Superdelegate Watch For Friday: Obama Adds Third of The Day, Edwards All But Endorses
Posted by Ashish on 05.09.2008
Obama off to a big day among superdelegates...
Barack Obama has added his third superdelegate of the day in American Federation of Government Employees head John Gage. Oregon super Rep. DeFazio also endorsed Obama today and former Clinton superdelegate New Jersey Rep. Donald Payne switched from her to him today. Clinton got one new superdelegate in Pennsylvania Rep. Chris Carney, but due to Payne switching, her net gain for the day is zero while Obama has gained three. There is also word that he is going to score another California superdelegate today as well as a Utah add-on superdelegate later today.
Meanwhile, another "undecided" superdelegate, Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel, declared the race over: "At this point, Barack is the presumptive nominee," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel during the New Yorker's magazine conference. "Hillary can't win but something could happen that Barack could lose the nomination." It's not had to see who he will support, even though he hasn't officially endorsed either candidate.
ABC News is now reporting that their count has Obama leading among superdelegates for the first time ever. Unbelievable is an understatement. Clinton led by over 100 superdelegates when the race started. She's now had nine of her superdelegates switch to Obama. Since the North Carolina win on Tuesday, Obama has a net gain of 10 superdelegates while Clinton has a net gain of one.
And while he may not be a superdelegate, John Edwards did everything but endorse Obama today during his TV appearances. It's kind of hard to hear, but it appears as if Edwards said that he voted for Obama in North Carolina on Tuesday and that there is a "great likelihood" that Obama will win the nomination. He also said he didn't agree with Clinton's controversial "white America" comments yesterday and that she needs to be careful and avoid weakening Obama before the general election. He also said the math is virtually impossible for her now. It's obvious from the interview whose side he is on at this point.
Can anyone tell me why the odd one or two are still endorsing Clinton? What is
there to gain politically by endorsing a candidate who has already lost? I'm
confused.
Posted By: Mike (Guest) on May 09, 2008 at 12:44 PM
Heath Shuler explained that he was supporting Hillary because that's the way his
district voted.
Posted By: J.D. Dunn (Registered) on May 09, 2008 at 01:36 PM
Mike, this same question has troubled me as well. Why the heck should the odd
one or two be endorsing a loser, and worse, a poor loser, who like a spoilt
child, seems to want her colleagues to lose along with her. Having been
troubled by this question, I have since formed the opinion that these odd ones
who still endorse Hillary belong to that category of person that does not
understand that personal friendships and petty whims and fancies should never
be allowed to take paramountcy over the interests of the Party and the people.
The bottom line is that the people of America are indicating overwhelmingly
that they DO NOT WANT Hillary, and those Super Delagates should respect that
desire and put aside their petty personal whims of allegiance to Hillary and
Bill. At the end of the day, are Hillary and Bill bigger than the Party? Are
they bigger than the people of our country? Like you, this not only confuses
me, it also upsets me. This pandering to Hillary and Bill is NOT in the best
interests of the Party, and of the country, and is also reflective of a
not-so-subtle disregard of the wishes of the majority of Americans on the part
of some Supers. God bless America.
Posted By: The Baron (Guest) on May 10, 2008 at 02:48 PM
