It is conceivable that by the time the final Democratic Presidential Primary is held – June 7th in Puerto Rico – neither of the candidates will have the 2,025 delegates needed to win the party’s nomination. That makes the role of the so-called Super Delegates – who can vote as they see fit – critical in the process.
The people in Washington who do the math on such things say Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has the support of most of these super-delegates, and that could give her the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination. State Representative TD El-Amin (D-St. Louis), a supporter of Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), says if Obama wins the popular votes and most of the popularly elected delegates, the super-delegates should follow suit.
But Representative Rachel Storch (D-St. Louis), a Clinton backer, says these super-delegates must be left alone to vote as they wish.
Missouri has 16 super-delegates. Fourteen are already chosen. Two will be elected by the Missouri Democratic Party State Committee in April. The fourteen who have been chosen are: Senator Claire McCaskill, former Congressman Dick Gephardt, Congressman Russ Carnahan, Congressman Lacy Clay, Congressman Ike Skelton, Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, Missouri Democratic Party Chair John Temporiti, Party Vice-Chair Yolanda Wheat, Doug Brooks (DNC), Mark Bryant (DNC), Leila Medley (DNC), Sandy Querry (DNC), and State Representative Maria Chappelle-Nadal (DNC).
Download/Listen: Steve Walsh report (:60 MP3)
