MIAMI (CBS4) ― In the Democratic presidential race, neither Senators Clinton nor Obama can secure the nomination without the support of the roughly 800 superdelegates, with over 100 who have not yet committed to either candidate; Florida House Minority Leader Dan Gelber is one of them but he is no longer undecided and has committed to Senator Barack Obama.
Even though Hillary Clinton told West Virginians she's going nowhere until all the votes are in, the roar of political pundits is filling the airwaves. Gelber announced his decision on his blog late Wednesday afternoon, and spoke with CBS4's Michael Williams.
"Senator Obama is appealing to people's better angels; he's appealing to mine," said Gelber. "And I think that's a great way to go, so I have no remorse about the decision. I think it's time to end the primary and it's time to think about November."
Gelber posted his reason for choosing Obama on his website. Gelber wrote, "Sen. Obama has made his case with the pledged delegates and that will not change in the upcoming weeks. As much as I think our primary system is absurd, it is the system under which we operate and to ask superdelegates to overturn the pledged delegate results is both elitist and decidedly un-Democratic. Furthermore, too much is at stake in November to continue debating amongst ourselves. We must draw the stark contrasts between the Democratic plan for America's future and the Republican agenda."
You can read the rest of his blog entry at DanGelber.com.
Superdelegates--most of them party officials--will put one candidate or the other over the top. Of course, Florida Superdelegates won't have any say at all if the state's disputed primary is not recognized.
Hallandale Beach State Senator and un-commited superdelegate Steven Geller plans to file suit next week demanding the full Florida vote be counted.. Even if it is, it may not change much.
"Right now its clear the odds are 75-80 percent that Obama will be the nominee."
It's a historic prize within reach.
Gelber's support is important for Barack Obama particularly within the Jewish community. Picking up Gelber should also mute the criticism that Obama would not compete well in Florida and Gelber's support could be a big help to Obama in South Florida as well.
So what is a superdelegate? They act as free agents - they are people who get to be a delegate at the convention without being pledged to vote for a particular candidate. Their votes don't count anymore than the regular delegates, but because they aren't pledged, they can vote for either candidate, regardless of their state's popular vote. The superdelegates make up about one-fifth of the total delegates.
Florida has 25 powerful superdelegates to offer Obama or Clinton if Democratic party leaders agree to recognize them at a meeting in late May.
Raul Martinez, a former Hialeah mayor and now a Democratic congressional candidate, is also a superdelegate who said earlier this week that he supports Hillary Clinton, for now.
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