Two More Supers for Obama Later Today

According to Ben Smith's blog, two more superdelegates are announcing for Senator Obama:

• California congressman Sam Farr
• Maryland DNC member Bel Leong-Hong

It sounds like Farr is announcing tonight, while Hong has already announced.

I swear these new announcements went up as I was hitting the "publish" key just now.

Obama is now 12 delegates away from going over the 2118 mark. Expect the superdelegate flood to calm down for now so that Obama can gain the symbolic victory of the South Dakota and Montana elections putting him over the top. I am assuming the Obama campaign can embargo these announcements until tomorrow at this point.

It will be interesting to see which superdelegate announcement was the magic one. I'll go back and look at the announcement times.

Congressman Clyburn Endorses Obama (unofficially)

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn will officially endorse Senator Barack Obama tomorrow during the day.

For now this endorsement is unofficial. However, Rep. Clyburn has already begun calling uncommitted automatic delegates to get them to support Obama and get behind the presumptive nominee.

Rep. Clyburn is considered one of the most powerful voices in Washington and within the Democratic Party. He has been in the news during the primary campaign with calls for Bill Clinton to "chill" when the ex-President was embroiled in race-baiting allegations, and also when Senator Clinton made her RFK assassination comments just two weeks ago.

Obama Gains Another WV Super

Despite the shellacking the Obama campaign suffered in the West Virginia primary, Senator Obama picked up yet another superdelegate from the Mountain State.

This time it's Congressman Alan B. Mollahan, who has served as a West Virginia Congressman for a quarter-century.

Mollahan's decision means that Obama has swept the four Congressional superdelegates from West Virginia, adding to the previous endorsements of Senators Rockefeller and Byrd and fellow Congressman Nick Rahall. Senator Clinton has received three endorsements from DNC automatic delegates. West Virginia has three more superdelegates remaining plus the add-on delegate to be decided at the June 14th State Convention.

Mollahan's statement read as follows:

“I believe Senator Obama will bring America a new era of trust, principled leadership and positive results. He has the intelligence, capacity and values that assure me he will confront the real issues that Americans face every day - health care, pension reform, energy prices, the struggling economy, and, of course, the issue of Iraq."

An Add-On for Clinton, a Congressman and State Chair for Obama

In the wake of a split decision in Oregon and Kentucky, the stream of superdelegates has slowed down today considerably from last week when Senator Obama was rolling out 4-5 superdelegates a day.

Senator Clinton won the second add-on delegate for Ohio, after the first one opted to endorse Obama. As Ben Smith at Politico.com reported, Ohio add-on Craig Bashein has endorsed Senator Clinton.

There was discussion that the Ohio state party would select an Obama and a Clinton supporter for its add-on delegates. The timing of this add-on delegate's decision was most likely orchestrated by the Clinton campaign to build on the Kentucky win yesterday.

Senator Obama picked up two superdelegates today--Connecticut Congressman Joe Courtney from and Mississippi State Party Chairman Wayne Dowdy.

Pete Stark (CA) Endorses Obama

Despite his Congressional District going solidly for Senator Clinton, California Congressman Pete Stark has decided to endorse Senator Obama. Congressman Stark spoke out about the need to unify the Democratic Party in preparation for the general election fight with John McCain and the Republican Party.

More Superdelegates for Obama

Two high profile Jewish Congressmen from California have declared their support for Senator Obama today. Congressmen Henry Waxman and Howard Berman, both of Los Angeles, have announced that they are supporting the candidacy of Barack Obama.

Beyond the shot of support to Senator Obama from highly-regarded political leaders in the Jewish community, these endorsements also give Obama the backing of two highly-ranked Committee Chairmen, as Waxman chairs the House Oversight Committee and Berman chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Also, Obama picked up the endorsement of Congressman Jim McDermott, who represents the Seattle area of Washington. McDermott becomes Obama's fifth superdelegate from the state of Washington, tying Senator Clinton's support in the state.

Finally, Obama also won the support of Washington DC superdelegate and Communications Workers for America President Larry Cohen. Talkingpointsmemo notes that "this is also Obama's second labor endorsement today, having picked up the backing of the steelworkers' union this morning -- suggesting that John Edwards' endorsement of Obama yesterday is hastening the coalescing of institutional support behind the Illinois Senator".

