Obama picks up 9 superdelegates

Saturday 10th May, 06:10 AM JST

WASHINGTON —

Barack Obama steamed ahead Friday toward the Democratic presidential nomination, drawing nearly even in superdelgate support with Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has been counting on those party officials to keep her candidacy alive.

Obama on Friday picked up nine more superdelegates, including one who previously backed Clinton, in an apparent outpouring of new support as he seeks to become the U.S.’s first black president.

Superdelegates—party insiders and elected officials who are not bound by state results—will likely cast the deciding votes at the party’s August nominating convention because neither candidate will have enough delegates to clinch the nomination from state contests alone.

The two Democrats have been lobbying superdelegates to line up behind them in the final push for the nomination. While Obama has presented himself, albeit subtly, as the inevitable candidate, Clinton’s efforts have been to ward off further defections and convince the crucial voting block that her candidacy still retained signs of life.

Clinton also gained a superdelegate.

After a strong showing in two state primaries earlier this week, Obama appeared to be more convincing in delivering his message. The new endorsements put him within just a half-point of catching Clinton in endorsements from superdelegates.

Obama currently has 271 to Clinton’s 271.5. Little more than four months ago, on the eve of the primary season, Clinton held a lead of 169-63.

New Jersey Rep Donald Payne, who announced his decision Friday, is one of at least 10 superdelegates who have switched allegiances from Clinton to Obama. None have publicly switched the other way.

Obama also picked up the endorsement of the influential American Federation of Government Employees union on Friday.

“Our people, I think, recognize the enthusiasm and vitality behind Senator Obama’s campaign,” AFGE President John Gage said.

Gage, a previously uncommitted superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention, said he is also personally endorsing Obama.

In an interview with National Public Radio, former Democratic candidate John Edwards—who has declined to endorse either former rival—said Clinton has made a compelling case for her candidacy, but “I think it’s very hard for her now to make a compelling case for the math. I mean, I think that’s the reality of what she’s faced with. She knows that.”

Democratic Rep Rahm Emanuel, who worked in the Clinton White House and has home state ties to Obama, told the New Yorker that Obama was the “presumptive nominee.” Emanuel has remained neutral in the race.

Both Clinton and Obama were campaigning Friday in Oregon, which holds its primary on May 20. While polling in the Pacific Northwest state has been sparse, Obama is believed to hold a significant advantage over his rival.

But that race—one of six remaining contests—is unlikely to decide a 16-month nomination battle that has both polarized and riveted Democratic voters. It is mathematically impossible for either candidate to clinch the nomination without the support of superdelegates.

As of late Thursday, Obama had 1,859.5 delegates to Clinton’s 1,697. Obama is just 165.5 delegates short of the 2,025 delegates needed to win it.

The roughly 800 superdelegates are the ones likely to decide the outcome. Of that total, about 260 remain uncommitted. About a third of the undeclared superdelegates are members of Congress.

The Associated Press has contacted nearly 100 of the undeclared superdelegates since the Tuesday contests and has found that many see Obama as the likely nominee, but are reluctant to make a public commitment until after the final states hold their votes June 3.

Obama has focused more intently on McCain in recent weeks. On Thursday, he accused him of “losing his bearings” for repeatedly suggesting the Islamic militant group Hamas preferred Obama for president.

That brought an angry response from McCain’s campaign, which accused Obama of trying to make an issue of McCain’s age. McCain turns 72 in August and would be the oldest person to be sworn in as president if elected.

Meanwhile, Clinton continued to press her case that she was the candidate most equipped to defeat McCain in November, though new comments about race dogged her following an interview with USA Today published Thursday.

In it, Clinton cited an Associated Press article “that found how Senator Obama’s support among working, hardworking Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me.”

Obama’s campaign did not respond to the comments, which generated buzz among liberal blogs.

