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WASHINGTON - Barack Obama all but erased Hillary Rodham Clinton's once-imposing lead among national convention superdelegates on Friday and won fresh labor backing as elements of the Democratic Party began coalescing around the Illinois senator for the fall campaign.... The developments left the former first lady with 271.5 superdelegates, to 271 for Obama. Little more than four months ago, on the eve of the primary season, she held a lead of 169-63....

It's obvious that I've been favoring Barack in the Democratic primary, but I find the calls for Hillary to drop out of the race somewhat puzzling. As I understand it, pro-Obama pundits and pols believe Hillary should withdraw because: *Even if she wins all the remaining primaries, she will not have enough pledged delegates to win the nomination. *Even if some compromise is worked out with the Michigan and Florida delegations, she will still trail Obama in the popular vote. *Her staying in the race will only further tarnish Obama, to the benefit of John McCain, thus costing the Democrats...

DNC Superdelegate Puts His Vote Up For Sale Steven Ybarra Wants $20 Million For His Vote SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CBS13) ― In this tight battle for the Democratic nomination we've heard a lot about the candidates courting superdelegates. But, one superdelegate is courting the candidates. He says he'll sell his vote for a price. A very high price: $20 million. Steven Ybarra of Sacramento says that eight-figure price is peanuts for the presidency.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Barack Obama's march toward the Democratic presidential nomination picked up support from four more superdelegates Wednesday, pushing him ever closer to victory over Hillary Rodham Clinton - even as their primary marathon staggered on. She added two superdelegates herself in what has become the last big contest as their race winds toward a finish. There are just 217 delegates to be chosen in the final six primaries, and neither candidate can win enough of them to claim final victory. Meanwhile, 265 additional delegates - the party elders and other "superdelegates" - have yet to be claimed, and...

The drawn out Democratic presidential race is producing "negative dividends in terms of strife within the party," said a key Senate supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton's White House bid. A day after the Indiana and North Carolina primaries bolstered Sen. Barack Obama's candidacy, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California and a superdelegate, said she wants to talk to Clinton to "see what her view is on the rest of the race. What the strategy is." Feinstein, who described herself as "very loyal" to Clinton, said "the question comes whether she can get the delegates that she needs and I'd like to know...

There is a high-level meeting of 49 superdelegates going on behind closed doors right now.It's the weekly party policy luncheon in the US Senate. And while there are a number of important legislative topics on the agenda (the war supplemental, a gas prices control bill, the farm bill and more) you can bet that last night's returns from Indiana and North Carolina are being discussed as senators queue up in the buffet line. Going into the lunch, reporters asked senators for their assessments. On his way to lunch, Sen. Teddy Kennedy, D-Mass, one of Sen. Barack Obama's, D-Ill., high...

Obama supporters Sen.John Kerry, D-Mass., and Gov. Janet Napolitano, D-Ariz., argue that the superdelegates now have a responsibility to move the nominating process forward. “Obama has shown he can win across the board and now its time for superdelegates to bring this to a close,” Napolitano said. Obama is expected to meet with undecided superdelegates tomorrow in Washington. Kerry said that it is the responsibility of the superdelegates to ensure that the Democratic Party will be unified at the convention in August, and suggested that Obama could have won the Indiana primary last night if it was not for the...

Barack Obama pocketed the support of at least four Democratic convention superdelegates on Wednesday, building on the momentum from a convincing North Carolina primary victory. Rival Hillary Rodham Clinton vowed to remain in the race "until there's a nominee." The former first lady declined to say whether that meant through the roll call of the states at the Democratic National Convention this summer. Clinton also disclosed that she had loaned her campaign an additional $6.4 million in recent weeks, evidence that her once front-runner campaign was in deep trouble. She told reporters the loans were a sign of her commitment...

Hillary's odds of overtaking Obama among elected delegates is not much better than those of the milk-wagon nag's winning the Preakness. But is it "mathematically impossible" for Clinton to win the nomination? No way. Many superdelegates remain undeclared. And even those who have come out for Obama are not bound. If another shoe of the Rev. Wright variety were to drop, it's far from inconceivable that the supers would move to Hillary. But perhaps in a sign of how much the MSM wants Hillary out and their guy in, Norah O'Donnell has had the chutzpah to proclaim to Hillary honcho...

Developing story on Drudge. No details as of yet. Superdelegates do not want to meet with Clinton today.

