Suitors Keep Lines Open to Superdelegates

From Michelle to Chelsea, big names get on the horn
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 19, 2008 1:20 PM CST
Suitors Keep Lines Open to Superdelegates
In this file photo, Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., takes the microphone from former Vice President Walter Mondale, a Minnesota superdelegate, after he introduced her at a rally at Augsburg College in Minneapolis Sunday, Feb. 3, 2008. With presidential candidates...   (Associated Press)

Sometimes superdelegates respond to politics, ideology, or longstanding alliances. Other times, they're won by girl talk. For one Philadelphia party official, a morning call from Michelle Obama sealed the deal, the LA Times reports. The would-be first lady covered everything from strategy to motherhood. “She was talking to me like you would your girlfriend,” says Carol Campbell. “No pretense. Just real.”

Calls like that are a hot commodity. Each of the nearly 800 superdelegates merits special attention, usually in the form of a carefully calculated call from a campaign heavyweight. Chelsea Clinton was enlisted to woo one college student superdelegate; Madeleine Albright makes other calls. Michelle Obama spent weeks trying to reach Campbell, which in itself impressed: “That’s not your normal candidate.” (More superdelegates stories.)

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