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(CNN) – In a campaign season growing more heated by the day, one word keeps making an appearance: chill. This morning, Sen. Tom Harkin — an undeclared superdelegate — became the latest politician to call for a cooldown, telling reporters on a conference call reported by Radio Iowa that former President Bill Clinton needs to “chill out.” A local journalist asked about a report of an alleged Clinton “meltdown” during a private meeting with California superdelegates, and asked whether he was doing his wife Hillary Clinton's campaign more harm than good. "I'm not going to judge that," responded Harkin. "I...

Hillary Clinton must be channeling Winston Churchill. How often does she tell herself - paraphrasing the great leader - to never, never, never give up? One gets the feeling she is waiting patiently in hopes that Barack Obama will have a "macaca" moment. This isn't unreasonable. For most of '06, Virginia Sen. George Allen was heading to re-election and deemed a potential leading GOP '08 presidential contender. Then his campaign was brought down by a young volunteer with a minicam and YouTube, floundering over Allen's use of the word "macaca" (monkey) to refer to an American of Indian descent.

Per NBC’s Tom Winter, Gov. Jon Corzine, a Clinton superdelegate, just said on CNBC's Squawk Box that he reserves the right to change his vote from Hillary Clinton if she doesn't have the popular vote. -snip- Sen. Maria Cantwell, another Clinton super, has said similar things regarding the popular vote.

Table 1. Current and Projected Delegate Support for Democratic Candidates Hillary Clinton Barack Obama Current Pledged Delegates 1247 1414 Current Superdelegates 246 200 Total Current Delegates 1493 1614 Projected Additional Pledged Delegates 303 289 Projected Total Delegates 1796 1903 Additional Superdelegates Needed to Win 229 122 How likely is it that Hillary Clinton would be able to win the support of 66 percent of the remaining uncommitted superdelegates? This would require a substantial improvement on the 55 percent support level that she currently enjoys among superdelegates who have made an endorsement. Moreover, the data in Table 2 shows that 53...

Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is unlikely to catch rival Barack Obama in pledged delegates, hinted on Thursday that she hoped to persuade a few to back her instead of him."There is no such thing as a pledged delegate," Clinton said at a news conference in California, where she has been fundraising.Both Clinton and Obama planned to address the state convention of the North Dakota Democratic Party Friday, where delegates to this summer's national convention will be allocated. Obama crushed Clinton in the state's Feb. 5 presidential caucuses, 61-36 percent.The former first lady said she was traveling to North Dakota...

Just when the party needs them most, the Dems super-delegates are dropping like flies. First there was William Jefferson, followed by Eliot Spitzer, then Kwame Kilpatrick, and today, Anibal Acevedo-Vila. This morning’s announcement of the indictment of Puerto Rico’s governor along with twelve others, including prominent Philadelphia democratic fundraiser Robert Feldman, worries party faithful for more reasons than one. Governor Acevedo-Vila , “a Harvard educated attorney and politician,” who according to AP, “was elected governor in 2004 after campaigning on an anti-corruption platform,” just last month endorsed Senator Obama for president.But as WaPo’s the Trail points out: " The reach...

It became a choice for the Dems between a candidate few outside the cabal wanted and a candidate few knew, and the Dems are going to nominate Obama. Clearing a path to bail is devout Clintonista and New Jersey Governor Jon Corzone, who told CNBC's Squawk Box that he can switch his SUPERDELEGATE support from Hillary to Barry if she does not win the popular vote when all is done and said in the Dem circus. Gov. Jon Corzine, a Clinton superdelegate, just said on CNBC's Squawk Box that he reserves the right to change his vote from Hillary Clinton...

ABC News' George Stephanopoulos Reports: Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and former President Bill Clinton are making very direct arguments to Democratic superdelegates, starkly insisting Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., cannot win a general election against presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Sources with direct knowledge of the conversation between Sen. Clinton and Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., prior to the Governor's endorsement of Obama say she told him flatly, "He cannot win, Bill. He cannot win." Richardson, who served in President Clinton's cabinet, disagreed. At a rally in Oregon, standing next to Obama, Richardson insisted, "My great affection and admiration for...

Clinton poked fun at the situation superdelegates suddenly find themselves in. In a close contest between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, it's the superdelegates who may ultimately determine the Democratic presidential nominee. "It is frankly disgusting the way all of us are fawning over these superdelegates," Clinton said, after being introduced by Dennis McDonald, chair of the state party and a superdelegate. "Even though I offered to shine his boots on the way over here, I am trying to show some restraint," Clinton said. ... The former president told tribal leaders in a meeting before his campaign event that...

Harold M. Ickes never forgets a favor, especially if he's the one who did the favor. So the veteran political operative made sure that, when the time was right, he alone would call Garry Shay, former chairman of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party... And once Ickes started calling, he didn't stop until Shay said the words Ickes wanted to hear -- that he would support Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August... the man in charge of Clinton's feverish effort to lock up superdelegates is Ickes, whose enthusiasm for...