Remember all the moaning and groaning during the 2000 presidential election when the Democrats accused the Republicans of stealing the election? Remember how lawyers for Al Gore attempted to disenfranchise Floridian U.S. servicemen and women overseas by asking the courts to toss out their absentee ballots? Well, Democratic “superdelegates” could disfranchise half of their own voters this election year. This summer, almost 800 so-called superdelegates will occupy smoke-filled rooms of cigar bars in Denver as they mull over their choice for the Democrat presidential nominee. Never mind that Barack Obama will in all likelihood have won the majority of votes...

Hillary Rodham Clinton, stung last week by the defection of a prominent superdelegate, could lose the backing of more of these Democratic Party leaders and elected officials if she fails to make significant gains in the remaining month of presidential nominating contests, several California superdelegates said this weekend. Two of the five superdelegates aligned with Clinton who spoke at the annual California Democratic Convention here said they would reconsider their support if rival Barack Obama maintained his lead in elected delegates and the popular vote after the last contests on June 3. While hardly reflecting a groundswell, the superdelegates' comments...

Nagin Picked As Superdelegate Hasn't said if he will support Obama or Clinton Saturday, May 3, 2008 New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has been elected a superdelegate to the Democratic Party's presidential nominating convention. The state party's central committee picked Nagin over four other candidates, including Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu, who unsuccessfully challenged Nagin for mayor in 2006. Nagin won 83 votes in voting Saturday, Jerry McKernan of Baton Rouge had 50 and Landrieu had 28. Nagin is one of 11 Louisiana superdelegates who will go to the convention and do not need to pledge their support to a candidate...

On the eve of two crucial primary election contests, Hillary Clinton is pinning her hopes of winning the Democratic presidential nomination on a collapse in the white vote for Barack Obama. “White flight” from Obama, who was hailed as the first post-racial presidential candidate, has been gathering force since Clinton’s nine-point victory in last month’s Pennsylvania primary. Her allies will be looking at voting patterns in Indiana and North Carolina on Tuesday, the two largest remaining states to go to the polls, for any signs that Obama’s proven weakness among white working-class voters may turn into a rout. Clinton is...

-- snip --Here's a rule I would like every political reporter, campaign official, TV talking head, and politician in the United States to follow. Go ahead and say, if you like, that Hillary Clinton retains a serious chance of winning the Democratic nomination. If you say this, however, you must describe a set of circumstances whereby this could happen. Try not to make it sound like a fairy tale...

Maryland Democratic Party Vice Chairman Lauren Glover is fielding calls from Sen. Barack Obama. Jim Leaman, executive director of the Virginia AFL-CIO, is being inundated with personal letters and e-mails from supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. And D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. just wants be left alone. Pressure is mounting on the 67 Democratic superdelegates from the District, Maryland and Virginia to choose between Obama and Clinton in the most heated presidential nomination fight in a generation. With neither Clinton nor Obama likely to win enough pledged delegates to secure the nomination, the 793 superdelegates nationwide will have...

Polls show voters drift to Clinton ahead of next primaries By STEVEN R. HURST – 1 hour ago WASHINGTON (AP) — Polls showed voters drifting toward Hillary Rodham Clinton before crucial Democratic primary votes next week, but the all-important party superdelegates — whose backing is now essential for the nomination — were falling increasingly in line behind Barack Obama. Despite the momentum building behind Clinton after her win in Pennsylvania, it still appeared mathematically impossible for her to overcome Obama's delegate lead for the party nomination. In the past two months, Obama has whittled Clinton's superdelegate lead by half, a...

Despite the recent show of strength by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., the odds against_her_winning the Democratic presidential nomination are as imposing as ever—and probably worse. There was a time when one of the stronger arguments in favor of nominating Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., was that he was more electable than Clinton. The thinking at the time was that Clinton was so polarizing, she could get close to winning a general election but would have difficulty getting over the top. Now, about the only plausible argument that Obama is more electable is to claim that Clinton’s backers would probably get_over...

RUSH: You superdelegates in the Democrat Party, you're worried about denying Obama the nomination because you fear that your black voters will abandon you permanently? Come, come! Review your history with me once again. You Democrats have already done far worse to black voters than yanking the nomination away from Barack Obama. Have no fear, superdelegates. Be confident. Blacks will stay with you. So will Jesse Jackson, so will Al Sharpton

Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) sharp denunciation of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright this week has superdelegates moving in his direction. While the reverend’s controversial remarks and his widely panned appearance at the National Press Club caused many pundits to wonder if superdelegates would be frozen into indecision, those who moved into Obama’s column this week cited the Illinois senator’s reaction as one of their reasons for backing him. Former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Joe Andrew was perhaps the biggest jewel of the week for Obama. Until Thursday, Andrew had supported Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.). He was appointed DNC chairman...