First Edwards Pledged Delegate Switches to Obama

We all know Obama will eventually get a majority of Edwards' delegates but there's no rule saying the pledged delegate has to vote for Obama.

Tonight just a few short hours after the endorsement we've all been waiting for Obama picked up one of those delegates.

A New Hampshire Democratic Party delegate who had supported John Edwards says he will support Barack Obama, now that Edwards has endorsed his former political rival for the party's presidential nominee.
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Joshua Denton of Portsmouth, 26, an Iraq war veteran, says he thinks that both Obama and Hillary Clinton would be a better president than Republican nominee John McCain. He thinks that Obama is the change the country needs, along with having the best chance of beating McCain in the general election.

"My fear with Hillary was just because she is who she is -- for better or worse -- she would sink, not just lose the presidency," but Democrats in Congress, Denton said Wednesday. - Boston Globe

John Edwards now has 18 remaining pledged delegates (not counting Florida)

And a second may be on his way... (thanks to Matt from some site called Democratic Convention Watch) ;)

   Just got an email from Daniel Boan (Edwards pledged delegate from SC):

   "Sen. Edwards's endorsement will be an important factor in how I decide to vote." - Crack The Bell

Matt also let us know that Federico Pena is going to be named the add-on superdelegate from Colorado on Saturday. He is an Obama supporter of course!

Update: It looks like Obama may have two more

John Moylon and Lauren Bilton are the names
of the Edwards pledged delegates who were on CNN and announced that they will be supporting Obama. Moylon was the one who said he had spoken to six others who will be endorsing Obama but didn't say who they were.
by peraspera

•  Tip Jar

  for the light at the end of the long tunnel

  by Oreo on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:07:50 PM PDT

  •  Interesting how Edwards's endorsement

    transformed these pledged delegates into superdelegates, in a way. Very cool.

    by 1 20 2009 on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:13:19 PM PDT

    •  I'd call a 26 yr old Veteran Super any day

      And the commentary, Fucking OUCH

      by Steven R on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:14:13 PM PDT

      •  Is he hard working, though?

        by mayan on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:14:42 PM PDT

        •  and most importantly - Is he white?

          white votes count double, right?

          by biscobosco on Wed May 14, 2008 at 11:02:47 PM PDT

          •  only if unbesmirched by higher education nt

            by C S McCrum on Wed May 14, 2008 at 11:59:03 PM PDT

            •  Can't be hobbled by that

              Then he would be an egghead. And he would not count.

              by oklacoma dem on Thu May 15, 2008 at 01:30:09 AM PDT

          •  No, But Apparently Black is 3/5.....

            by serrano on Thu May 15, 2008 at 01:16:57 AM PDT

            •  Latinos are out, they only...

              work on yards, in houses, in kitchens
              i.e. the service industry

              not like yard working whites who work in closed factories

              (wait, if the factories are closed are some of them in the service industry?)

              anyway the important point is we are all a little bunch of polling data sub-segments and Mark Penn will

              brilliantly bring us

              all together, right now

              /bad snark

              by jhpdb on Thu May 15, 2008 at 05:12:11 AM PDT

              •  I'll let my husband know

                he did, after all, mow the lawn yesterday.  Maybe I can get him to clean up the kitchen?

                by Dem in the heart of Texas on Thu May 15, 2008 at 05:18:26 AM PDT

                •  Pushing the envelope, eh?

                  by mayan on Thu May 15, 2008 at 06:00:04 AM PDT

                •  Good luck on that one ;=}

                  by barnowl on Thu May 15, 2008 at 06:46:37 AM PDT

          •  Nah.

