After hearing of Rep. Clyburn's expected endorsement of
Obama, I was looking at The Hill's list of uncommitted congressional superdelegates, many of whom are vulnerable in their bids for reelection. These include Mary Landrieu, Nancy Boyda, Nick Lampson, Tim Mahoney, (possibly) Lincoln Davis, etc. My question is who will these members of congress endorse? I would guess that most members of the democratic caucus in the south will endorse Senator Clinton, as will those in Florida. However, uncommittted supers like Jon Tester, Herb Kohl (NOT Russ Feingold), Frank Lautenberg, etc. are harder to predict.
      I'm interested in hearing anybody else's predictions on who these uncommitted congressional supers will ultimately endorse.
     

Louisiana Democratic Party Chair and Automatic Delegate Chris Whittington endorsed Hillary Clinton for President Monday:

"Hillary Clinton has what it takes to turn around our economy and rebuild the middle class," Whittington said. "There is no question that she is the strongest Democrat to go toe-to-toe with John McCain in a general election. It is our responsibility as automatic delegates to choose the candidate we believe best fit to beat Senator McCain. That candidate is Senator Clinton."  (emphasis added)

Whittington was elected Chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party in January 2006, after serving as the Party's Legal Counsel, as a member of the Democratic State Central Committee and as a member of the Democratic Party Executive Committee.

Certainly Whittington's endorsement sends a strong signal that NOT ALL automatic delegates buy into the message being pushed by Media, some DNC elite, and Camp Obama that we should all automatically "unite" behind Obama, that the race is over.  Apparently it is NOT over.  If so, why would any Superdelegate still be announcing support for Senator Clinton?  Why not just stay quiet, or wait until the convention?

UPDATE: New York Superdelegate Delegate Endorses Hillary!

Tompkins County Democratic Committee Chair and New York automatic delegate Irene Stein announced her support for Hillary Clinton today.

Wow -- 2 superdelegates for Senator Clinton on the eve of Obama's supposed "victory party?"  I guess not everyone is prepared to hop on board the Unity Express just yet...

Congratulations, Senator Clinton!

Source: HillaryClinton

(Burnt Orange Report has the scoop as they do with all things Texas).

I don't write too many diaries and I don't really record which superdelegate endorses whom.  It's just not a major concern of mine which specific figure is giving Obama a greater delegate lead, but the Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party is particularly important to me.  The reason being is that I was particularly disturbed by a diary written by Pacific John.  In that diary Pacific John accused Barack Obama's campaign of committing fraud on the entire state of Texas.  He provided no evidence (except for hearsay).  

After repeatedly seeking either evidence or a retraction, I decided to post my own diary which further elaborated my great anger at these false accusations and pointing out that the Pacific John's diary was unsubstantiated.  Pacific John and I have continued this disagreement and I even received an e-mail from Pacific John questioning why I continued to ask him for evidence.  To all my questions regarding where the evidence was located, Pacific John would respond that the Texas Democratic Party had all the evidence and the affidavits proving fraud by the Obama campaign.  So imagine my great joy and suprise when I went to DemConWatch and saw that both the Chairman of the TDP and his wife (who is also a superdelegate) has endorsed Obama.  I guess there wasn't evidence to prove fraud after all.

Superdelegate Kevin Rodriquez, an African-American Democratic committeeman and the director of personnel for the Virgin Islands government has switched his endorsement from Obama to Clinton. This is the first superdelegate who has switched from Obama to Clinton and the fact that it has occurred so late in the process, is clearly good news for Hillary. There is more to the story, because Rodriquez originally backed Clinton, switched to Obama, and has now switched back to Clinton. Nonetheless, this is good news for the Clinton camp.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/ 2008/05/vi-superdelegat.html#TB_inline?k eepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&heig ht=425&width=800
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080529/ap_o n_el_pr/indecisive_delegate_1

"I decided to switch because that's my right," he told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "I don't want to say why I decided. It's not about me ... It's about America and what's best for America.

HRC got a SD endorsement today!

http://demconwatch.blogspot.com/2008/05/ superdelegate-endorsements-for-thursday_ 22.html

Guam Democratic Party Chair Pilar Lujan said today:

"After taking a close look at the candidates in this race, I was more impressed by Senator Clinton's ability to meet the challenges of the presidency: end the war, re-invigorate the economy, and provide universal health care...When she becomes the first woman president, she will think of the people of Guam and their aspirations."

