No Superdelegate Rush Yet

Once again, the Delegate Scoreboard Report from Wednesday can only be described as something out of the Big Ten's Football Playbook - 3 yards and a cloud of dust.

Barack Obama added a couple more superdelegates, while Hillary Clinton grabbed one more, as Obama moved closer (again) toward the magic number where he will actually and officially clinch the Democratic nomination for President.

Until then, don't hold your breath for this Democratic race to be over.

** For those of you who write me very nice emails telling me that I am a complete moron for referring to the "Democratic" Party, I must refer you to the website of the party, which can be found at http://www.democrats.org to see how they refer to themselves. **

Team Obama says they are now 61 delegates away from victory, after getting the support of Mississippi Democratic Party chairman Wayne Dowdy.

"It's time for a change in leadership, and only Barack Obama can bring the kind of change we can believe in," Dowdy said in a statement.  "He won our state of Mississippi decisively on March 11th, and I'm proud to support him today."

I had to smile when I saw the name "Wayne Dowdy," because he was elected as a Congressman from Mississippi back in the summer of 1981, when I was a Page in the House.

When new members were sworn in, many of the Pages would gather along the back rail on the floor and raise our right hands as well, so we could be "sworn in" like the new lawmaker.

That was also a wild summer as the Congress voted on Ronald Reagan's tax cutting and budget plans, as a group of Southern Democrats nicknamed the "Boll Weevils" helped give Reagan a series of crucial victories.

But back to Campaign 2008.

If Obama can get just enough superdelegates to declare over the next two weeks, he has a chance to actually clinch this nomination on the night of June 3, when the primaries wrap up in Montana and South Dakota.

86 pledged delegates are up for grabs in those two states, plus Puerto Rico, which votes two days earlier on June 1.

Obama officials estimate that they need just over two dozen more superdelegates by June 3, and they may be able to declare victory that night.

One other piece of news out of the Obama camp was the hiring of former ABC News Correspondent Linda Douglas as a spokeswoman.

That news produced an audible groan in our quarters up in the attic of the U.S. Capitol.  Many of us really don't like it when one of our former colleagues leaves the news business and goes to work for a high profile political candidate.

It raises obvious questions about standards and bias.






Once again, the Delegate Scoreboard Report from Wednesday can only be described as something out of the Big Ten's Football Playbook - 3 yards and a cloud of dust. Barack Obama added a couple more superdelegates, while Hillary Clinton grabbed one more, as Obama moved closer (again) toward the magic ...