These four automatic delegates bring Obama's total up to 274.5, a nine automatic delegate lead over Clinton. Overall, Obama leads Clinton 1897.5 to 1723.5 in total delegates.

Obama Picks up 2.5 More Supers after WV Loss

Senator Obama has now picked up the endorsement of an Indiana congressman in consecutive days, this time with Pete Visclosky making his announcement to endorse the Illinois Senator.

Visclosky represents the northwest portion of Indiana, which is within the Chicago media market and neighbors Senator Obama's home state. Visclosky's congressional district, which includes populous Lake County, suburban Porter County and more rural Benton, Jasper and Newton Counties, went for Obama by a 90,511 - 81,218, even though Obama only won Lake County.

This endorsement follows that of Congressman Joe Donnelly, of the adjacent 2nd Congressional District which contains South Bend. Surprisingly, Donnelly endorsed Obama despite his district leaning toward Clinton by a 72,554 - 69,747 result.

Joining Visclosky as a new Obama endorser are Lauren Wolfe and Awais Khaleel, the President and Vice-President of College Democrats of America, and superdelegates from Michigan and Wisconsin (respectively) representing the College Democrats of America. Wolfe and Khaleel's endorsement of Obama follows that of Crystal Strait, who is a California superdelegate representing the Young Democrats of America for the DNC.

As part of an online contest that would help determine their endorsements, CDA vice-president Khaleel and CDA President Lauren Wolfe received thousands of emails, facebook messages and youtube home videos describing the support of college-age democrats from across the country for their candidate of choice. Not surprisingly, Senator Obama was the clear favorite of the youth vote.

Wolfe's endorsement does not officially count toward the Obama superdelegate total, as she is considered part of Michigan's unpledged delegate total. Khaleel, on the other hand, adds to Obama's superdelegate lead with his endorsement.

Finally, Obama picked up a half-delegate when Democrats Abroad Chair Christine Schon Marques annoucned her support for the Illinois Senator.

Four More Supers Declare for Obama

Another day sees another quartet of superdelegates that has endorsed Senator Obama.

Congressman Joe Donnelly of Indiana announced his support for Obama today, citing Obama's ability to effect bipartisanship and unity in the country.

Also jumping on board with the Obama campaign is Louisiana Add-On Delegate C. Ray Nagin, Mayor of New Orleans.

Washington DC Party Chair Anita Bonds also made her preference known, choosing Obama.

Finally, Roy Romer, former Colorado Governor and Democratic National Committee Chairman, endorsed Obama and called for the party to rally around the Illinois Senator as the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Obama Picks up another Fantastic Four: Senator, Congressman, State Chair and DNC Super Declare

Four new superdelegates are in the Obama column, raising him above Senator Clinton in the superdelegate count by NBC's estimation, and expanding his lead in other news services' counts.

The day started off with Hawai'i DNC superdelegate Dolly Strazar making her announcement, citing the need to rally behind Obama and to support her state's 'favorite son', who won the Hawaii contest handily.

Later, Congressman Tom Allen from Maine threw his support to Senator Obama, hoping that his announcement and the announcements of other superdelegates would help bring the primary to a "graceful end".

Back in Hawai'i, previously uncommitted Senator Daniel Akaka decided to endorse Obama as well:

Rather than echo his supporters or review his platform on health care, the
environment, or the war in Iraq, I want to add a different voice to those who
believe Senator Obama would make a fine President. He is the antidote we need to cure Washington of the uninspired, partisan politics that has plagued our country far too long.

What makes him uniquely qualified? A March 2008 feature in Vanity Fair magazine offers a clue: “He was born and came of age in Hawaii, the 50th state and in many ways among the freest‑thinking, where mixed‑race ancestry is …a given... If Obama comes across as a bit of a softy—if you don’t see the toughness or the ambition at first—it may be in part because he spent his formative years in a place where ‘Live Aloha’ had not yet become a slogan aimed at recapturing a more gracious time, but was simply a way of life.”

I have great hope, that in his own way, Barack Obama will achieve what I have
been working to accomplish my entire Congressional career, more tolerance and
understanding, an appreciation for common goals and interests, rather than an
emphasis on our differences.

The fourth superdelegate to announce for Obama today is Idaho State Party Chair R. Keith Roark, whose decision gives Obama a clean sweep of (four) Idaho superdelegates in the primary. If Obama's tremendous 79%-17% victory in Idaho wasn't enough of a factor, former President Clinton's recent comments deriding Idaho's role in the Democratic Party probably sealed the deal.

