Political Equinox

As delegate counting has become the new rage in national Democratic conversation, the idea of looking at how ‘superdelegates’ vote is not something relegated to the political junkies. It is darn near impossible for either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama to secure the nomination without them so they now become incredibly important in deciding which Dem will square off against McCain this fall.

For those of you who don’t know, ‘superdelegate’ is an informal term for a delegate to the Democratic National Convention not directly chosen through a primary or caucus. They are party officials as well as current and former elected officeholders.

Just whom are these ‘superdelegates’ from Indiana do you ask? (I really don’t know if you’re asking yourself this now, but let’s assume so). Indiana has 12 superdelegates, 6 of whom are elected officials, 3 of whom are Indiana members of the Democratic National Committee, 2 of whom are state party officials and one who is what is classified as a ‘Distinguished Party Leader’ Here’s the breakdown of Indiana’s superdelegates.

Group 1: The Elected Officials

Senator Evan Bayh – Clinton – Although he made a brief foray into the 2008 race for the presidency, Bayh quickly dropped out and endorsed Senator Clinton. Bayh is a national Co-Chair of Clinton’s campaign and can be seen as a major asset to Clinton’s campaign in Indiana.

Congressmen Donnelly, Ellsworth, Hill, Visclosky, Carson – Uncommitted – none of the aforementioned congressmen have endorsed either Senator Clinton or Obama, but each is a superdelegate at the National Convention. Donnelly, Visclosky and Ellsworth share a border with Obama’s home state of Illinois. In 2006 Obama even campaigned for Donnelly. With the highest elected democratic official in the state endorsing the other candidate it would be logical that if their view on the presidency differed from the Senator’s they would remain uncommitted until the convention.

Group 2: DNC Members

Bob Pastrick, - Clinton; Phoebe Crane, Clinton; Connie Thurman – Obama,

Pastrick, Crane and Thurman represent the Indiana Democratic Party as three of 440 members of the Democratic National Committee. Pastrick is the former mayor of East Chicago, Crane is from Whtiestown, IN and Thurman is from Marion County.

Group 3: State Party Officials

Dan Parker, Chair – Clinton; Cordelia Lewis-Burks – Obama

As the top leaders in the state Party, Parker and Lewis-Burks each have votes at the national convention. Parker previously served as the executive director of the state party before taking over as chair. Lewis-Burks was the former leader of AFSCME in Indiana. Both Parker and Lewis-Burks are members of the Democratic National Committee.

Group 4 - Distinguished Party Leaders

Joe Andrew - Clinton - While the first three groups of superdelegates are relatively self explanatory, the third may need some qualification. Distinguished Party Leaders include all former Presidents, Vice Presidents, House and Senate Leaders as well as former DNC Chairs. Mr. Andrew served as DNC National Chairman from 1999-2001.

The Indiana Superdelegate Count:

Clinton – 5

Obama – 2

Uncommitted - 5

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