Pat Dollard | Young Americans

The Swamp:

Despite all the pleas by Democratic Party officials, including Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean, that his party’s superdelegates make up their minds and soon, about whom they’ll support for their party’s presidential nomination, there are apparently still unswayed superdelegates who might wait all the way to the convention.

According to a Los Angeles Times story today:

But many superdelegates preferred their place on the fence, content to watch as the race plays out. “I feel no compulsion whatsoever to cast my vote until the convention, but I may make a determination following the primaries,” said Nancy Worley, vice chairwoman of the Alabama Democratic Party.

Larry Gates, the Kansas state chairman, said he too was content to wait, knowing any decision he makes is bound to tick off somebody. “I like them both,” he said of Clinton and Obama. “Always have.”

There are 794 Democratic superdelegates with about 300 remaining uncommitted. Since neither Obama or Clinton have the required 2,024 needed to clinch the nomination - Obama has 1,723.5 while Clinton has 1,592.4, the LAT story reports–most everyone expects that the superdelegates will have to decide the matter.

If Worley and Gates’ views reflect those of most of the undecided delegates, that obviously raises the possibility of the contentious nomination fight going all the way to the August convention, the most frightening specter for Dean and many other Democratic officials.

But there are also those superdelegates who, unlike Worley, don’t want to see the fight extend into the convention. Here are a couple of snippets from the story to that effect:

“If June 3 is the last primary, then after June 3 is the time to make a decision,” said Wayne Dowdy, chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party and an uncommitted superdelegate.

Blake Johnson, vice chairman of Alaska’s Democratic Party, agreed. “After all the states have voted, it’ll be time for the superdelegates to make their decision,” said Johnson, who is also neutral in the primaries.

And this, featuring R. Keith Roark, chairman of the Idaho Democratic Party:

Roark is among those who are less than pleased that Clinton might carry her fight to the convention, suggesting that superdelegates will have all the information they need to make a decision soon after June 3.

The bottom line seems to be that the Democratic superdelegates are unlikely to end the longest primary campaign in modern memory before voting in Puerto Rico on June 3, with some even willing to let it go to the convention. But there’s also some strong sentiment among superdelegates that the primary fight should come to an end by the first week of June at the latest.