            There are no whites in New Hampshire....

            by Drew J Jones on Thu May 15, 2008 at 06:25:33 AM PDT

          •  Hard working implies white

            Now get off my lawn for not knowing that!

            by Roddie Stimmings on Thu May 15, 2008 at 08:18:57 AM PDT

        •  And has he given up golf? nt

          by drizek on Thu May 15, 2008 at 12:31:30 AM PDT

          •  gotta show "solidarity" with the soldiers.

            by borkitekt on Thu May 15, 2008 at 04:34:18 AM PDT

            •  Half expected Dubya to say

              "I gave my sand wedge to a soldier going to Iraq.  Get it?  My sand wedge!  Heh, heh."

              by frsbdg on Thu May 15, 2008 at 04:41:05 AM PDT

            •  man the snarkfest around here

              is hillarious!  :)

              by redstatedemocrat on Thu May 15, 2008 at 09:42:22 AM PDT

        •  He must be, if

          he's white.

          Do I even need the /snark?

          by jre2k8 on Thu May 15, 2008 at 08:40:33 AM PDT

      •  Not bad for a 26 year old

        That commentary is pretty insightful, really.  That guy's going places.  Why isn't he running against Sununu?

        by Dallasdoc on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:17:09 PM PDT

        •  Not old enough

          You have to be 30 years old to be a US Senator.

          Doesn't anyone read the Constitution anymore?

          by harrije on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:26:22 PM PDT

          •  sorry someone shreaded all of my copies

            of the Constitution. Hopefully it will be safe to get another one come Jan 21.

            by Phlogiston Junkie on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:32:11 PM PDT

        •  That is already a +1 in all of the media's

          trackers/counters tomorrow.

          I'm expecting another 4 or 5 supers too.

          by ourhispanicvoices on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:27:24 PM PDT

    •  Great way to look at it.

      Fantastic!

      by mayan on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:14:22 PM PDT

    •  Better than supers in my opinion :)

      Thanks Senator Edwards, I look forward to having you onboard in a President Obama Administration

      by ourhispanicvoices on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:14:59 PM PDT

      •  Yep

        so glad he stuck by his principles. Given his campaign message, a Hillary endorsement would be nearly impossible to justify.

        by 1 20 2009 on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:16:55 PM PDT

        •  I agree. Edwards has a political future IMO and

          he would have closed the door on it for a long time if he'd chosen to back Clinton.

          by ourhispanicvoices on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:18:50 PM PDT

          •  Edwards future

            he told aides that he would consider the role of vice president, and favored the position of attorney general

            http://www.nytimes.com/...

            by novelle on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:50:41 PM PDT

            •  and Fitz Special Prosecutor of Iraq /nt

              by IamTheJudge on Thu May 15, 2008 at 03:45:52 AM PDT

            •  interesting article. thanks for the link. n/t

              by redstatedemocrat on Thu May 15, 2008 at 09:47:06 AM PDT

    •  He stays a pledged delegate, not a super

      He can just pick obama now, since Edwards is out, and endorsed Obama.

      He' just a pledged delegate, with out a candidate, who could still pledge to Edwards or Obama at the convention.

      But I'm sure most will do Obama (if not all).

      by Excelscior1 on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:44:55 PM PDT

      •  :)

        by Junah on Wed May 14, 2008 at 11:18:20 PM PDT

      •  Several might still vote Edwards at Denver

        assuming Obama has more than enough delegates to win.  If it's close, you can bet Edwards will lean on his delegates hard to vote for Obama.  So I feel pretty comfortable in predicting that most of his pledged delegates would back Obama in the event Clinton decides to take it any further than June 3.

        by Skaje on Wed May 14, 2008 at 11:50:20 PM PDT

        •  If Obama has enough delegates to win

          then we don't really care how the Edwards delegates vote, do we...

          by msn1 on Thu May 15, 2008 at 05:19:01 AM PDT

          •  Aw, overkill is fun! (n/t)

            by Allogenes on Thu May 15, 2008 at 08:31:53 AM PDT

        •  That effort is already underway

          Thanks again to DCW:

          New Hampshire:
          District Level Delegate: Joshua Denton, (Portsmouth) ENDORSED
          District Level Delegate: Deborah Bacon-Nelson (Hanover)
          Pledged Leader Elected Official: Senator Peter Hoe Burling (Cornish)
          At-large Delegate: Representative Sharon Nordgren (Hanover)

          South Carolina:
          Robert Groce
          Marilyn Hemingway
          E Tim Moore Barnwell
          John Moylan- ENDORSED
          Lauren Bilton- ENDORSED
          Daniel Boan Kershaw- LEANING
          Michael Evatt
          Susan Smit

          Iowa:
          Machelle Crum

          AND the latest updates

          Update 2A: Supposedly John Moylon and Lauren Bilton said on CNN last night they were supporting Obama. We'll try to find confirmation.

