Obama Cuts Into Clinton's Delegate Lead Among Elected OfficialsBy Julianna Goldman and Catherine Dodge
March 14 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama has pulled almost
even with Hillary Clinton in endorsements from top elected
officials and has cut into her lead among the other
superdelegates she's relying on to win the Democratic
presidential nomination.
Among the 313 of 796 superdelegates who are members of
Congress or governors, Clinton has commitments from 103
and Obama is backed by 96, according to lists supplied
by the campaigns. Fifty-three of Obama's endorsements
have come since he won the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses,
compared with 12 who have aligned with Clinton since then.
“That's not glacial, that is a remarkable momentum,”
Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, a superdelegate and
Obama supporter, said in an interview. “I don't think
there is anything that will slow that down.”
-snip-Both sides agree her chance to win the nomination rests
on winning a significant majority of superdelegates
because Obama is likely to maintain a lead of at least
150 pledged delegates - - those won in primaries and
caucuses -- after the last contest is finished. If he
does, Clinton, 60, would have to snag more than 70
percent of the remaining 334 or so superdelegates.
-snip-