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Superdelegates in VA Save Email Print
The Valley
Posted: 11:54 AM May 13, 2008
Last Updated: 2:10 PM May 13, 2008
Reporter: Keith Jones
Email Address: kjones@whsv.com

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The superdelegates in the Commonwealth are still very much a part of that battle. Five of Virginia's 16 superdelegates have never endorsed a candidate, but now the superdelegates have more pull, that could change, and it might not be a good thing to some.

Congressman Jim Moran doesn't think there should be a special category of delegates, because he doesn't like the idea of decisions being made in the back room.

Moran says, "It seems to me the Democratic Party should be defined by its transparency, its openness, accessibility, representativeness."

He says he does see many superdelegates switching their commitments. However, switching from Obama to Clinton, in his opinion, is political suicide for their careers at this point.

Moran says, "Most popular votes, he has the most pledged delegates. He now has the most pledged superdelegates. He has the most money."

The decision isn't as easy for other superdelegates. The Communications Director for Senator Jim Webb says he thinks very highly of both nominees and because of that, he hasn't endorsed a candidate, and he's not alone.

Four other superdelegates (Alexis Herman, Jim Leaman, Jerome Wiley-Segovia, Hon. C. Richard Cranwell) in Virginia also haven't made up their minds, but superdelegates don't necessarily have to do so.

Moran says, "I would hope that we don't run into another situation where we have two good Democratic candidates trying to best one another. This primary is now over. We have chosen our candidate. We need to get these two camps working together."

Superdelegates who have made endorsements say they've received many calls from both Clinton and Obama supporters.

Meanwhile, delegates in West Virginia have also been getting calls for months leading up to Tuesday's primary.

Below is a quick recap of the 16 superdelegates are voting for in November from Virginia:

According to CNN, five superdelegates (Terry McAuliffe, Mame Reilly, Susan Swecker, Barbara Easterling, and Delegate Lionell Spruill) have officially endorsed Hillary Clinton.

Six others (Governor Tim Kaine, Congressman Bobby Scott, Congressman Jim Moran, Congressman Rick Boucher, Joe Johnson, and Delegate Jennifer McClellan) have chosen to side with Barack Obama.

McClellan is the only superdelegate in Virginia to have switched her vote from Clinton to Obama, which gave him the majority.

The remaining five superdelegates have not chosen to endorse a candidate at this time.

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Posted by: SMS Location: Raleigh NC on May 13, 2008 at 02:46 PM
I was thinking about this bitter comment that people are still hammering Obama on....why is it that when Senator Clinton made those comments to ABC about hard-working Americans, white Americans, and wrote those off as a poor choice of words it was accepted as such. However, when Senator Obama used "bitter" instead of "angry/frustrated" and "cling" instead of "rely on", Senator Clinton pounced on them and labeled him as an elitist. Senator Obama's poor choice of words no more make him an elitist who looks down on small-town people than Senator Clinton's make her a racist who looks down on African Americans?? Both their RECORDS indicate clearly the opposite of elite (Obama) and racist (Clinton) right?

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