Obama now leads Clinton in Pledged Delegates (1590 - 1426), Superdelegates (279 - 276.5) and as a result, in Total Delegates (1869 - 1702.5).

Obama Picks Up Endorsement from Arizona Congressman

Arizona Congressman Harry Mitchell has endorsed Senator Obama, according to Demconwatch.

More details to come when they are available.

Another Superdelegate for Clinton?

FirstRead is reporting that Texas Congressman Ciro Rodriguez has endorsed Senator Clinton just now.



I'm not sure if this is a "new" superdelegate, an "adjusted" superdelegate or what. When NBC verifies in more detail I'll add it here.



This would make the count 9-1 for Obama today, if you count Watkins for Obama and Rodriguez for Clinton.

An Add-On, a Congresswoman and an Automatic DNC Superdelegate Announce for Obama

Yet another three superdelegates made their choices known today, officially endorsing Senator Barack Obama.

The first endorsement came when Laurie Weahkee announced that she would endorse Obama. Weahkee is the Add-On Delegate from New Mexico. You may recall that she was vehemently opposed for selection by the pro-Clinton state party delegates because of their fear that her undeclared status was a front for a secret Obama vote. New Mexico was won by Senator Clinton (barely) and the pro-Clinton state delegates felt that there should be a pro-Clinton Add-On selected.

I also noted earlier that the person that put forth Weahkee's nomination for the spot, New Mexico Party Chair Brian Colon, was undeclared when he made this decision, but when he announced his support for Obama, that it could be an indicator of how Weahkee would vote as well:

"If you recall, the Clinton campaign argued vociferously against this appointment, even though she was appointed as an 'undeclared' add-on delegate. Maybe the Clinton camp knew how Colon was leaning and that Weahkee was a stealth Obama delegate?"

Also, when Kalyn Free, a DNC superdelegate from Oklahoma and a fellow Native American involved in the INDN, announced her support for Obama, I also thought it might be an indicator of how Weahkee might lean, especially given Weahkee's interest in giving her vote to the candidate with the best plan for Native American interests.

However, according to Weahkee, she says she was truly "undecided" when selected as the Add-On Delegate for New Mexico:

NMI: Were you truly undecided when you were recently elected by the State Central Committee of the state Democratic Party on April 26 -- or were you leaning toward Obama then?

LW: I really was undecided. Even with in my own family we've been having debates about which candidate to support. And so, at that point in time I was really undecided. I understand it's a high stakes situation, but I was a little disappointed by the aggressive tone of the New Mexico Clinton campaign to challenge my selection as a delegate, because I really was at that time undecided. The aggressive tone from folks here locally just added into the my overall sense that the Clinton campaign was really aggressive. It was disappointing. I was truly undecided and they were already putting me in one camp or another. I just felt it was a bad representation on Hillary Clinton and her overall campaign.

Obama had received the support of New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman two weeks ago, and with Weahkee's endorsement, that leaves Congressman Tom Udall as the long undeclared New Mexico superdelegate. Clinton has received support from six of the 12 New Mexico superdelegates, while Obama now has the endorsement of five.


The second endorsement for Senator Obama comes from a DNC Superdelegate from South Carolina, Wilber Lee Jeffcoat. Jeffcoat is the Vice Chair of the State Democratic Party, a state in which Senator Obama overwhelmingly beat Senator Clinton and former Senator Edwards.

The third endorsement of this group comes from Hawaii Congresswoman Mazie Hirono. Hirono endorsed Obama today, citing his deep roots to Hawaii and the need to unify the Democratic Party.

Obama and Clinton Pick up a New Superdelegate, but Obama also Takes a Clinton Defector

In advance of the Oregon Primary, Congressman Peter DeFazio has annoucned his endorsement of Senator Obama, citing Obama as the Democrats' "best chance of winning in November."

Similarly, New Jersey Congressman Donald Payne has endorsed Obama, but as a previously committed superdelegate for Clinton, his move serves as yet another defection from the Clinton campaign.

Making up for the loss of Payne, Clinton announced the endorsement of Congressman Chris Carney of Pennsylvania. Carney had said previously that he would endorse the winner of his district. This marks the third superdelegate (Shuler and Ellsworth) that have thrown their support to Clinton based on an external metric: performance in their district.