Nice to see that HRC can still marshall support from the Democratic party Superdelegates given that Obama is only 61 delegates from the nomination. I like the positive language in her quote ("when she becomes the first woman president"!)

It is also good for HRC that, despite Obama's Oregon win and the fact that the media and pundits have tagged him as the presumptive nominee the SDs have been relatively frozen the last two days.

The HRC campaign just announced a new SD - Attorney General Martha Coakley of Massachusetts!

Quoting from an email just sent to supporters by HRC:

Massachusetts Attorney General and automatic delegate Martha Coakley announced her support for Hillary Clinton today. The Massachusetts State Democratic Committee elected her one of its automatic delegates to the Democratic National Convention on May 10. Attorney General Coakley's statement follows below:

"I am determined to see a successful Democratic campaign for President in November. I believe that the Democratic primary has demonstrated to the American people that there are two able and hard working candidates, either of whom can win the presidency. Either will be a huge improvement for America over what the Republicans have offered for the last eight years and what they offer now for the next four. I will support whoever is the nominee of the party.

"However, as one of two unpledged delegates elected by the Massachusetts State Committee, I have determined to cast my vote for Hillary Clinton. Running for office under any circumstances is arduous and stressful; it is at times exhilarating and at times exhausting. It tests the issues, the families and supporters, and the very core of the candidate.  Running for President of the United States is all of that many times over.

"Regardless of the outcome of the  primary, Mrs. Clinton's energy, stamina, and resolve have changed the course of history  for  women seeking office, including the presidency, and I dare say, have changed the course of history of Presidential politics in the United States. It is for these reasons that I will vote for Hillary Clinton in August at the Nominating

all over the media and blogs, the pundits and BO supporters are calling this primary over and after reading the latest LA TIMES/BLOOMBERG poll i feel like i have entered the twilight zone.

here's a summary:

National numbers:
Obama 46, McCain 40, undecided 9
Clinton 47, McCain 38, undecided 11
Dates conducted: May 1-8. Error margin: 3 points.

Among voters 65 and older: McCain 47, Obama 41. Clinton-McCain matchup essentially tied.
Among voters 18 to 44: Obama 55, McCain 35. Clinton 48, McCain 35.
Among African Americans: Obama 79, McCain 3. Clinton 60, McCain 9, 23 undecided

as Ellen R. Malcolm, the founder and president of Emily's List wrote today in the washington post:

So here we are in the fourth quarter of the nominating process and the game is too close to call. Once again, the opponents and the media are calling for Hillary to quit. The first woman ever to win a presidential primary* is supposed to stop competing, to curtsy and exit stage right.

Why on earth should one candidate quit before the contest is finished? Democrats need not be so fainthearted. Both of the party's remaining candidates have raised tens of millions of dollars. Both have the respect of Democrats nationwide. Each has a progressive agenda that stands in stark contrast to Sen. John McCain and his adherence to Bush administration policies.

So why are some Democrats so afraid? We simply need to count every vote, let the remaining states have their say and see the process through to its conclusion.

Hillary Clinton certainly has the right to compete till the end. But I believe Hillary also has a responsibility to play the game to its conclusion. For the women of my generation who learned to find and channel their competitiveness, for the working women who never falter in the face of pressure, for the younger women who still believe women can do anything, Hillary is a champion. She's shown us over and over that winners never quit and that quitters never win. We'll cheer her on until the game is over. And we hope that when the final whistle blows, we will have elected the first female president and the best president our country has ever had.

*editor's note: the incredible shirley chisholm was the first woman to win a presidential primary in 1972

since the DNC created a nonsensical methodology for nominating its presidential candidate that in no way reflects the realities of the GE (ie. winner take all), i say:

go HRC go!

From yesterday's Wall Street Journal, I learned superdelegates come in two stripes: 1) sitting politicians, and 2) everyone else.

Which ones have been endorsing candidates lately?

Although Sen. Obama has picked up the endorsement of about 150 superdelegates since early February, many of whom are sitting politicians, recently he has had better luck among nonelected superdelegates. They don't risk the ire of constituents who might have favored Sen. Clinton or another candidate.

A few hold-out pols hail from rural, conservative white districts, the WSJ says. And despite a nice fat contribution from the Obama PAC, some "$10,000 from the Illinois senator's political action committee, federal records show," one Senator facing a tough re-election race told reporters "don't hold your breath" waiting for her to endorse him.