Obama Says Superdelegates Should Back Candidate With Most Pledged Delegates
SEATTLE -- Barack Obama said today that Democratic party superdelegates should throw their support to him if he wins the most states and pledged delegates.
"My strong belief is that if we end up with the most states and the most pledged delegates from the most voters in the country, that it would be problematic for the political insiders to overturn the judgment of the voters."
He told reporters at a press conference in Seattle that the almost 800 superdelegates should also consider who is most capable of beating John McCain in the general election. Obama predicted that the race with Hillary Clinton will be very tight and that it's too early to speculate what will happen. Right now, Obama wants to focus on reaching out to voters who are not as familiar with him as they are with Clinton.
"We are always at a disadvantage with voters who don't know me as well because they know an awful lot about Senator Clinton and there's affection for president Clinton," Obama said.
"Within the Democratic party, I think the Clinton branding is very strong; we have to do more work in order for people to peel off from something they are familiar with."
Obama believes that winning Washington State tomorrow will give him a boost in upcoming races and that he will ultimately do well in big delegate states such as Texas and Ohio.
"On Saturday, if we come out of here with momentum and with additional delegates, that will be helping to lay the groundwork for what happens in Maryland and Virginia two days, three days later and that in turn will have an influence on how voters in Ohio and Texas perceive my candidacy."