It used to be that the candidate was simply chosen by the party, with no open election at all. Delegates are used to distribute influence, which is by party me

It used to be that the candidate was simply chosen by the party, with no open election at all. Delegates are used to distribute influence, which is by party membership rather than population or simple voter representation. Super-delegates were introduced after the first two Democratic nominees picked by a purely popular process were a disaster (McGovern, who won only two states, and Carter, who was a wonderful person and a terrible president who paved the way for Reagan.) Sanders supporters are correct that superdelegates exist to potentially keep people like him from getting nominated. They are wrong that that is a bad thing. When Obama ran, his ability to win over superdelegates was a strong sign of his capabilities to bring together the party and win in the general. If Sanders can't do that, he's not going to be effective in office even if he could get there.