          Update 3:
          The co-chair of John Edwards’ presidential campaign in Iowa, Rob Tully, said he hopes the former vice presidential candidate’s supporters in the state heed his endorsement Wednesday of Barack Obama. “I was excited to see him endorse Obama,” Tully said. “I’m certainly going to follow his lead.”
          ...
          Tully said he would reach out to those delegates, as well as others going to the state convention, encouraging them to close ranks behind Obama. “I encourage all our Democrats in Iowa to realize this race is over,” he said. - Quad City Times

          by wmdrpa on Thu May 15, 2008 at 06:53:11 AM PDT

          •  Rob Tully is a friend of mine.

            He'll get them on board.  Take it to the bank.

            by jre2k8 on Thu May 15, 2008 at 08:42:56 AM PDT

  •  this is great and exciting news.

    and I'm still pretty excited that Edwards is using his leverage to unify the party behind Obama. His speech today was very classy.

    by danthrax on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:17:10 PM PDT

  •  NH Holds onto First in the Nation Status

    The rest of the Edwards delegates are no free to join the team.

    by jsfox on Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:13:21 PM PDT

  •  I know a NH Edwards alternate

    Rob Werner, who will vote for Obama.  But he is only an alternate.

    by fladem on Thu May 15, 2008 at 06:49:37 AM PDT

  •  Heading for single digits...

    ... until the majority of 2025 is reached.  That could conceivably happen before Tuesday.

    Any word on the new southern Congressmen yet?  Cazayoux and Childers?

    by Land of Enchantment on Thu May 15, 2008 at 08:11:13 AM PDT

•  May this all come to an end soon

  Thanks Oreo for keeping us informed with  the delegate count.

  by ZinZen on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:09:36 PM PDT

  •  Speaking of Oreo ...

    
    

    "Ma'am, you DO realize you're ... "

    by rhfactor on Thu May 15, 2008 at 12:41:47 AM PDT

•  They will all go to Obama I bet...

  by kubrick2008 on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:10:48 PM PDT

  •  Not all, but most, I hope. n/t

    by DrJeremy on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:12:28 PM PDT

    •  I agree, most will probably go, but not all

      by ourhispanicvoices on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:16:19 PM PDT

      •  I agree, some will not go, but most will

        ...

        I just felt the comments above needed some extra clarification.

        by rhfactor on Thu May 15, 2008 at 12:42:57 AM PDT

        •  Or, "I will not go" some agreed but most will.

          by FudgeFighter on Thu May 15, 2008 at 12:48:52 AM PDT

          •  or it could go like this:

            Those who wish to align themselves -- and their careers -- with a candidate who is sweeping the nation both in votes and in contributions, will endorse Obama.

            Those without a discernible pulse or brain functions will endorse Clinton.

            by Quicksilver2723 on Thu May 15, 2008 at 01:25:55 AM PDT

          •  (yoda style) !

            by rhfactor on Thu May 15, 2008 at 02:21:45 AM PDT

  •  they will ALL go to Obama

    by the time of the convention, every single delegate will be backing Obama.

    At this point in time, so many of these endorsements aren't endorsements in the typical backing-a-primary-candidate kind of way. They're backing Obama because they're Democrats and he's the Democratic nominee for President.

    by Yirmiyahu on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:34:50 PM PDT

    •  I like that Obama/Obama....

      by kubrick2008 on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:37:25 PM PDT

      •  Make the women happy - Michelle in '16! (n/t)

        by Allogenes on Thu May 15, 2008 at 08:34:12 AM PDT

•  Yeah Portsmouth! Woooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!

