Most superdelegates in Oregon remain uncommitted

Nine of Oregon’s 12 superdelegates plan to stay uncommitted until after the state primary on May 20.

"What happens in the Oregon primary, in my mind, will go along way in terms determining which candidate I will support," says superdelegate Frank Dixon, vice chairman of the Democratic Party of Oregon.

"It would have to be an extremely compelling case not to support the winner of the Oregon primary."

Of Oregon’s three superdelegates who are already committed, Rep. Darlene Hooley and Gov. Ted Kulongoski support Sen. Clinton, while Rep. Earl Blumenauer backs Sen. Obama.

Many of the uncommitted superdelegates are talking about delaying an announcement until after the last state primary, says Dixon, because they don’t want their superdelegate votes to influence the vote in state primaries that come after the vote in Oregon.

Dixon, however, hopes a decision is made before the national convention in Denver.

"I don’t think it makes sense to drag it out through the whole summer if there’s a clear indication that one candidate has enough delegates to win the nomination,” he says.

"I would hope the other candidate at that point simply decides to support the front-runner, or candidate who has the delegates either pledged or committed through an informal process."

Some people don’t understand that the presumptive nominee becomes head of the party, he says, and that "leadership change takes a bit of time to work its way through a 50-state strategy."

Usually the nominee has a lot to say about the platform, and if there is no nominee selected until the August convention, he says, "that creates a void where the DNC has to step in and work on the platform, instead of the nominee. So there are lots of reasons to try to wind it up in June."

Bill Bradbury, secretary of state in Oregon, on Monday told the Gannett News Service that the Pennsylvania primary "could be the final call" for Democrats, saying that a win or strong showing by Obama would end questions about the candidate’s ability to get votes from working-class white men.

The day after that primary, however, Bradbury pointed to another kind of clarity.

"From my perspective it’s pretty clear that Hillary won pretty convincingly, though not overwhelmingly," he told the Denver Post. "That means the race will continue through all the primaries until early June. There’s no question in my mind."

Like Dixon, he believes the Democratic Party would benefit by deciding on a presumptive nominee before the August convention in Denver. "Obviously it’s a question of superdelegates, and whether there’s any way to get them together before that time," he says. "And there’s some controversy over that."

As secretary of state, Bradley plans to remain an uncommitted superdelegate until after the state primaries--not a tough decision, actually.

"It's not like I’m keeping it a secret," he says. "It's really remarkable. I'm completely undecided, and that's not normal for me."

One thing is definite: the close race is a boon for the state’s Democratic party.

"Our chances of getting on CNN’s ‘Hardball’ have gone up tremendously," says Marc Siegel, Democratic Party spokesperson. "Six months ago no one would have though Oregon would get this kind of attention in a pivotal battle to see who our next president is."

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