As Barack Obama put it today, this primary season is “like a good movie that lasted about a half and hour too long.” When addressing a crowd in Pittsburgh today, Obama joked, “I think there are some people who felt like God, when will this be over?” He later qualified this by adding, “It’s been hard and tough because both Clinton and I understand what is at stake, how important this race is, how important the next presidency will be to the American people and to families right here in Pennsylvania.”

But there are many within the Democratic Party who agree that the longer the race to determine the Democratic nominee goes on, the more it could fracture the Party and, come November, hurt the eventual nominee. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who was an early Obama supporter, today told Vermont Public Radio, “There is no way that Senator Clinton is going to win enough delegates to get the nomination…She ought to withdraw and she ought to be backing Senator Obama. Now, obviously that’s a decision that only she can make. Frankly, I feel that she would have a tremendous career in the Senate.”

Neither Senator Obama nor his campaign has suggested that Senator Clinton should drop out of the race, but they are quick to point out that the pledged delegate math doesn’t add up to a Clinton nomination. But it will likely not add up for Obama either as neither candidate is likely to amass the needed 2,024 to win the nomination.

Which brings us to the now infamous superdelegates - the former presidents, governors, senators, congressmen, and other political types who may very well end up holding the fate of the Democratic nominee in their hands should both candidates fall short of that magic number. As it stands now, Clinton still leads Obama in the superdelegate count (250 - 216), but Obama has been closing ground quickly since February 5th, picking up 66 to Clinton’s one. And each superdelegate get is crucial.

Today, Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) became the latest superdelegate to pledge support for Barack Obama. The junior PA senator heaped praise onto Obama for his intellect and his judgment, and told reporters he hoped the Party picks a nominee by late May or early June. “If you get too far into the summer, I think positions begin to harden and I think that we lose time to not just unite and bring people together, but also we’re giving the Republican nominee more time to make the case against our nominees without having enough rebuttal because they’re going to, their nominee will come at us very hard and I think we hope that we can resolve this,” Casey said.

But, Casey also noted he wasn’t sure who the nominee would be, even if he “hopes” it’s Obama.  “[Senator Clinton's] a great Senator, she’s a great leader. And one thing we all agree on, all of us as Democrats across this commonwealth and across this country – we agree on so much, and one thing we agree on is in 2008, we’re going to elect a Democrat to the presidency of the United States.”

And with that observation, the crowd cheered and Obama nodded in agreement.