Presidential Campaign

Courting the superdelegates

Don’t miss Hillary Clinton’s interview this week with Mark Halperin of Time magazine where she suggests that pledged delegates Barack Obama won are free to vote for her. Clinton said “every delegate with very few exceptions is free to make up his or her mind however they choose. We talk a lot about so-called pledged delegates, but every delegate is expected to exercise independent judgment.”

If Clinton had won those pledged delegates and her opponent were suggesting they ditch her, you can just imagine the sound of her husband’s voice hollering about the will of the people. Ouch, I can see his red face too.

That said, it must be tough running for your life, with a Senate colleague calling openly for your withdrawal and the House Speaker clearly in the other camp. But does Clinton help herself with comments like these? Does it bring in more superdelegates who she desperately needs? Does it get more votes?

Probably not.

***

Why haven’t more superdelegates come forward for Clinton or Obama? ASK A.B. returns Monday, March 31 — Please join me for my weekly Q&A video posts by sending useful, interesting and entertaining questions to askab@digital-release.thehill.com.