State's uncommitted superdelegates remain neutral

OLYMPIA — Every time another state takes its turn in the Democratic Party's marathon presidential-nominating process, "superdelegate" Eileen Macoll of Pullman figures she'll finally be able to get off the fence and side with a clear front-runner.

"I keep saying, 'We'll know more after Tuesday,' and then every Wednesday I'm a liar," Macoll said, a day after Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton kept her campaign alive by handily beating Sen. Barack Obama in the Pennsylvania primary.

Macoll, vice chairwoman of the state Democratic Party, is one of seven Washington superdelegates who remain uncommitted to either candidate.

Unlike regular pledged delegates selected through primary elections and precinct caucuses, party rules allow superdelegates to support any candidate.

Superdelegates include party leaders, all Democratic members of Congress, Democratic governors and former high-ranking elected officials. There are 795 superdelegates nationwide — including 17 in Washington — and they make up about 20 percent of the total delegates.

Six of Washington's superdelegates, including Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, are supporting Clinton. Four, including Gov. Christine Gregoire, are backing Obama.

While Clinton holds a narrow lead over Obama among the superdelegates nationwide, Obama has won more elections and leads in the overall delegate count.

But with only a handful of states left to vote, projections show neither candidate will be able to win enough pledged delegates to seal the nomination. So the final decision will likely rest with the 300 or so uncommitted superdelegates.

Before Tuesday's vote in Pennsylvania, there was a lot of speculation that if Obama made a strong showing, uncommitted superdelegates would start bolting to his side and put an end to what's become an increasingly bitter contest.

But Clinton's 10-point victory seems to have quashed much of that talk for now.

Macoll said she thinks the uncommitted superdelegates "must let the race continue."

Other uncommitted Washington superdelegates contacted Wednesday agreed.

"I haven't changed my view at all that we should let the states play themselves out," said U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen of Lake Stevens.

An aide to U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott said the Seattle congressman also planned to remain neutral for now, as did David McDonald, a Seattle attorney and member of the Democratic National Committee.

The state's other three uncommitted superdelegates are DNC members Ed Cote of Vancouver and Sharon Mast of Bellevue, and Dwight Pelz, chairman of the state Democratic Party.

Larsen and McDonald said they would pick a candidate before the Democratic National Convention in August. And both said they're not worried about letting Clinton and Obama continue to slug it out.

McDonald said "the benefits of this campaign, which is energizing people in all 50 states," outweigh any advantages that the protracted battle might give to Sen. John McCain, who locked up the Republican nomination nearly two months ago.

Ralph Thomas: 360-943-9882 or rthomas@seattletimes.com