According to the Obama campaign, Barack Obama now has more superdelegates than his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton - “a clear sign that Democrats across the country and throughout the party are ready for a new kind of politics.” In an email sent out to supporters, Campaign Manager David Plouffe shared the news while noting the race is not over (hint, send money).

“Given the long history the Clintons have with the Democratic Party, it’s no surprise Senator Clinton maintained her superdelegate lead for so long,” Plouffe wrote. “But right now it’s clear that the Democratic Party is uniting around Barack’s candidacy.”

Read the email here:

“Big news today: for the first time since this campaign began, Barack Obama has taken the lead among superdelegates.

We’ve won more elected delegates, more states, and more votes than Senator Clinton. But until yesterday we trailed among Governors, Members of Congress, and Democratic Party leaders — the so-called “superdelegates” who have a vote in the nominating process.

As it stands, we have 279 superdelegates who have committed to cast their convention votes for us. That includes 21 since last Tuesday’s elections, and 3 who switched their support from Senator Clinton.

We have just 152 delegates to go before Barack Obama clinches the nomination.

But Senator Clinton intends to compete vigorously in the remaining contests; at the same time we face increasing attacks from Senator McCain and the Republican attack machine.

Barack needs your support to close out this nomination and start building for the general election.

You got us where we are today. Please help by making another donation of $100 now.

Given the long history the Clintons have with the Democratic Party, it’s no surprise Senator Clinton maintained her superdelegate lead for so long.

But right now it’s clear that the Democratic Party is uniting around Barack’s candidacy.”

(more…)

The Clinton campaign made up some of the ground she’s been losing in the race for superdelegates since she finished third in Iowa in January today — adding three more to Senator Clinton’s total and, at least temporarily, stemming the tide of delegates who have been announcing their support for Barack Obama.

First off was Representative Betty Sutton, whose Ohio district voted for Hillary on March 4th. Ex-New Jersey Governors Jim Florio and Brendan Byrne followed suit later today. Both men had been long-time Clinton supporters, but were just named as add-on superdelegates by their state on Friday.

Clinton’s 100 superdelegate lead in January has shrunk to less than 30 today - and has continued to shrink even after wins in Ohio and Texas in March, and Barack Obama’s “bitter” comments that Clinton officials hoped would cause superdelegates to think twice about his ability to take on the GOP in November.

In a statement, Clinton said “I am grateful for the support of both former New Jersey governors Byrne and Florio, as well as Rep. Sutton. Together, with their support and millions of others, we will deliver health care to every American, jumpstart the economy, and turn our great country around.”

“Our campaign is experiencing great momentum,” she added — a statement that will be better judged after the PA primary on Tuesday.

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.

The Obama camp says it netted more pledged delegates by winning yesterday’s Mississippi primary than Hillary Clinton got by winning the big contests in Texas and Ohio. The Obama campaign has downplayed Clinton’s wins in these so-called “big states” - stressing the path to the nomination comes down to simple math.

Obama has done well by handily winning in states like Georgia and Mississippi - and by remaining competitive in the big states that Clinton has won.  It’s a blueprint that has Obama up in the pledged delegate count - 1411 to Clinton’s 1250 (according to the Obama campaign).

But with 10 contests left and 566 pledged delegates to be awarded, no candidate can reach the 2,025 needed to secure the nomination, which would throw the nomination to the superdelegates.

Of course, Florida and Michigan’s contests have not been resolved by the DNC and their combined 313 pledged delegates are yet to be awarded. The Obama campaign has said it will not accept the results based on the January contest results, as Obama’s name was not on the ballot in Michigan, and he did not campaign in the Sunshine State.

Today Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said caucuses were an option as were new primaries, but cautioned the latter method would be expensive. He has “deep concerns” with a mail-in revote, saying “To try to put to something that took the state of Oregon 10 years to get comfortable with at the statewide level is problematic.”

So what’s the best option? “It seems that the easiest solution here would be some kind of fair seating of the delegations that is not reflective of this contest in January, that allows these states to participate in Denver, but does not advantage Sen Clinton unfairly,” Plouffe said. It’s unclear how this seating would be decided.

Just to be sure voters in Michigan and Florida don’t equate Clinton’s concern for the states’ delegates with making sure their voices are heard in this nomination process, Plouffe noted, “We do not think the Clinton campaign’s approach here is based on benevolence towards Florida and Michigan - it’s based on increasingly desperate, self serving stretching for whatever they think might help them secure the nomination.”

