Editorial: Dem chief must push superdelegates to declare

Opinion: The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.

Howard Dean, national chairman for the Democratic Party, says either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton must pull out of the race after the last of the state primaries in June.

He fears that a prolonged battle that lasts until the Democratic Convention in August could be detrimental to his party’s chances in November.

“We really can’t have a divided convention,” he said in an ABC interview.

We think Dean is barking up the wrong tree.

The candidates should not be asked to stay or get out. Both Obama, the overall leader in primaries won, and Clinton, who took a big step by winning Pennsylvania, should stay in the race as long as they think they can capture the nomination.

What Dean should be doing is pushing the party’s superdelegates to publicly confirm their support of one candidate or the other.

This crazy superdelegates set-up is the real problem the party faces – the biggest obstacle to a unified campaign.

The superdelegates are 796 elected officials and party heavies who have the right to support whomever they please between the contenders. These folks include the Democratic members of Congress, Democratic governors, members of the Democratic National Committee and other leading elected officials from the Democratic Party.

Pennsylvania’s 26 super-delegates include U.S. Rep. John Murtha, Gov. Ed Rendell and Sen. Bob Casey. Casey has pledged his support for Obama, while Murtha and Rendell have backed Clinton.

A candidate needs 2,025 total delegates, including simple delegates and superdelegates, to take the nomination.