With Barack Obama having now achieved an absolute majority of pledged delegates from authorized Democratic primaries, the moment of truth has arrived for the 277 superdelegates who have previously endorsed Senator Clinton.
As of tonight, a majority of the Democratic electorate has chosen Barack Obama as its 2008 Presidential nominee. Continued endorsement of Hillary Clinton's candidacy can be based only on one of two premises:
- That delegates from Florida and Michigan will be seated, and that the allocation of those delegates between Clinton and Obama will be such that that Obama has not yet won an absolute majority of pledged delegates.
- That the arguments in favor of Senator Clinton's candidacy (that she has or will win the "popular vote," that she is more electable, that she has won the important states, etc. etc.) are sufficiently compelling that superdelegates should disregard and overturn the choice of the Democratic electorate made in accordance with "rules of the game."
The time has come for all Clinton superdelegates to consider these two premises very carefully and decide if they truly believe one or the other of them. Up to this point, there have been a lot of good reasons that a superdelegate might have supported Senator Clinton: belief in her experience, loyalty to her and her husband, support of her policies and programs, pride in her accomplishments, the conviction that she is a tried and true fighter. But as of tonight, the circumstances have changed. The majority of the voters in the Democratic party have now spoken, clearly and convincingly, and the Clinton superdelegates must ask themselves if any of these previously valid reasons for their support remains strong enough to justify thwarting the will of the people.