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Bill Jones wrote:
 Who decided how many regular delegates there would
> be?  Democrats should be incensed at how the vote of the people can be 
> so easily subverted.   Hey, don't we all know that this is why 
> "superdelegates" exist to begin with?  So sad....

Bill, I was curious myself-being a Libertarian and a Republican before 
that, I had no clue about the Dems, so I did some reading.  What I've 
quoted below is from about.com..full link at end of article...

Who Are Super-Delegates?
Super-delegates (approximately 850 in 2008) include the following:

    * Elected members of the Democratic National Committee (~450)
    * Democratic Governors
    * Democratic US Senators and US Representatives (including 
non-voting delegates)
    * Distinguished party leaders (current and former Presidents and 
Vice Presidents; former Democratic leaders of the Senate and House; 
former DNC chairmen)
    * Unpledged "add-on's" chosen by the DNC

Rationale For Super-Delegates

The Democratic Party established this system in part in response to the 
nomination of George McGovern in 1972. McGovern took only one state and 
had only 37.5 percent of the popular vote. Then in 1976, Jimmy Carter 
was a dark-horse candidate with little national experience. 
Super-delegates were implemented in 1984.

Super-delegates are designed to act as a check on ideologically extreme 
or inexperienced candidates. It also gives power to people who have a 
vested interested in party policies: elected leaders. Because the 
primary and caucus voters do not have to be active members of the party 
(in New Hampshire they can sign up and sign out going-and-coming at the 
polls), the super-delegate system has been called a safety-value.
Importance of Super-Delegates

The Democratic Party allocates delegates based on a state's Presidential 
vote in the prior three elections and the number of electors. In 
addition, states that hold their primaries or caucuses later in the 
cycle receive bonus delegates.

It has been 30 years since the Democratic Party had a cliffhanger going 
into the Convention. If there is no clear winner after state primaries 
and caucuses, then the super-delegates -- who are bound only by their 
consciences -- will decide the nominee.

Super-Delegates In 2004
In 2004, Vermont Governor Howard Dean had the longest list of 
super-delegates of any candidate as the primary season kicked off in 
Iowa. One of those was Rep. Tom Harkin (D-IA) who said: "In my entire 
adult lifetime, I have never seen anyone broaden our party and bring 
people in and excite young people... like Governor Howard Dean." Whether 
it was his loss in Iowa or the "Dean Scream" broadcast over-and-over on 
TV, he began losing super-delegates shortly after Iowa. Within two 
weeks, he had lost 36 of his 132 super-delegates.

Super-Delegates In 2008
21 Jan 2008
In 2008, a candidate needs 2,025 votes to win the Democratic 
presidential nomination. There are about 850 super-delegates.

Roll Call keeps a list of Congressional endorsements:

    * Clinton - 80
    * Obama - 47
    * Edwards - 15

Stateline (pdf) is tracking gubernatorial endorsements:

    * Clinton - 9
    * Obama - 5

See this list at CNN and this one at Democratic Convention Watch.

The most public super-delegate endorsement so far this season was Sen. 
John Kerry's endorsement of Obama in SC.



http://uspolitics.about.com/od/2008elections/tp/super_delegates.htm




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