Chris Matthews just mentioned what he called a 'Convention Walkout' that would occur at the Democratic National Convention if superdelegates were to go with Hillary although Obama had more pledged (elected) delegates. Can you imagine 2000 delegates getting up and walking out of the building? I can.
In fact, I think there will be far more serious consequences. If Obama loses the nomination due to superdelegates, even though he won more elected delegates, I predict riots across cities in the United States that make the LA Riots look like a walk in the park. I hope to God that I'm wrong. But if more pledged delegates belong to Obama and Obama loses the nomination due to supers, then we're talking about the 80% of African Americans that voted for Obama feeling that their voted didn't count.
At the very least, you can be certain that many delegates, voters, and especially black voters feel disenfranchised and no longer participate in the Democratic party. At the least, you can bet on a severe rift within the party.
Take a look at the Slate.com delegate counter. http://www.slate.com/...
Go ahead, give Hillary a 20 point win in every single state from here on out. That's a 20 point win in Mississipi. In Oregon... everywhere. What happens? Obama still has more pledged delegates. In short, it is impossible for Hillary to get more pledged delegates.
Therefore, there are only two possibilities at this point. Either Obama wins the pledged delegates and super delegates choose him as the nominee. Or, Obama wins pledged delegates but super delegates overturn the will of the people and give the nomination to Hillary.
At some point, Howard Dean has to recognize the risk to the country, the party, and individual voters if the super delegates overturn the pledged delegates. We cannot let that happen.
Update: As Kos mentions today:
Bottom line? She's not going to catch up in the pledged delegate race. She wouldn't gain enough supers by forcing them to vote their states (even though she won the states with the biggest super delegate totals). So what's left?
Absent an epic collapse by Team Obama, her only chance will be coup by super delegate -- cajoling the supers to abandon the will of the voters.
Update: Several readers pointed out, and I agree, that my prediction of violence between ethnic groups was an unnecessary perpetuation of stereotypical ethnic tensions. I agree, I've edited the diary, and I apologize.