As awful as it would be for superdelegates to pick the candidate at odds with the winner of the pledged delegates and/or the popular vote, I can sorta see the value in giving elected officials and party activists an extra say in who represents the party. The supers should, in theory at least, be motivated to pick the candidate who best represents the Democratic party. I’m not so sure the same can be said of independents and fair-weather Democrats who show up to open primaries to vote for what they see as the lesser of two or more evils. It’s undemocratic, but I get it.

Having said that, I think the clear choice of superdelegates would have to be Barack Obama. Yes, Hillary has a longer history with the party, but isn’t it better for the long-term growth of the party for its leader to be the guy who’s bringing tens of thousands of new voters to the polls? The Democratic party would be best served by expanding its reach beyond its traditional bases of support and who would be better to do that than the man who’s been racking up double digit leads in the south, midwest, rural areas, and other enclaves that the traditional Dem leadership has completely written off?

An even greater motivator for the superdelegates would be to have the Democratic brand associated with another nine months of Obama’s stadium-filling crowds. If I was one of those superdelegates running for reelection in an “insignificant” state, I’d jump at the opportunity to have Barack come into my district and be able to join him onstage for a massive rally. If Obama becomes the nominee, not only will he travel beyond the 5-10 states that old-school, electoral math-obsessed politicians like the Clintons would campaign in, but his continued candidacy would have a ripple effect throughout the party.

Even if you discount the presidential race itself, the party would be best served by having Obama be its public face between now and November. He draws bigger crowds, he raises more money, he campaigns in more states, and he brings more new voters into the Democratic ranks. If the thing that makes a superdelegate “super” is that they’re longtime, trusted members of the party, they’d be fools to pass up the chance to expand the Democratic party and make it more powerful than ever.

(As an aside, I bet the GOP is really wishing they had superdelegates right now. It must suck to accidentally nominate somebody you hate.)