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Democrats Urge Delegates To Pick

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The Associated Press

Published: May 30, 2008

WASHINGTON - Top Democratic leaders intend to push for a quick end to the battle for the presidential nomination when primaries are over next week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday, adding that he, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and party chairman Howard Dean will urge uncommitted delegates to choose sides.

"By this time next week, it will all be over, give or take a day," Reid said of the marathon race between the front-running Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Obama is within 44 delegates of clinching the nomination, according to The Associated Press tally, and leads Clinton by 200 delegates.
Democratic officials said Pelosi has begun contacting uncommitted House members urging them to weigh in soon after the primary season ends. Numerous Democrats have expressed concern that a protracted nominating campaign could harm the party's chances of winning the White House in the fall. John McCain effectively wrapped up the Republican nomination in March.

Tantalizingly close to the nomination, Obama stands to gain a minimum of roughly 20 delegates in remaining primaries in Puerto Rico, Montana and South Dakota under party rules that distribute them proportional to the popular vote - even if he loses all three. He would need to enlist the support of uncommitted superdelegates to amass the rest.

Slightly fewer than 200 superdelegates remain uncommitted, including 64 members of Congress.

Although Obama holds a commanding lead in delegates, Clinton has threatened to campaign into the convention in August if she is not satisfied with the results of a party committee meeting this weekend. A Democratic National Committee panel is scheduled to discuss the fate of disputed delegations from Michigan and Florida, two states that held primaries last winter in defiance of party rules.

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