[jamwadmag]

Clinton: ‘There Is No Such Thing as a Pledged Delegate’
by Associated Press
Thursday, April 3, 2008

BURBANK, Calif. — Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is unlikely to catch rival Barack Obama in pledged delegates, hinted on Thursday that she hoped to persuade a few to back her instead of him.

“There is no such thing as a pledged delegate,” Clinton said at a news conference in California, where she has been fundraising.

Both Clinton and Obama planned to address the state convention of the North Dakota Democratic Party Friday, where delegates to this summer’s national convention will be allocated. Obama crushed Clinton in the state’s Feb. 5 presidential caucuses, 61-36 percent.

The former first lady said she was traveling to North Dakota to thank her supporters and delegates — and wooing Obama supporters was fair game.

Pledged delegates are “misnomer. The whole point is for delegates, however they are chosen, to really ask themselves who would be the best president and who would be our best nominee against Senator McCain,” Clinton said. “And I think that process goes all the way to the convention.”

While the DNC has no rules requiring pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses to vote for the candidate, the people who serve as pledged delegates are selected by the campaigns who won them and loyalty is a key qualification.

Obama currently leads in the delegate count, 1,634-1,500, according to The Associated Press. Because of the way Democrats apportion delegates, Clinton is not projected to catch Obama even if she has a strong showing in the remaining 10 contests.

Neither candidate can win based solely on pledged delegates. The nominee is likely to be chosen by some 800 superdelegates — elected officials and party insiders free to side with any candidate they choose