Young Democrats of America to Ignore Members and Vote Clinton?

The Young Democrats of America, the official arm of the DNC for people under 36 across the country, has three superdelegates that will be able to cast their votes at the convention in Denver. As we all know, every superdelegate vote is going to mean something significant...at least if the nomination process continues to be as tight as it has been. Each of these three people, the YDA President, National Committeeman and National Comitteewoman, were elected at the YDA Convention in Dallas by the members of YDA.

A few weeks ago, YDA President David Hardt, declared to the press that he was supporting Sen. Clinton, after receiving calls from the whole Clinton family (and yes, Bill included). Of course it is against the YDA rules for the organization to endorse a candidate in the primary, so why is David announcing he is voting for Clinton to the press when he represents YDA more than anyone?

From the Statesman of Austin, TX: http://www.statesman.com/search/content/region/legislature/stories/02/07/0207texprez.html

"Superdelegate David Hardt of Dallas, officially uncommitted because he is president of the Young Democrats of America, plans to vote for Clinton after fielding calls from her, her husband and their daughter Chelsea, who also visited him."

But it does not stop there. The YDA National Committeeman to the DNC, Francisco Domenech, has even officially announced he is supporting and voting for Sen. Clinton at the convention. The National Committeewoman, Crystal Strait, has yet to announce anything officially, but is rumored to be joining her fellow officers in casting her powerful vote for Clinton as well. As reported on the blog FutureMajority.com at http://futuremajority.com/node/981

"Domenech declared his support for Hillary Clinton in December. Crystal Strait would not declare support for a candidate during our conversation, but the youth rumor mill has it that she will likely cast her ballot for Clinton..."

While there is no official poll of YDA members to show who the body's members support, more than 60% of young people have turned out to vote for Obama in the primary elections held across the country according to exit polls and national media polling. In fact, as I have reported on this blog before, the young vote has been the deciding factor in several states for Sen. Obama. This sounds like a pretty good way to me to determine who the membership of YDA supports. And just looking around the conference hall of a recent YDA meeting will give you the exact same impression: The majority of YDA members support Obama.

I understand each superdelegate has the ability to vote for whomever they choose, I think the leaders of YDA need to recognize who they represent and, more importantly, how they represent them - they were elected by the members. The members who support Sen. Obama. If all of the YDA superdelegates cast their vote for Clinton, it shows that YDA casts its vote for Clinton. And this is just simply not the case. Follow your members David, Francisco and Crystal - support Sen. Obama.