A few Democrats echo party leaders, who have called on superdelegates to sustain the will of primary voters. But even superdelegates who say the delegate count will be decisive in their own decision-making add a caveat: They warn that the delegate count will be less important if the leading candidate has not also won a majority of the popular vote.
“For me it will be a combination of delegate lead and the popular vote,” said Rep. Jason Altmire, a neutral Democrat from Pennsylvania. “If Clinton catches Obama in the popular vote, that’s important.
“I don’t want to be looked at as overturning the popular vote,” Altmire added.
Altmire is in the minority among undeclared superdelegates. Only three other superdelegates interviewed agreed with him. By contrast, 34 superdelegates said the delegate lead would not be decisive. Four Democratic lawmakers declined to comment.
“I’m looking for the candidate with the greatest support from those who participated in the primaries, the candidate who has the most momentum going forward and who has the best chance to win in November,” said Sen. Ben Cardin (Md.).
Pelosi warned colleagues soon after Super Tuesday, Feb. 5, that they should be careful about overturning a candidate’s delegate lead at the August convention in Denver.
“I don’t think it was ever intended that superdelegates would overturn the verdict, the decision of the American people,” she said. “What they are there to do is to be in place should there be a need for some change in what happens, but not to change what happened in the election.”
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Tuesday that superdelegates should choose against the delegate leader only if he or she commits a gaffe so extreme that it would seriously jeopardize the party’s chances in the fall.
Some Democratic strategists fear that if Obama leads in delegates and popular votes after June 4 and party officials decide to give the nomination to Clinton, it would anger many black voters. They warn that significant numbers of black voters could stay home in the fall, hurting Democrats in congressional races around the country.
“We should not overturn the decision of pledged delegates unless something comes up before the convention that makes it clear the leading candidate is unelectable,” said Van Hollen. “There would have to be a clear consensus that person is unelectable.”
But few other neutral Democrats agree with Van Hollen, even though they have tasked him with the job of protecting their majority status in this fall’s elections.
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