Latest 15 of 63 Total Comments Show All

nucular at 08:09 PM JST - 10th May

">> Obama is just 165.5 delegates short"
Sarge at 08:37 PM JST - 10th May

Cleo - Good one.
SushiSake3 at 10:26 PM JST - 10th May

Sarge - "Are the Democrats really dumb enough to nominate Barack Obama for president?"

Gee, even Republicans are dumb enough to vote for Obama, too.

More and more of them :-)
SushiSake3 at 10:33 PM JST - 10th May

Romeo - "Wow!! Great read about Barry's "choom gang" buddy."

This news - that Barack Obama was at one time called 'Barry' - gets you THAT excited??

I feel tempted to buy you a new crayon set for Christmas so that you can let all of your pent up excitement about 'Barry' out :-)
SushiSake3 at 10:35 PM JST - 10th May

nucula - "The same party that has filled the universities, TV, airwaves and media with an army of **loyal groupthink apparatchiks **insisting that Washington doesn't listen to the average voter believed they had to appoint a **bunch of cronies **and **race pimps **to ensure a primary outcome in which **rank and file Dems **don't get nominated an individual who is unelectable in the national."

MORE CUTE LABELS! :-)

Can we please move beyond the immature labels and onto real issues?

Thanks.
SushiSake3 at 10:43 PM JST - 10th May

Romeo - "This is a sad, pathetic example of the type of plodding, self-conflicting, broken, inefficient, boneheaded way an entire party runs itself."

OK, let's not bother to mention how the Republican party you so ardently support is effectively dead and buried, Rove and Cheney's mates are getting subpoenoed, every 'real' Conservative candidate has been booted out of the competition, Bush's popularity is lower than Nixon's the day before the latter man resigned in disgrace, or how more and more Republicans are now throwing their support behind Democrat candidates.

Or maybe the GOP has a cunning plan for Sen. McCain to rise up from near-death and lead the GOP to a stunning victory?

Maybe they will when they finally figure out how Hillary is out-raising Sen. McCain by $2.5 to every dollar he raises, and why Obama is outraising Sen. McCain by $3/$1 and pulled in a record $235 million in March.

But by then, it will be too late.
soothsayer at 12:22 AM JST - 11th May

Obama picks up 9 superdelegates

Wow! There's no way Hilary could lift that many. This guy is amazing!

Just thought I'd bring some depth to this forum.
SezWho2 at 01:14 AM JST - 11th May

nucular,

Not every mistake is a blunder. Obama misspoke. That is all.

I think if McCain made a mistake like this, bottom feeders would try to live on it. But that is not an acceptable excuse for practicing distraction. By intentionally misrepresenting people you contribute to the corruption of democracy.
SezWho2 at 01:20 AM JST - 11th May

RomeoRamenII,

As I read the quotations you have excerpted from Obama's book, the key words that jump out at me are:

ceased

the age of 12 or 13

found

If I must be more clear, I notice the age and the past tense.

My daughter is 13. I've been assuming she's not going to be like this forever. I'd really hate for future society to hold her to her current thoughts and feelings.
WhiteHawk at 03:10 AM JST - 11th May

BeatlesFan:

Say what you will, Obama is the right man for these times. If he's willing to open a dialogue with the Muslim world perhaps that will be the best for the Western world. The current strategy of trying to kill them all is not a good one. Obama will sit down and talk to the Muslims. If other nations would take his lead I am sure peace can be attained. The time for a new direction has come. And Obama will lead that needed shift in opinion about the Muslims. He spent time as a child with them. None of the others running for president can make that claim.

Funny how Obama is the only candidate who lived among Muslims yet he is still clueless about how dangerous radical clerics and jihadists can be.

I can understand your naivety, since you've only been around a little while and have to read about history that I've lived to see unfold. You're dependent on other people's perspectives, but you get to pick and choose which ones you want to believe. As for me, well, I can't rewrite my memories.

What is the point of "talking to the Muslims"? Not all Muslims are terrorists, nor do all support Islamic terrorism. Only a small percentage (less than 10% worldwide) are actually terrorists, and only -maybe- 30% worldwide are sympathetic to the actions of that 10%. Granted, 10% of 1.7 billion is still a lot of people...

