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Obama narrows Clinton superdelegate lead
The Democratic superdelegates are starting to follow the voters - straight to Barack Obama.
- AP
- Published: 21:27 February 23, 2008
- Image Credit: Reuters
- Barack Obama campaigns in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Friday.
Washington: The Democratic superdelegates are starting to follow the voters - straight to Barack Obama.
In just the past two weeks, more than two dozen of the party insiders who help choose the Democratic presidential nominee have climbed aboard his campaign, according to a survey.
At the same time, Hillary Clinton's are beginning to jump ship, abandoning her for Obama or deciding they now are undecided.
The result: He is narrowing her once-commanding lead among these "superdelegates", the Democratic office holders and party officials who automatically attend the national convention and can vote for whomever they choose.
Straight victories
As Obama has reeled off 11 straight primary victories, some of the superdelegates are having second - or third - thoughts about their public commitments.
Take John Perez, a Californian who first endorsed John Edwards and then backed Clinton. Now, he says, he is undecided. "Given where the race is at right now, I think it's very important for us to play a role around bringing the party together around the candidate that people have chosen, as opposed to advocating for our own choice," he said in an interview.
Crash: Policeman killed
A police officer in Senator Hillary Clinton's motorcade was killed in a motorcycle accident on Friday on the way to a campaign rally, authorities said.
The officer was identified as Senior Cpl Victor Lozada Tirado, who died after apparently crashing into a concrete barrier, Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle said in a televised news conference. Lozada is survived by a wife and four children: two in college, one in high school and a 10-year-old, Kunkle said.
The accident occurred as the Democratic presidential candidate's motorcade was going from the Dallas airport to the parking lot, where she addressed about 1,000 supporters at a rally in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas.
"We are just heartsick over this," Clinton told reporters after a parking-lot rally here.
The accident changed Clinton's campaign plans. She cancelled a rally in Fort Worth.
- Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service
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