Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the highest ranking Democratic official right now, is saying the Democratic nomination should go to whoever gets the most delegates--even if that person doesn't get the largest number of the popular vote. This bodes well for Obama, see more of the details below in the first part of an AP article that was published yesterday...
"Pelosi says it would be damaging to the Democratic party for its leaders to buck the will of national convention delegates picked in primaries and caucuses, a declaration that gives a boost to Sen. Barack Obama.
'If the votes of the superdelegates overturn what's happened in the elections, it would be harmful to the Democratic party,' Pelosi said in an interview taped Friday for broadcast Sunday on ABC's 'This Week.'
The California Democrat did not mention either Obama or his rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, by name. But her remarks seemed to suggest she was prepared to cast her ballot at the convention in favor of the candidate who emerges from the primary season with the most pledged delegates.
Obama leads Clinton by 142 pledged delegates - those delegates picked in nomination contests to date, in The Associated Press' count.
Barring an unlikely string of landslide victories by the former first lady in the remaining states, he will end the primary season with a delegate lead, but short of the 2025 needed to win the nomination.
That gives the balance of power to the so-called superdelegates, prominent Democrats who are automatically entitled to attend the convention because of their status as members of Congress or other leaders. Clinton leads Obama for their support in the AP count, 249-213.
Pelosi's comments could influence other House Democrats who are neutral in the presidential race and will attend the convention as superdelegates.
In her interview, Pelosi also said that even if one candidate winds up with a larger share of the popular vote than the delegate leader, the candidate who has more delegates should prevail.
'It's a delegate race,' she said. 'The way the system works is that the delegates choose the nominee...' "
Read the rest of the article here...
Above photo credit: Picture by Randy Bayne.
Update: In an April 1st interview with NPR, Pelosi said that her belief that the nomination should go to the candidate with the most elected delegates was first tated when Clinton was ahead. Revealing the importance of her stance on this issue, she also received what's being called a "threatening" letter from the Clinton camp recently:
"In a recent letter, major Democratic donors and Clinton supporters pressured Pelosi to change her position that the superdelegates should back the candidate with the most delegates.
" 'I said this when Sen. Clinton was ahead, too,' Pelosi says. 'I don't remember receiving a letter from them at that time,' Pelosi says. 'But let me be as clear as I can be: That letter is unimportant.' "
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