The sidebar entries need updating; the process has been changed; see, e.g., here, here and here, which are largely cumulative. UPDATE: Poor attention to basic proofreading, the links being here, here and here.
The thumb on the scale must be held back on a convention first ballot; then if there is no majority candidate based upon pledged delegates, superdelegates may influence voting. As party delegates they shall remain influential in informal persuation situations, and in other things, e.g., rules committee service capacities.
Situations where donor contributions to state party coffers can be pledged to be in large part rebated to some centrally favored candidate's financing may still occur but campaign finance policing should lessen the situation of when insiders had already determined and arranged such a money juggling situation based on the premise it was Hillary's turn, a situation in 2016 implemented before Sanders gained major traction.
This cycle with no pre-ordained front runner and a multitude wanting to take on the Trump presidency the demeanor of things is entirely different. If anyone might be viewed as a frontrunner it arguably is Bernie. How things shake out at the 2020 Dem convention is yet to be guessed; with a number of individuals having already declared formal candidacies. Sidebar updating re "superdelegates" will be pursued in ways a majority of readers may welcome.
UPDATE: One further link.
