On the Minds of Superdelegates 7

this is the seventh in my series of "what's on the minds of superdelegates?" this one is action packed.

supers will decide the race. in fact, they were invented in the 1980s as a way to override the will of the people.

supers seem to be leaning toward obama because of the new voters that he's brought to the table. see my superdelegate tally for clinton and obama in my sidebar.

interestingly, the idea has been floated to have the supers meet in june to select a candidate. but democratic national committee chairman howard dean doesn't like the idea.

WSJ:Yesterday, in an opinion piece in the New York Times, Gov. Bredesen floated a proposal for the superdelegates to meet in June, after the final nominating contest, to hear from both candidates and commit to one then. Otherwise, he argues, their battle will rage through the summer to the nationally televised convention, and leave the fractured party just two months to unite before November. He says the candidate who looked to have fewer delegates -- combining superdelegates and delegates won in the primaries and caucuses -- would come under pressure to step aside.

Clinton and Obama have been noncommittal. He says he also spoke with former Vice President Al Gore, another uncommitted superdelegate, and acknowledged that Mr. Gore, among others, pointed out the difficulty of pulling off a June conclave.

here's one who's trying to pretend he's uncommited but he's an obvious clinton supporter.

Superdelegates are watching to see whether the senator's oratory will assuage white voters outraged at Internet videos showing the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. suggesting that America be damned for its treatment of blacks. Separately, many worry that black voters will be outraged by a sense that Sen. Obama is being unfairly judged.

The superdelegates attempt to look at electability, and there is still a lot of water to go over the dam on that subject before most of them have to commit" at the convention, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, who is uncommitted, said in an interview yesterday. "Among the rank-and-file, persuadable middle of the road, I think the guy is a problem for Sen. Obama. It kind of reminds people of some of the wars in the past."

here's a definite obama supporter:

More than the average voter, the 795 superdelegates -- Democratic governors, House and Senate members and party officers nationwide -- are sensitive to calculations about a nominee's electability. Their own elections, and those of their party brethren down the ballot, could ride on the coattails of the presidential standard-bearer. Several hundred of these delegates remain uncommitted.

But most would prefer Sen. Obama to Sen. Clinton, Democrats widely agree. He has attracted record numbers of new voters -- especially younger ones, African-Americans and independents. Sen. Clinton, they fear, would lose many of those voters and, worse, drive more Republicans to the polls just to vote against her.

"Superdelegates tend to blow with the wind, and we don't know which way the wind is blowing," says Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee, an Obama supporter. "But superdelegates know two things," he added, "only one candidate in modern times," Sen. Obama, has so energized the younger generation as well as built so large a donor base.

kentucky governor is feeling the heat:

Beshear is one of the eight known Kentucky superdelegates. The state party will select a ninth in June.

"I've traded calls with Hillary Clinton," Beshear said last week. "We haven't connected up yet. And I understand Barack Obama's going to be calling."

Some of Beshear's Democratic colleagues in statehouses around the country also have been urging the governor to pick a side, he said.

here's one who went with clinton but his district liked obama:

Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Presidential nomination back in January. As a superdelegate, Thompson's support was pledged to Clinton.

Results from the February California Primary, however, shows that Thompson's District voted for Barack Obama rather than Clinton.

a possible attack by clinton:

Chris Van Hollen, a congressman from Maryland who has remained neutral because he is the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, argues that superdelegates should not overturn the will of elected delegates unless “some totally unpredictable event”, like a scandal, renders the leading candidate unelectable. Mrs Clinton's supporters may try to argue that the Jeremiah Wright affair does just that. The Daily Kos, a multi-author lefty blog, accuses Mrs Clinton of “fomenting civil war” among Democrats and plotting a “coup by superdelegate”. If that happens, the backlash from Mr Obama's supporters could be fearful.

On the Minds of Superdelegates 1
On the Minds of Superdelegates 2
On the Minds of Superdelegates 3
On the Minds of Superdelegates 4
On the Minds of Superdelegates 5
On the Minds of Superdelegates 6