Pennsylvania is widely considered the next (and third) “Super Tuesday” coming up on April 22nd, but the Obama campaign today said Clinton will likely win the state. “They should win by a healthy margin, given where they start,” Plouffe said. “We will campaign hard there, we will try to get as many votes and delegates as we can, but our campaign will not be defined by Pennsylvania. We will be campaigning in all the rest of the states.”

Obama will campaign this weekend in Indiana, and will focus time and energy in North Carolina as well the other upcoming states, while the Clinton campaign focuses on Pennsylvania. Should the nomination come down to supedelegates, the Obama campaign will argue he is the candidate with more pledged delegates, more states, and more of the nation’s popular vote.

David Wilhelm, Bill Clinton’s ‘92 campaign manager came out in support of Barack Obama today on a conference call with reporters - a big symbolic get for the Obama campaign. Obama senior advisor David Axelrod told reporters, “I think there are a lot of people who were for Bill Clinton who are for Barack Obama today, so he represents a whole group of people who are coming our way.”

On the call, Wilhelm explained why he is backing the newcomer Obama over his old boss’ wife. “He has momentum, perhaps undeniable momentum among Democratic primary voters,” he explained. “We should embrace the candidate who owns change, who owns optimism, who owns the future, who owns idealism, who knows that change is is competitive advantage and is prepared to drive that message of discipline and enthusiasm at every opportunity,” he said.

As a former campaign manager, Wihelm said he especially appreciates organization - and the Obama campaign clearly impressed him. “It has been a masterful campaign - he has out-worked, out-organized and out-rasied his opponents every step of the way. As a former campaign manager, I know organizational excellence when I see it. And the Obama campaign, win or lose, will serve as a model for future generations to come.” He added, “The Obama campaign has overcome truly daunting organizational odds, not to mention the aura of inevitability and that should provide Democrats with confidence.”

Aside from the symbolic value of his support, Wilhelm will also provide tangible tactical help. He explained that the campaign has not been shy about asking for advice - and help with the race for superdelegate support. Wilhelm, also an Ohio superdelegate himself, decided in part to announce his support now “to begin the process that, I think it’s inevitable, of evening up the superdelegate count,” in other words, help spark some kind of domino effect.

Acknowledging the potential superdelegate pitfall for Obama - one where he might win a majority of pledged delegate support, but lose the superdelegate vote, Wilhelm stated, “If superdelegates overrule the choice of Democratic primary voters, that would be a very difficult and divisive scenario for the party. I think it’s unlikely scenario at the end of the day. I think it’s one we should work hard to avoid.”

Which is why Wilhelm will be working the phones to start convincing other superdelegates to support Obama.

Obama Campaign Manager, David Plouffe estimates his candidate has a 136 pledged delegate lead after yesterday’s Potomac Primary wins. The Obama campaign has now won 21 contests (including 12 primaries) and, according to the campaign, has a 700,000 vote lead in terms of popular votes cast. “We couldn’t be in a stronger position right now, and the last really five days, we believe, will be looked at back at as a very decisive period in the nomination contest,” he declared. “We think it really put us on the path to the nomination.”

On a conference call with reporters, Plouffe said his candidate has the advantage. “We believe it’s next to impossible for Senator Clinton to close that pledged delegate count. The only way she could do it is winning most of the rest of the contests by 25 - 30 points. And we see not a single contest on the calendar left where we’d expect her to win by those kind of margins.” He later explained that they expect to benefit from a more relaxed primary schedule because “we believe anytime Senator Obama is able to spend time with voters in states, we have profited from that.”

The only way Senator Clinton could overcome this gap, Plouffe said, is if she wins both Texas and Ohio by “blowout” proportions - meaning a 20 point margin or greater as to win a large proportion of the delegates at stake. But Team Obama doesn’t expect that to happen - in fact, they plan on amassing more delegates themselves in both states. “At this point, even the most creative math, really does not get her ever back even in terms of pledged delegates,” Plouffe said, saying it would be “highly unlikely” that their pledged delegate lead will be eroded.

So does this mean victory or will superdelegates decide the Party’s nominee? “We believed all along that the pledged delegate leader will be the Democratic nominee of the party,” Plouffe stated. “I think there’s a growing chorus of concern out there that people do not think that superdelegates should overturn the result of the contests, so we have closed the gap with superdelegates, we’re continuing to try and attract support and we’ll continue to do that. But I think at the end of the day, if we head into June and we’ve won more states, more importantly we have a pledged delegate lead, you know at the end of the day, I think it’s much more likely than not that the superdelegates ratify that outcome,” Plouffe said.