The thing is, that majority of peaceful, non-radical, non-fundamentalist Islam is willing to sit and talk with an American or Western leader, but they have nothing to discuss. They're on our side! And they have no control over the radical segment of Islam. That radical segment, by the way, is not interested in talking to us, unless we are offering our unconditional surrender to Allah. So Obama's promise to "open a dialogue with the Muslim world" is as useless and empty a campaign promise as saying he doesn't take any money from lobbyists or oil companies.

By the way, I've had Muslim neighbors and friends. Does that qualify me to run for president? I've got as much, if not more, executive experience as Obama. And my pastor isn't a raving, paranoid, hypocrite loon.

rjd_jr:

We are well on our way to America's first Black president. Obama is the best and freshest pick out of this stale crop of candidates. I'm sure the closet and not so closet bigots will make a final big push to discredit him in any way, I'm sure the reality of the moment hasn't hit them yet but it will soon my friends. I will cast my vote for Obama. McCain is a joke. We need fresh blood and an inspiration to not only Americans but people all over the world. The choice is clear: Obama for president 2008, what a story I can tell my grandkids, that I voted for the first Black president in the history of America. Hallelujah.

So you're voting for Obama because he's black. And unproven. Great. Obviously, it hasn't crossed your mind that such statements make you look like a bigot.

I would never consider voting for Obama, just as I've never considered voting for the other Marxist candidate, the one with two white parents. Just as I've never considered voting for the Marxist candidates that preceded them. Why not? Well, let's see... um... oh yeah, because I'm a bigot. I'm bigoted against Marxists.

I wonder, have you ever been critical of Dr. Condi Rice? It wasn't because she is black, was it? Maybe I should dig through your old posts...

Oh, and I look forward to seeing your support of J.C. Watts or Bobby Jindal, once they can be convinced to run for president.

Finally, the irony just slays me. The same liberal mindset that was crying about the electoral college in 2000 and calling for its death, now has to watch as a group of politically-selected elitsts decide the fate of the "one man, one vote" party. I may be loving this more than adaydream is...
amerijap at 09:58 AM JST - 11th May

Looks like he's gonna turn the table by keeping the gold in his pocket.
Hughgarse at 11:30 AM JST - 12th May

what kind of superpowers do these superdelegates have to make all the fuss?.. ex-ray vision, flying skills, ability to fix the economy?
user1684 at 10:56 PM JST - 12th May

Obama isn't any more "unproven" than Bush or Clinton were when they were both elected.

Actually, a senator may be more qualified to be president than a governor. The Senate many times can be the nemesis of the executive branch. So, the experience in the Senate gives the person perspective. While governors are responsible for the health of the state in which they are governor, they are not considered to be Washington "insiders" as some senators are.

This year the three candidates that are left are all senators and all are equally qualified.

So you see, the only thing that all three have "proved" is that they all can be elected to the Senate, and that is the only thing that matters.

With all three being on equal footing the only issue then is whether Americans want another 8 years of war, unstable economy, and one party flushing the environment down the toilet. If they say enough is enough, we want a change, they will elect Obama, because Hillary is history.
RomeoRamenII at 11:32 PM JST - 12th May

Actually, a senator may be more qualified to be president than a governor.

Though the streak is about to end, no sitting senator has been elected U.S. President since JFK in 1960. The record is something like 0-72.

Meanwhile, carter, Mr. Reagan, clinton and Mr. Bush -- all governors -- were voted into office.

RR
WhiteHawk at 03:32 AM JST - 13th May

user1684:

Obama isn't any more "unproven" than Bush or Clinton were when they were both elected.

A one-term Senator with no executive experience whatsoever? Riiiiight. Maybe his experience is in skipping votes. He's missed almost twice as many senate votes in his three years as Hillary has in her seven years on the hill.