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White House hopeful Senator Hillary Clinton clashed with rival Barack Obama over how the Democratic Party should choose its presidential nominee, saying unelected delegates were free to make up their own minds and not bound by the popular vote. Trailing Obama in the nomination race after losing eight straight contests to the Illinois senator, Clinton and her advisers suggested hundreds of "superdelegates" -- party activists and elected lawmakers attending the Democratic convention in August -- were not bound by the results of voting in their states, US media reported. "Superdelegates are a part of the process," Clinton was quoted as...

Who are these Democratic superdelegates?Those that may hold the balance in the race include former presidents, the party faithful, white- and blue-collar workers -- and the unemployed. By Peter Nicholas, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer February 17, 2008 WASHINGTON -- John Millin, an ophthalmologist, fits people for glasses and performs cataract operations. Debbie Marquez owns a restaurant whose specialty is chicken enchiladas in creamy jalapeño sauce. Christopher Stampolis is looking for a job now that the industrial recycling company where he worked for the last decade closed. They share one bond -- late this summer, they will help choose the...

This is big news, and may well be the beginning of the end for Hillary Clinton's super-delegate strategy. The New York Times reports that Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), a legend of the civil rights movement who had endorsed Hillary last year, is switching his super-delegate vote from her over to Barack Obama.

Top Clinton Adviser Says Superdelegates Will Decide Election, Obama's Victories 'Irrelevant' Saturday , February 16, 2008 A top Hillary Clinton adviser on Saturday boldly predicted his candidate would lock down the nomination before the August convention by definitively winning over party insiders and officials known as superdelegates, claiming the number of state elections won by rival Barack Obama would be "irrelevant" to their decision. The claims no doubt will escalate the war of words between the campaigns, as Obama continues to argue superdelegates should vote the way of their districts. But the special class of delegates, which make up about...

On this long road to the Democratic presidential nomination, a frightening sign has popped up alongside the highway. Warning. Potential Car Wreck Ahead. There are two ways this riveting race for the prize between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton could careen into the ditch and both are giving party officials the yips at night. It may all come down to how hard the Clintons, their dynasty hanging by a thread, the traditional path to a convention win looking increasingly unlikely, will fight to wrest this nomination from Obama. The balance of power today rests with the 796 so-called superdelegates, an...

At convention, they can vote for whomever they want. Bill Clinton called Cindy Spanyers up at work in Juneau the other day. A former congressman and member of the 9/11 Commission left her a message hoping to chat as well. These aren't the kind of phone calls Spanyers is used to getting at the Alaska Public Employees Association. But she's one of what are now hugely coveted "superdelegates," the party leaders who could decide whether Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee for president no matter what the voters say. Superdelegates get to choose what candidate they support...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Mrs. Clinton, as you probably heard, is on the verge, ladies and gentlemen, of losing John Lewis as one of her superdelegates. Jim Clyburn in South Carolina is also very upset with Bill Clinton, and there appears to be an exodus of superdelegates previously pledged to Mrs. Clinton about to take place. She has lost another superdelegate, and that would be Soviet communist boss Vladimir Putin. Did you hear about this? You know, last week, or last year sometime, Hillary was out -- by the way, this is so hilarious. This is coming up, too. Mrs. Clinton...

Once upon a time, it was party bosses in smoke-filled rooms who decided who would run for president. Then came the primary system and the novel concept of letting voters make the choice. But if you're a party boss, the problem with democracy is that the voters don't always do what you want them to do. That is why the Democrats created the superdelegate, who can leap over the will of the voters at a single bound, is faster than an exit poll and is more powerful than a thousand pundits. Here's the history behind it: the last time the...

| (Figures in this story have been adjusted to reflect Sen. Ted Kennedy's contributions from the two candidates, which were overlooked in the original posting. Changes are in bold.) At this summer's Democratic National Convention, nearly 800 members of Congress, state governors and Democratic Party leaders could be the tiebreakers in the intense contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. If neither candidate can earn the support of at least 2,025 delegates in the primary voting process, the decision of who will represent the Democrats in November's presidential election will fall not to the will of the people but to...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- who may be the most super delegate of all as chair of the Democratic national convention in Denver -- gave an interview with Bloomberg TV's Al Hunt in which she laid down the law for super delegates: Don't veto the people's choice. "I think there is a concern when the public speaks and there is a counter-decision made to that," she said, adding quickly, "I don't think that will happen." She said the governors, lawmakers, DNC members and others picked as super delegates are chosen through a grassroots process and are accountable to the party's...

