Sutton Backing Clinton Makes Sense

Representative Betty Sutton, (OH-13), announced that she will be supporting Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention. Sutton, like all the other Democratic U.S. Representatives, is a super-delegate. Although she is not bound by the results of the Ohio primary, Sutton announced that she is supporting Clinton because her district voted for Clinton in the March primary.

Sutton will get some criticism from Obama supporters because of her decision. For what it's worth, we believe that she should vote the way her district voted. Although we understand the argument that super-delegates have the right to vote for what they think is in the best interests of the Democratic Party, we believe that super-delegates should vote the way their state or congressional district voted, especially if they are Senators or Representatives.

Of course, other well-intentioned super-delegates may take another approach. They may decide that even though one candidate or the other won their state or district, that the winning candidate locally is not the best candidate nationally. As super-delegates, they have the right to make such a decision, and, if they do, they will not be criticized by this blog. We just think that they Sutton approach is the best.

By the way, just to be clear, our support of Sutton's decision does not necessarily reflect our support of Clinton in the battle for the Democratic nomination. Our point is that super-delegates should reflect the vote of their state or district.