"Superdelegate"

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Feb 12, 2008 7:39 PM, Shapiro, Fred <Fred.Shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:
>
> "Superdelegate," although not new, is emerging into newfound prominence.  The earliest occurrence on
> Nexis is the following:
>
> 1983 _N.Y. Times_ 22 Dec. (Nexis)  Even so, the party's only black Presidential candidate, the Rev.
> Jesse Jackson, is expected to include this class of ''superdelegates'' in a challenge to delegate selection
> rules.

There's a column by George McGovern in the May 15, 1982 issue of _The
Nation_ that discusses "super delegates". I don't have a subscription
to the magazine's archive, but the snippets available on Google News
Archive show "super delegates" appearing at least three times in the
column.

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1982 George McGovern _Nation_ 15 May (online) Two thirds of them --
approximately 550 -- will be "super delegates" uncommitted to any
candidate.
http://www.thenation.com/archive/detail/11161824
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--Ben Zimmer

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