George Stephanopoulos said uncommitted superdelegates supporting Barack Obama “will come three, four, five at a time, and this nomination will be locked up.” We’re still a ways from a “locked up” nomination, but there was some movement on the superdelegate front today, and Obama appears to have a net gain of four for the afternoon.
Today, in the wake of the North Carolina and Indiana primaries, the Obama campaign is announcing three new superdelegates: Jerry Meek, chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party, Jeanette Council, a member of the D.N.C. from North Carolina and Inola Henry, a member of the D.N.C. from California. […]
These endorsements brings the total number of superdelegates to endorse Mr. Obama to 261, according to the campaign’s tally. He is 170 delegates away from securing the Democratic nomination.
The news wasn’t all bad for Clinton, though. Rep. Heath Shuler had promised to support whichever candidate won his North Carolina district yesterday. Clinton carried the district easily (a 13-point victory), prompting Shuler to back the New York senator.
While that would give Obama a net gain of two for the day, Jennifer McClellan, a state rep in Virginia and a DNC member, switched today from Clinton to Obama.
Former Sen. George McGovern’s switch was a fairly big deal, but it did not affect the totals because McGovern isn’t a superdelegate.
So, where does that leave us, as of now? NBC has Clinton’s superdelegate lead down to 12.5 (272.5 to 260); the Politico also shows Clinton ahead by 12.5 (269.5 to 257); CNN puts the number at 13 (267 to 254); and the 2008 Democratic Convention Watch has Clinton leading by 14.5 (270.5 to 256).