There is still a dispute over whether Ellsworth actually committed to Clinton or not, but for now he counts as a Clinton superdelegate.

Today (so far) marks a net +2 for Obama, who extends his lead over Clinton to 154.5 overall (1854-1699.5) and cuts Clinton's lead in superdelegates to 9.5.

Obama Picks Up Another Two Congressional Superdelegates

Today, two more superdelegates announced their support for Senator Obama.

North Carolina congressman Brad Miller announced that he has endorsed the Illinois senator.

Washington congressman Rick Larsen also declared his support for Obama.

Senator Obama has now cut Senator Clinton's lead in superdelegates to 11.5. Obama's overall lead has stretched to 152.5 (1852-1699.5).

Obama needs 173 more delegates total to clinch the nomination. There are 259.5 undeclared superdelegates remaining, and 224 pledged delegates left to be allocated.

Superdelegate Updates! Obama +3, Clinton +1

OBAMA:

The Obama Campaign released the names of four new superdelegates today, although one of them was leaked yesterday in the run-up to the vote counting in Indiana and North Carolina.

North Carolina Democratic Chair Jerry Meek and California DNC Superdelegate Inola Henry are both new superdelegates for Obama.

North Carolina DNC Superdelegate Jeanette Council was considered an Obama superdelegate after word leaked yesterday that she was going to support the Illinois Senator.

In another blow to the Clinton Campaign, the fourth superdelegate announced today for the Obama campaign comes from a superdelegate previously pledged to Senator Clinton. In a scene reminiscent of the Joe Andrew defection last week, Jennifer McClellan, a DNC superdelegate from Virginia, made public her switch from Clinton to Obama.

CLINTON:

For Senator Clinton, another superdelegate has made his intentions known in her favor. Indiana congressmember Brad Ellsworth has reportedly followed through with his earlier intentions to support the candidate of his constituents, as Senator Clinton won both his district and the state.

So far today, Obama has picked up four superdelegates, although only three are "new", while Clinton nets one superdelegate, as the McClellan defection negates one of her two gains today.

Result:

Obama's lead is now 152.5 Total Delegates, and he is only 177 Total Delegates away from clinching the nomination.

Clinton still leads Obama in unpledged (super + add-on) delegates, with a total of 273.5 - 260.

...and Congressman Shuler Announces for Clinton.

Like clockwork.

More here and here.

Clinton Likely to Gain Endorsement from NC Congressman Shuler

In the past few days it was reported that former President Bill Clinton had met with and attended church with North Carolina Congressman Heath Shuler. As a result of these efforts, Congressman Shuler announced that he would support the winner of his district:




Congressman Shuler's district includes these counties in North Carolina (with the vote margins):

• Cherokee (C: +1558)
• Graham (C: +736)
• Clay (C: +802)
• Macon (C: +1916)
• Swain (C: +1088)
• Jackson (C: +1893)
• Haywood (C: +4792)
• Transylvania (C: +482)
• Madison (C: +1133)
• Buncombe (O: +5609)
• Henderson (C: +2481)
• Polk (C: +323)
• McDowell (C: +2683)
• Yancey (C: +1572)

Overall, Senator Clinton carried this District by 15,850 votes (67534-51684), and by a margin of 55.7% to 42.7%. No Preference carried 1.6% of the vote.

Congressman Shuler's announcement will give Senator Clinton another superdelegate and pull her even with Senator Obama in endorsements from Congressmembers.

One More for Clinton, One More for Obama

Wow!

Another two superdelegates make their choices known today, according to First Read.

Senator Obama picked up the endorsement today of another member of Congress, this time California representative Lois Capps.

Senator Clinton also announced that a Puerto Rico superdelegate, Luisette Cabanas, committed today.

These two announcements bring the tally for the day to Obama 3, Clinton 2. Since last week's Pennsylvania Primary, Obama now leads 10-6 in superdelegate/add-on delegate declarations.

According to First Read, there are only 280 superdelegate remaining as undeclared. 64 of them are add-on delegates either undeclared or unnamed, meaning only 216 superdelegates remain.

Using the First Read numbers, Obama leads Clinton 1737 - 1602 in total delegates.

Assuming a split of the remaining pledged and add-on delegates (which is a charitable position for Senator Clinton), the totals for both would be Obama 1973 -- Clinton 1838.

