Stories related to: superdelegates

For Bill and Hillary Clinton, 2008 is smacking of 1998, as the struggle to stay in the presidential race looks remarkably like the battle to survive impeachment, argues Michael Crowley in the New Republic . The former first couple is under siege again, and again is willing to “ride out any crisis”—wrapping themselves in the mantle of populism and indicting the press. More »

Hillary Clinton said tonight she is "more determined than ever" to continue her campaign for the White House after what she termed an "overwhelming" victory in West Virginia, NBC reports. "I believe I'm the strongest candidate," she told supporters in Charleston after romping in nearly all-white West Virginia. With the odds stacked against her and her campaign $20 million in debt, she again urged supporters to go to her website to contribute. More »

Barack Obama won the support of five more delegates today, putting him within 145 total of clinching the nomination, by Huffington Post’s count. Obama's new backers include New Orleans' mayor, a former Democratic National Committee chair and the chairperson of DC’s Democrats. Obama also gained the support of an elected Hillary Clinton delegate from Maryland, a markedly rare switch of a pledged nominator. More »

Barack Obama today moved ahead of Hillary Clinton among superdelegates for the first time. Obama picked up nine more by midday—one a defector from Clinton's camp, the Los Angeles Times reports. Both ABC and the New York Times put him ahead—the latter's count is 266-263—meaning he now leads in pledged delegates, states won, popular votes, money raised, and superdelegates. More »

Hillary Clinton wasn’t asking anyone to stand up and be counted as she met with superdelegates on Capitol Hill yesterday. Instead of trying to lock in public endorsements—with political risks for the supers involved—Clinton was just trying to get a private headcount, Politico reports. "We have to know where our numbers are,” said one Clinton staffer, “and there’s no other way.” More »

Hillary Clinton urged her supporters to stick by her today, telling a West Virginia audience that calls for her to step down are simply "deja vu all over again," the AP reports. Clinton also told USA Today that only she can deliver the broad base of voters, including whites, necessary to beat John McCain. Her campaign chief, meanwhile, suggested Clinton would not keep the fight going until the convention in August, notes the New York Times . More »

Barack Obama plans to lay claim to his party’s nomination on May 20, the day that votes in Kentucky and Oregon will net him a majority of pledged delegates, a top aide tells Politico, setting up what David Paul Kuhn calls “a train wreck waiting to happen.” For at least 11 days—until the DNC meets on whether and how to seat Michigan and Florida’s outlaw delegates—the Clinton camp will dispute it. More »

Now that Barack Obama has all but knocked out Hillary Clinton, Rush Limbaugh is calling off "Operation Chaos" and relishing the notion that Obama will be the nominee, CNN notes. Limbaugh has for months urged Republicans to vote for Clinton to prolong the race. Today, he urged superdelegates to publicly back Obama, calling him the "weakest" of the Democratic candidates. More »

Hillary Clinton pledged today to fight on despite yesterday's disappointing primary results; she “refused … to withdraw,” the AP reports, despite tough questioning at a news conference. Clinton said she wasn’t going anywhere “until there’s a nominee,” even if it means waiting for Democratic National Committee bodies (the first meets May 30) to rule on outlaw Florida and Michigan delegates. More »

Top Hillary Clinton backer and former Democratic nominee George McGovern is switching his endorsement to Barack Obama—and urging Hillary to step aside, the AP reports. McGovern said it was now all but impossible for Clinton to prevail; the party’s choice in 1972, he said he would call Bill to relay the news. More »

On the flight home from his North Carolina victory last night, Barack Obama’s top adviser signaled that the next phase of the race has begun: “I don’t think we are going to spend our time solely in primary states.” Confirming a reporter’s interpretation that the candidate would be moving on to general-election territory, he added, “We are not going to take anything for granted. But we are also going to spend time addressing broader issues.” More »

Undeclared Democratic superdelegates who are also members of Congress are under especially great pressure, reports the LA Times: The popularity of their chosen candidate could affect their re-election chances. In swing districts, "somebody unpopular at the top of the ticket can actually cost you votes," says a political science professor. More »

Two of five Hillary Clinton superdelegates who spoke at a California state event said they’d consider switching to Barack Obama if the frontrunner holds his lead through the next month. While not earth-shattering, the development should be wrenching for Clinton, the Los Angeles Times say, as it showcases concerns about drawing out the primary fight too long. More »

You can thank or blame one Democrat for the rise of superdelegates and demise of the party's winner-take-all primaries—but strategist Harold Ickes, who negotiated the primary system 20 years ago, is likely too busy to hear you. He's calling up superdelegates for Hillary Clinton, and using such a nasty tongue that Time couldn't print what it overheard. More »

The Indianapolis Star endorsed Hillary Clinton today, saying that even though Barack Obama “offers an attractive vision for the way things could be,” the former first lady “offers a clear-eyed view of the way things are.” Four days ahead of Indiana' primary, the state's largest newspaper praised Obama but worried that his “inexperience in high office is a liability.” It was more impressed with Clinton’s “remarkable” depth of knowledge. More »

With three endorsements yesterday, Barack Obama has caught up to Hillary Clinton among Congress' superdelegates; in a race Clinton once dominated, the Democrats have each been endorsed by 97. In a positive sign for Obama, many of his recent converts have come from Republican-leaning constituencies—though swing-staters say they're no longer sure Obama would be a less divisive general-election candidate than Clinton. More »

Optimism is spreading through Hillary Clinton’s once-dispirited war room, Politico reports, as a series of wins accumulate in their candidate’s column: fundraising has rushed in since Pennsylvania, she's collected some well-timed endorsements, she’s bobbed up in the polls, and Barack Obama is once again afflicted by Jeremiah Wright. All of which makes Clinton’s advisers believe that her comeback-kid rhetoric might actually have legs. More »

Joe Andrew, a superdelegate and the Democratic Party chair during Bill Clinton's presidency, has switched his allegiance from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama, reports the AP. Andrew had endorsed Hillary on the day she announced her candidacy, but in a lengthy letter to other superdelegates he says they must rally behind Obama to "heal the rift in our party." More »

Most of the 80 unpledged Dem superdelegates in Congress have privately chosen a candidate, and one of Barack Obama’s key Senate surrogates claims most have swung his way, Politico reports. It’s “a matter of timing,” Missouri's Claire McCaskill said. “They would like someone else to act for them before they talk about it in the cold light of day.” More »

North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley will back Hillary Clinton before next week's key primary, sources tell CNN. The move may give her a boost in a state where she last lagged Barack Obama by double digits. As a superdelegate, Easely also adds one to Clinton's delegate tally—but Obama added one today too with the endorsement of New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman. More »