Hillary Clinton: Democratic Presidential Candidate

Senator Hillary Clinton is competing with Senator Bernie Sanders to be the Presidential nominee for the Democratic Party in the 2016 general election. For a variety of reasons, many had thought that Clinton would have already won the Democratic primaries, however, Sanders is running a close second to Clinton.
To become the Democratic nominee, a candidate needs 2,382 delegates. At this date, Clinton has won 1,716 delegates to Sanders’ 1,433. In addition to these delegates won through primary elections, 524 superdelegates have pledged to support Clinton, while 40 have pledged to support Sanders. There are a total of 712  superdelegates.

Who and What Are Superdelegates?
In the Democratic Party, superdelegates are chosen by party officials to select which candidate they think will best represent the party in a general election. Superdelegates are not voted for by the people in primaries. There are a total of 712 superdelegates, and each superdelegate may pledge his vote before the convention but retains the right to change his vote at the convention.

Superdelegates emerged in 1982, after the Democratic Party had been completely destroyed in the two recent Presidential elections of 1980 and 1972. Democratic Party officials believed that in the elections of 1972 and 1980, their candidates (George McGovern and Jimmy Carter) may have won a plurality of popular votes in the Democratic primaries, but they did not give the Democratic Party the best chance to win in a general election. Democrats created superdelegates so that party officials would control who became the candidate, in case there was a close election, or in case there was a candidate the party leaders felt was on the political fringe or represented a particular geographical location.

Hillary Clinton is a Controversial Candidate
For many reasons, Senator Hillary Clinton is a controversial Presidential candidate. The following is a list of complaints some have raised against Hillary Clinton:

1. Hillary Clinton defended her husband and verbally attacked women accusers when it was proven President Bill Clinton had extramarital affairs.
2. While negotiating with foreign countries as Secretary of State, citizens from these same countries donated large amounts of money to her and her husband’s non-profit Clinton Global Initiative and the Clinton Foundation.
3. The Clinton foundations have paid millions of dollars to companies whose owners have had personal and possible scandalous relationships with Bill Clinton.
4. While Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton lied to the American people regarding the Benghazi terrorist murders of American ambassador to Libya and his American defenders. Clinton argued to the public the attacks were spontaneous while in numerous personal correspondences she stated she knew they were well-coordinated terrorist attacks.
5. As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton illegally established a private email server and used her personal email to conduct federal business. She has yet to turn over all email correspondence from this server, as is required by federal law.​
   

The last Democratic Party primary takes place on June 14 in the District of Columbia. By this time, Americans should know who the presumptive Democratic Party nominee is. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from July 25th – 28th, the Democratic Party will hold its convention and choose its nominee. In August, September, and October, the Democratic Party nominee will campaign against the Republican Party nominee to try to win the general election for the U.S. President, which takes place November 8, 2016.

Great Discussion Questions You Can Ask Your Kids

1. Who is Senator Hillary Clinton and what is she running for?
2. Describe the Democratic Party nomination election between Clinton and Sanders.
3. What and who are superdelegates?
4. Are superdelegates democratic?
5. Why do some people say Senator Clinton is controversial?

By John De Gree of www.classicalhistorian.com Copyright 2016. All Rights Reserved. ‪#‎theclassicalhistorian