With 216 superdelegates remaining, Obama would then need 24.1% (52/216) of the superdelegates, while Clinton would need 86.6% (187/216) of those same superdelegates.

It is clear that simply trading superdelegate endorsements with Obama is not going to improve Senator Clinton's position.

What is an interesting thought is that if enough superdelegates declare before the last primaries on June 3rd, there is a chance that the results of those primaries will put Senator Obama over the 2,025 magic number, and not superdelegate or add-on delegate decisions after the fact.

It's been an exciting last two days in the superdelegate race, and it will be interesting to see if this pace of announcements heats up even more over the next few days. This infusion of new endorsements will likely capture a portion of the political bandwidth as the Indiana/North Carolina races approach.

New Superdelegates Announced Today: Obama 2, Clinton 1

MSNBC's FirstRead is reporting that three superdelegates have declared or will declare today, two for Obama and one for Clinton.

Senator Clinton is picking up a Pennsylvania superdelegate, AFL-CIO President Bill George. It is noted that George was a former backer of John Edwards. Clinton has picked up 16 of Pennsylvania's 26 superdelegates so far, with 5 for Obama and 5 undeclared. The last five standing are all Congressmembers, some like Jason Altmire who are not expected to endorse anytime soon given the lose-lose proposition he would face in a tight district.

Senator Obama is picking up two Congressmembers, Baron Hill from Indiana and Bruce Braley from Iowa.

FirstRead notes that Hill "represents Indiana's hotly contested ninth congressional district. Hill is a former Indiana high school basketball star who is in the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, alongside NBA legend Larry Bird." This endorsement will help bolster Obama's credentials in a key swing district and also with the demographics that the pundits say he needs to win over.

The endorsement by Rep. Bruce Braley marks the second from Iowa in consecutive days for Senator Obama.

Since the Pennsylvania Primary 13 superdelegates and one add-on delegate have made their preferences knowns. Nine (9) have declared for Obama and five (5) have declared for Clinton.

As I have noted earlier in the Clinton Matrix and other posts, Senator Clinton will need 82.5% of the uncommitted superdelegates to support her if she manages to split the remaining pledged delegates and the remaining add-on delegates with Senator Obama, who is favored to take a majority of those delegates.

This means that for every undeclared superdelegate Obama announces, Clinton will need to produce FOUR of the same undeclared superdelegates to barely keep pace in the long run.

One of my thoughts on the race's status is that Obama can steadily solidify his position with each superdelegate that 'trickles' in. Think of each superdelegate announcement for Obama as time running off the clock for Clinton. There's nothing anyone can do about the calendar for the pledged or add-on delegates, but the stream of superdelegates announcing is something that

Senator Clinton has tried to stop until she could put herself in a position where the superdelegates would HAVE to pick her based on whatever shifts in the political milieu might occur.

The four superdelegates that Senator Obama has produced in the last 24 hours has forced Hillary Clinton to produce 23 new superdelegates just to offset these four superdelegates, if she needs to win at least 82.5% of the remaining uncommitted super delegates. So far she has produced three in the past two days.

N.B.: 23/27 = 85%

I'll do an update later on today on the new numbers in the race. But you can see how precarious the Clinton delegate situation is at this point.

And what does it say when Senator Obama is able to produce four superdelegates in two days? How many more does he have on "reserve"? With six days left until the primary, is it possible he could produce 12 more superdelegates?

A Second Superdelegate for Clinton Announces as Well

I had a sneaking suspicion that Senator Clinton would announce a second superdelegate today to match Obama's two announcements, and I was proven correct.

Congressman Ike Skelton from Missouri has announced his support today for Senator Clinton, according to her website, which provides a link to the Associated Press story.

And so, today, April 29th saw as much action as you will see on May 3rd, when four pledged delegates total (eight delegates with 1/2 vote each) will be selected in the Guam Caucuses.

While Senator Clinton may have tied the day officially in superdelegates, the one-for-one matching of superdelegates at this stage of the race only serves to deplete the number of superdelegates left that are available to push her to the nomination.

The main reaction here is that Obama showed off strength earlier today with two delegates to blunt the announcement of a solid pickup by Clinton of the North Carolina governor. Clinton met the challenge and released another superdelegate today to even the score.

I'll write more in an update above.