  Spent winter break mostly there [although my territory was Hampton, which we did teh suck in]

  by DemocraticLuntz on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:11:31 PM PDT

•  Alright! The gate is now open, pledged delegates

  Won't you please be scooting on through it?

  by begone on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:11:42 PM PDT

•  SC delegate may be next

  From Crack the Bell:

  Just got an email from Daniel Boan (Edwards pledged delegate from SC):

  "Sen. Edwards's endorsement will be an important factor in how I decide to vote."

  by msn1 on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:12:04 PM PDT

•  Gap is closing quick

  for PRESIDENT Obama.

  by 1 20 2009 on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:12:06 PM PDT

  •  Let's hope we see a big burst tomorrow and enough

    before OR, KT so the voter put Obama over the 2025 threshold in the primaries.  Rather, than the symbolically inferrior post primaries wimp out -  needing supers to intervene and "annoint" a victor afterwards.

    by HoundDog on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:27:34 PM PDT

    •  I can't wait until we're counting down

      under 100....

      by Buffalo Girl on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:42:22 PM PDT

      •  99 undeclared delegates on the fence

        99 undeclared delegates on the fence
        make one endorse and pass the news around
        98 undeclared delegates on the fence
        ....

        by Phlogiston Junkie on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:53:43 PM PDT

      •  I can't wait til I don't have to hear that shrill

        voice anymore.

        No! I never said I was talking about her. I could have been talking about, well -- anyone with a shrill voice.

        by rhfactor on Thu May 15, 2008 at 12:47:07 AM PDT

        •  Point point..

          clap clap

          by mayan on Thu May 15, 2008 at 06:03:51 AM PDT

    •  I think you're probably still going

      to be hearing the nonsense about the supers stepping in to change the outcome since Clinton is now claiming that it's 2209 delegates to win the nomination. Totally not true, but what she said.

      by thursdays child on Wed May 14, 2008 at 11:26:44 PM PDT

•  I have a sick twisted love

  for primary season delegate math.  Now we are not just tracking superdelegate endorsements, but Edwards pledged delegate endorsements as well?

  That is both frightening and awesome.

  by smash artist on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:12:54 PM PDT

  •  And Hillary apostates like Jack Johnson,

    I assume.

    by DemocraticLuntz on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:13:28 PM PDT

    •  Yeah, I'm not quite sure how I feel about that

      I wish he would have waited until all of the voting was over.  I think his defection just gives her "pledged delegates can switch" argument more merit, and may allow her to justify taking this to the convention.

      by smash artist on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:14:50 PM PDT

      •  His constituents may have been

        pressuring him. 79% of PG County went for Obama.

        by DemocraticLuntz on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:16:21 PM PDT

        •  Yeah, but he was elected to represent

          the other 21% of his constituents.

          by smash artist on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:18:28 PM PDT

          •  Exactly...

            ...it sets a bad precident...do what you were pledged to do...if it doesn't matter at the convention, switch then...

            by Aqualad08 on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:26:21 PM PDT

      •  I am.

        I refuse to count him.  A principle is a principle is a principle.  I don't want to win that way.  It's inconsistent to deplore the goalpost-moving and utter lack of scruple with agreed-to rules that the Clintons have engaged in throughout this campaign season, and then turn around and find this acceptable.

        Obama doesn't need this jackass to win anyway.

        by PocketNines on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:17:55 PM PDT

        •  I agree, but one does have to wonder

          why the Clinton campaign would recommend a delegate who had previously supported Obama.

          by smash artist on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:19:10 PM PDT

          •  yeah, that makes me wonder

            In any case, it is up to her to remove him as a delegate or not and pick somebody else.

            by lauramp on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:28:02 PM PDT

            •  she cant remove him

              by frstan on Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:44:21 PM PDT

              •  hmm

                I had thought the candidates had the right of review of their pledged delegates so they could drop anybody that they thought was unsuitable and replace them with somebody else. But I may be wrong.

                by