tell me about delegates and super delegates

Thanks to the Huffington Post for this explanation:

What is a delegate?

A delegate is a party supporter who attends the national convention and casts a vote in favor of candidate running for that party's presidential nomination.

The convention will host delegations from each of the 50 states, several US territories, and a contingent of "Democrats Abroad."

There are two types of delegates to the Democratic National Convention: pledged and unpledged delegates.

How many delegates will attend the 2008 Democratic National Convention?

There will be 4,070 delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention, according to the Democratic National Committee. However there will be only 4,047 votes cast by delegates.

Some delegates from American Samoa, Democrats Abroad, Guam, and the Virgin Islands only cast fractional votes.

2,025 is the magic number of delegates needed to win the Democratic presidential nomination.

What is a pledged delegate?

It is understood that pledged delegates will support a particular presidential candidate during the balloting at the national convention.

3,253 pledged delegates are in play for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

Pledged delegates are awarded proportionally to candidates based on the results of the primary or caucus results in each state and primary.

Pledged delegates are selected both at the Congressional District, and statewide levels.

So even though Candidate A won a particular state, Candidate B can still pick up a number of delegates based on their performance in individual congressional districts.

Pledged delegates make up about 8- percent of the delegates to the national convention.

Are there different types of pledged delegates?

Yes. There are three types of pledged delegates:

Congressional District Level delegates are chosen at the local level, based on the voting results in that particular district.

At-large delegates are elected at the state level to reflect the proportion of the statewide vote a presidential candidate received.

There are also a number of statewide spots reserved for state elected officials (such as mayors and state legislators) who pledge their support to an individual candidate. They are also elected in proportion to the statewide vote.

What are superdelegates?

Superdelegates is another term for "unpledged" delegates represent about 19 percent (794) of the total number of delegates to the national convention.

Superdeleagates vote at the same time as pledged delegates.

How are superdelegates chosen?

Superdelegates are:

• All members of the Democratic National Committee (elections to the DNC are held in each state and territory).
• All Democratic members of the House of Representatives
• All Democratic members of the United States Senate
• All Democratic governors
• All former Democratic presidents
• All former Democratic leaders of the United States Senate
• All former Democratic Speakers of the House
• All former Democratic House Minority Leaders
• All former Chairs of the Democratic National

Do superdelegates have to vote a certain way? Can they change their minds?

Superdelegates do not have to pledge to vote a particular way at the convention (although many announce their support for a candidate in advance). Regardless of any stated endorsement, superdelegates can vote however they choose and are free to change their minds.

Do pledged delegates have to vote a certain way? Can they change their minds?

According to the DNC, "this is one of the biggest myths of the delegate selection process/. Delegates are NOT bound to vote for the candidate they are pledged to at the Convention or on the first ballot."

Delegates sign a pledge of support, but there is no rule requiring them to honor that pledge.

Why are superdelegates important?

With Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama neck-and-neck in the delegate count, the votes of the unpledged superdelegates could be enough to push one candidate over the top.

What about the delegations from Michigan and Florida? Do their votes count?

According to the DNC, the state parties in Florida and Michigan have two options if they want their delegates to be seated:

1) Appeal to the Convention Credentials Committee. The Convention Credentials Committee determines and resolves any outstanding questions concerning the seating of delegates and alternates to the Convention. The Credentials Committee is expected to meet sometime in July or August prior to the Convention, when it could take up the matters of Florida and/or Michigan.

Members of the credentials committee are selected by the delegates from each state.

2) Michigan and Florida could still choose to run a party process, as Delaware did in 1996, to select delegates to the convention. This process must be held between now and the second Tuesday in June, in accordance with DNC rules.

::that's a clear explanation of something I haven't completely understood up to now.