Superdelegates Look Down, Look Up for Assistance

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Superdelegates Look Down, Look Up for Assistance
By Jonathan Allen, CQ Staff


Most of the superdelegates who have yet to pick sides in the Democratic presidential primary appear to be waiting for another authority — either voters or party leaders — to select their party’s nominee.

With neither candidate in a position to win enough pledged delegates to garner the nomination or enough popular votes to claim a clear mandate, the elected leaders and other party officials who make up the superdelegate corps are increasingly looking farther up the party hierarchy for decisive action.

As the end of the primary season draws nearer — and their role in determining the nominee grows clearer — there is no help on the horizon.

There are 79 members of Congress who are still undeclared despite already having seen the results from elections held in their districts, states or territories, according to a list posted on the Demconwatch Web site.

Democratic voters in John F. Tierney ’s 6th District, along the North Shore of Massachusetts, favored New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 61 percent to 39 percent over Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in the state’s Feb. 5 presidential primary. But Tierney, one of 794 superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention, hasn’t said whom he will support.

Similarly, Susan A. Davis who represents a San Diego-based district more than 3,000 miles away, is keeping her cards close to her chest, even though Obama won her district 49 percent to 47 percent.

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