The Democrats have used race as a trump card for many years. They have also manipulated and used minorities in unethical manners. They way they have stirred up racial resentment and votes by arousing fear is a form of racism in itself. This abuse has led to policies that are not meant to be fair, but actually based on race to garner votes. More recently, the extreme multculturalism and politics of race has morphed into the Super Delegates. The Super Delegates were a response back in the Mondale years of a Party that cried racism yet stood relatively heterogeneous in...

Ok, Washington state superdelegates, what are you going to do? On Saturday, Democratic caucus-goers demanded Barack Obama — big time — as their party's nominee for president. They voted 2 to 1 for the fresh leadership the Illinois senator promises over continuing the Clinton dynasty. The Times also endorsed Obama. But many of Washington's high profile Democrats, including those superdelegates who automatically get a vote at the national convention, have endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton. Among them are Sens. Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell, U.S. Reps. Norm Dicks and Jay Inslee and King County Executive Ron Sims. While the rank and file...

I've been getting a lot of questions about these "superdelegates." For those of you who are too lazy to do your own research, I have created a quick Boortz re-cap of the purpose of superdelegates. Superdelegates are a way for Democrat office holders and party officials to make sure that their preferred nominee wins the nomination. These superdelegates are not awarded because of any primaries or caucuses. They are simply Democrat politicians who get a say, without having to reflect the popular vote. Call them a firewall against the dumb Democrat masses, if you will. Hey ... they know their...

Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., may have an added obstacle in her pursuit of the support of superdelegates — the party insiders and elected officials who compose roughly 20 percent of the total Democratic delegates, and who may ultimately choose the nominee. One prominent superdelegate who is also the highest-ranking black in Congress told ABC News that the racially tinged way in which critics say the Clintons conducted their campaign in South Carolina is driving black superdelegates into the arms of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.. "The surge — if I may use that word — occurred in direct correlation to the...

One of the most influential superdelegates in the Democratic Party has indicated he will likely vote for Barack Obama -- even though he endorsed Hillary Clinton four months ago. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia began his career marching for civil rights in Georgia, and now he says that he has to represent his Georgia constituents rather than his personal feelings at the convention. Note, however, some of the rationalizations he offers for his change of heart: Representative John Lewis, an elder statesman from the civil rights era and one of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s most prominent black supporters, said Thursday...

Democratic rivals woo 26 who aren't obliged to toe voters' line. Raymond Jordan was a self-described Clinton man. He supported Bill Clinton for president in 1992 over Paul Tsongas... and worked in Clinton's administration in the 1990s. But last month was the first time Jordan, 64, a former state representative from Springfield, had ever received a call from the former president. "Raymond Jordan, this is Bill Clinton, and I'm calling you because we're calling all the superdelegates," Jordan said... A week later, Jordan received a phone call from Senator Hillary Clinton, but it was too late. He had decided to...

In the Democratic Party there are 796 "Super Delegates." These are men and women who are delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver by virtue of their position, not because they were elected in primary or chosen in a party caucus. Officially, within the Democratic National Committee rules they are known as "Party Leaders and Elected Officials" (PLEOs) but Super Delegates stuck. PLEOs did not. Mullpal Lanny Davis has reminded us that Super Delegates were never intended to be pledged to one candidate, but were the insiders who could undo a bad decision by those pesky voters in primaries...

Many of the superdelegates who could well decide the Democratic presidential nominee have already been plied with campaign contributions by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, a new study shows. "While it would be unseemly for the candidates to hand out thousands of dollars to primary voters, or to the delegates pledged to represent the will of those voters, elected officials serving as superdelegates have received about $890,000 from Obama and Clinton in the form of campaign contributions over the last three years," the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics reported today.

<p>So did Hillary lose in Virginia? Or did she get smoked like a Virginia ham? Answer: things are looking pretty hamlike tonight.</p> <p>Two snaps, okaaaay?</p>

Barack Obama clobbered Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Potomac primaries Tuesday, but her Colorado superdelegates were still hanging tough behind her Wednesday. Certainly they saw the ugly numbers Tuesday night - especially out of Virginia - but the only math that seemed to matter to them at this point was what might happen in Texas and Ohio on March 4. That's the biggest day left on the primary calendar. Between them, Texas and Ohio have 389 delegates up for grabs. "It's too early to jump off any boats," said Maria Handley, a Boulder-based superdelegate...Handley is joined by Ramona Martinez and...