Party Leaders Want Super Delegates to Make Their Decision in June

Last updated on July 1st, 2012 at 05:10 am

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Since neither Democratic presidential candidate will win enough delegates to secure the party’s nomination, party leaders like DNC chair Howard Dean and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are turning are turning up the heat on the 300 or so undecided super delegates to make up their minds well before the Democratic convention in late August.

Dean said in an interview with Bloomberg Television today, “The only thing that’s going to keep us from winning is disunity in the Democratic Party. We’ve got to bring this to an orderly close at the right time.” The right time that Dean is referring to is in June after the last primaries have been held.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America, and echoed Dean’s point. “I think the election has to run its course, at some point it’ll be clear that there is a front-runner, and at that point we would hope that, for the greater good, for the country, that we can all rally as early as possible behind one person.” However, Pelosi said that it was too early to label either of the remaining Democrats as the frontrunner. “Every day is a lifetime in politics and anything can change — the dynamic can change at any given time.”

Pelosi said that Clinton’s recent comments about taking the nomination fight the whole way to the convention is exactly what she is supposed to say. “If you’re a candidate for president, you certainly are saying that you’re going to the convention. You can’t say anything but. Sen. Clinton may well be going to the convention as the nominee. But I do think that as it evolves, one of them — one of them is going to have to realize that the numbers, whether its Sen. Obama, and he would step aside, or whether it’s Sen. Clinton.”

None of the Democratic leaders seem very worried about the possibility of this battle being taken to the convention. The media would love a convention floor fight between Clinton and Obama, but I seriously doubt that this will happen. The Democratic nominee will be the candidate who has the most total delegates after the final primaries have been held. There will too much pressure on the super delegates for them to go off on their own and disregard the wishes of a majority of Democratic voters. To do this, would be more destructive to the party than any convention floor fight ever could be.

Democrats are still sensitive about the events of the 2000 election, and if the party hands the nomination to Clinton, this could lead to a total collapse in support among younger and African American voters. Women are the foundation of the Democratic Party currently, but I doubt that they would leave the party and support McCain. His pro-war stance is a major turn off for them, so it looks like party leaders are going to be twisting arms in June to make sure that they have a nominee well before the convention.

Watch Pelosi on GMA:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Vote2008/story?id=4563609&page=1