Superdelegates are Getting Off the Fence

Just as I predicted last night, the superdelegate hornets' nest is stirring. Already today, three supers have pledged support for Obama and one for Clinton.

Obama is ahead of Clinton in total delegates: 1,842 to 1,686. Only 217 pledged delegates are up for grabs in the remaining six contests: West Virginia, Kentucky, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Montana and South Dakota. Neither Sen. Barack Obama nor Clinton is expected to win the 2,025 delegates needed to capture the nomination during the remaining contests. That means the superdelegates -- party and elected officials who are allowed to vote during the national convention -- will probably decide who becomes the nominee.


Here are some of the SD's perspectives: (source)


Former North Dakota Sen. George McGovern -- who had supported Clinton -- called on her to drop out of the race. He said he's supporting Obama. "I think mathematically the race is all but won by Barack Obama and the time has come for all of us to unite and get ready for the general election in the fall."


Rep John Lewis, D-Georgia, who originally supported Clinton but later threw his support to Obama, said "there are quite a few people who are having what I call an 'executive session' with themselves. People see the end is near."


Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California and a superdelegate, said she wants to talk to Clinton to "see what her view is on the rest of the race. What the strategy is."


Several SDs are still sitting on the fence:


Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-New Jersey, said he wants to "wait a little more time" before announcing his endorsement


Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colorado, has remained undecided "I think if we get this thing settled in the first 10 days of June we'll be fine," he added.


Rep. Brad Miller, who represents the 13th Congressional District in North Carolina, said he will announce who he's supporting soon. "I'm going to let the dust settle for a few days," he said.


This will get more interesting over the next few days. It's time to make a decision and the SDs know it. As the old folks say "Pee or get off the pot."