Black Superdelegates; The Heat Is On

Source: Jackie Jones, BlackAmericaWeb.com

Black Superdelegates Pressured to Prioritize Will of the People Over Loyalty, but Will They?

Stephen Jaffe

Rep. John Lewis speaks in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC

Rep. John Lewis Switches Support to Obama

Date: Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Superdelegates to the Democratic presidential nominating convention probably aren’t feeling very super right about now. Squeezed is more like it, as pressure mounts from candidates and their supporters to commit to a candidate or even switch their votes right now instead of waiting until the party's convention in August.

As senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton vie in what have been billed as decisive primaries, the superdelegate count could be the deciding factor if the nomination isn’t secured by either Tuesday night.

There are 370 Democratic delegates at stake in four states -- Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont -- but the party's system of awarding delegates proportionally will make it tough for either candidate to post big gains.

The biggest prize is Texas, with 193 delegates, where the Democrats will have a primary and a caucus. The primary will determine 126 delegates, based on voting in 31 individual state senate districts. The caucuses will determine 67 delegates. They will be awarded based on the statewide results of the caucuses, which will be held after the primary polls close.

The two-step system increases the possibility that the primary winner might not win the most delegates to the party's national convention this summer. More HERE