requires its superdelegates to vote [02:21.66]based on the choices made by voters in their home states. [02:25.46]That means they play much less of a role than Democratic superdelegates. [02:30.71]Superdelegates have made a big difference for Clinton. [02:34.98]After the first four Democratic contests, [02:38.41]in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, [02:42.69]Clinton had a 90-65 elected delegate advantage over Sanders. [02:48.37]But a large lead in super delegates [02:51.53]– 453 for Clinton and only 20 for Sanders -- [02:56.06]puts her in a big lead for the Democratic presidential nomination. [03:01.44]The lead among superdelegates reflects the view of some party leaders [03:06.17]that Clinton is more electable than Sanders, Ornstein said. [03:10.48]But their support has angered some, especially among young voters, [03:16.03]who have packed Sanders rallies, he said. [03:19.33]Said Ornstein: “They (superdelegates) are controversial now on the Democratic Party side [03:26.51]because the overwhelming majority have endorsed Hillary Clinton, [03:30.90]while the activist outsiders who support Bernie Sanders [03:35.22]see this as a kind of a cabal to block the popular will.” [03:39.52]Isabel Framer of Ohio, a superdelegate for Clinton, [03:44.71]told Reuters she has made some voters angry. [03:47.88]On one voice mail left for Framer, [03:50.88]a caller says he does not think it is fair: [03:53.88]“you get to vote whoever way you want. [03:58.30]I’ll be watching your vote.” [04:01.00]But she said such criticism has not changed her mind [04:02.83]and she still plans to vote for Clinton at the Democratic National Convention. [04:07.07]After four Republican primaries and caucuses, Donald Trump, [04:10.51]the billionaire businessman, has 82 delegates, [04:15.64]according to RealClearPolitics.com. [04:18.58]Tied for second place are Senator Ted Cruz of Texas [04:22.40]and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, with 17 delegates each. [04:28.02]Brian Brox, a Tulane University political scientist, [04:33.23]said from the mid-19thcentury through the early 1970s, [04:37.95]Republican and Democratic officials chose presidential candidates. [04:42.15]The switch to voting by rank and file party members [04:46.35]came after the 1968 Democratic convention. [04:50.22]That was the Chicago convention that drew thousands of protesters [04:55.33]opposing the nomination of Hubert Humphrey because he supported the Vietnam War. [05:01.26]“Today, even though some party officials have voting power [05:06.03]at the conventions at which nominations are decided, the vast majority of delegates [05:11.77]to those nominating conventions are selected in primaries and caucuses [05:17.48]at which registered voters are free to participate,” Brox said. [05:22.72]In November, Americans will vote for president by choosing [05:27.58]between the Republican and Democratic nominees, [05:30.70]as well as any independent candidates who run. [05:34.01]The winning candidate in each state will get Electoral College delegates, [05:40.37]with wins in larger states worth the most. Usually, [05:45.17]the candidate who gets the most votes wins, but there are exceptions. [05:50.01]In 2000, Democrat Al Gore won more votes than Republican George W. Bush, [05:55.01]but Bush won the presidency because he got more Electoral College votes. [06:01.64]The Council on Foreign Relations describes the election process for U.S. [06:08.40]presidents as “one of the most complex, lengthy and expensive in the world.” [06:14.84]I'm Bruce Alpert.

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