Barack Obama: The Endorsements Continue

Democratic hopeful Barack Obama has received his latest welcome boost - an endorsement from Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar.

Klobuchar is a 'superdelegate', which means that - while sounding like a particularly rubbish comic book hero obsessed with sitting down and talking things over - she is one of around 800 elected officials who can choose to support whichever candidate they goshdarn want to. As interpreted by political commentator Dan Abrams, ''each of the superdelegates' votes is now equivalent to about 10,000 Democratic voters''. Get 'em on your side, it seems, and you own that nomination, sweetcheeks.

In terms of amassed support from these mythical politic-beasts, Hilary Clinton is still slightly ahead of Obama, with 243 superdelegates backing her cause. Obama is lagging slightly with 212, but ever since 'Super Tuesday' (alternative title: 'Awesome Mega Vote Explosion Day'), he has been gathering new recruits from the field at a rate of three times faster.

Klobuchar explained herself by saying: ''I believe I have an obligation to try to bring our party together." Scant consolation to the increasing numbers who feel that the very presence of the superdelegates is a bad idea - one which doesn't so much throw objectivity out the window as strap it to a rocket and fire it into the Sun. Could we be in for an all-new US election controversy? Time - and Fox News, no doubt - will tell ...

Written by C J Davies on 31 Mar 2008 10:42 PM. Permalink