In an interview with me this morning, senior Hillary adviser Harold Ickes confirmed that Reverend Jeremiah Wright is a key topic in discussions with uncommitted super-delegates over whether Obama is electable in a general election. The comments from Ickes, who is Hillary's chief delegate hunter, are to my knowledge the first on-the-record confirmation from a Hillary adviser that the Wright controversy is a subject in conversations between the Hillary campaign and the super-delegates her advisers are trying to win over to Hillary's side. In the wide-ranging interview, Ickes also: * Said that it was possible that Hillary forces on the...

Former President Bill Clinton, pushing his wife's presidential campaign, assured California Democrats on Sunday that the increasingly hard-edged contest won't hurt the party's prospects in November. "We're going to win this election if we chill out and let everybody have their say," he told more than 2,000 delegates to the state Democratic Party convention in San Jose. "We can win this election if we just let this play out, stay together, grab hands and signal to America we want to change the future of the country." Although California voters already backed New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Feb....

For all their delight in soaring voter registration and strong poll numbers, some Democrats fear the contest between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton might have a nightmarish end, which could wreck a promising election year. The chief worry is that Clinton may carry her recent winning streak into Pennsylvania, Indiana, North Carolina and other states, leaving her with unquestioned momentum but fewer pledged delegates than Obama. Party leaders then would face a wrenching choice: Steer the nomination to a fading Obama, even as signs suggested Clinton could be the stronger candidate in November; or go with the surging...

Barack Obama has donated more money to superdelegates in the last three years than his Democratic U.S. presidential campaign rival, Hillary Clinton. The Illinois senator's political action committee has donated $710,900 to superdelegates since 2005, compared to his New York colleague's PAC donations of $236,100, McClatchy Newspapers reported Saturday. The report of the donations by the two candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination comes as a study has indicated a link between such funds and superdelegates' voting. The Center for Responsive Politics study found that 82 percent of those superdelegates who have backed a candidate since Feb. 25 supported the...

U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, a superdelegate, is among those to receive campaign contributions from at least one of the current presidential candidates. Records show that Edwards, whose District 17 stretches from suburbs south of Fort Worth to east of College Station, received $7,500 from Barack Obama in the 2006 or 2008 election cycles or both, according to an analysis by the Capital Eye Web site. Edwards, who could not be reached for comment Friday, has endorsed Obama.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sidestepped the superdelegate controversy as she opened the California Democratic Party convention tonight in San Jose, instead taking aim at likely Republican presidential nominee, John McCain. Pelosi noted that McCain campaigned alongside Governor Schwarzenegger during the polarizing special election the governor called in 2005. Schwarzenegger tried to pass ballot measures aimed at weakening the power of public employee unions, changing teacher tenure rules and clamping down on state spending. Californians rejected those reforms and she predicted they'd reject McCain as well. The gathering at the San Jose Convention Center continues through...

MIAMI -- A donor to the Democratic Party asked for a rebate out of frustration over the party's Florida delegate dilemma -- and he got it. Federal records show that Paul Cejas has given six-figure sums to the Democratic National Committee for years, NBC 6's Nick Bogert reported. Cejas asked for his last donation back. He said he was angry with the party, particularly party Chair Howard Dean, over the failure to resolve Florida's delegate dilemma. "Frankly, he's dropped the ball, and I told him, 'You're going to go down in history as the worst chairman of the Democratic Party...

It’s beginning to feel like a shoot-out at the O.K. Corral. Yesterday’s indictment of Puerto Rico Gov. Anibal S. Acevedo Vila brings the tally of Democratic super delegates facing criminal indictments, or threat of indictments, to four. (Make that five, if you count former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who was pledged to support Hillary Rodham Clinton, but resigned March 12 in a sex scandal and therefore lost his super delegate status.) At the rate things are going, maybe the Democrats will have to move their convention to San Quentin to have a quorum. These are the decision-makers who will...

I'm indebted to Hillary Clinton for the revelation that my global wanderings when my dad was president qualify me to run for the presidency myself. Mrs. Clinton has been insisting that her global junkets as first lady, and her meetings with foreign leaders, qualify her to be president of these United States. I never thought of it that way, but if she is correct then I am eminently qualified to follow my father's footsteps and take up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., not merely as a member of the president's family, but as president in my own right. Hillary, who...

The battle over the Democratic presidential nomination turned nasty on Thursday, one day after Hillary Clinton donors subtly threatened to stop the spigots for House Democrats if Speaker Nancy Pelosi insists superdelegates vote the same way as pledged delegates. Liberal group MoveOn.org — which has endorsed Barack Obama — issued a letter to its members, asking them to sign on to a statement that says millionaire donors shouldn’t dictate how the race is won. It also asked for members to match the money the donors would otherwise supply. “The Democratic nomination should be decided by the voters — not by...