Jason Rae: A Superdelegate's view

Senator Clinton did what few thought she could do: she won both Texas and Ohio. By doing so, she was able to breathe some life back into her campaign to allow her to continue on the quest for the Democratic nomination. Obviously, yesterday’s wins give Senator Clinton some major headlines and some great momentum. But despite her impressive wins yesterday, I am still solidly behind Senator Barack Obama.

I firmly believe that Senator Obama is the best candidate to lead the party and the nation forward. I think he brings with him a new sense of energy and hope into the party. When I look at who can win in November, I think the choice is evident that Senator Obama stands the strongest possibility to beat Senator McCain. As I see the exit polls from yesterday, I continue seeing him winning among the youngest generation of voters. For any candidate to win in the general election, they need to engage and win the support of new voters.

Now these next few days the talk will focus on the overall delegate count: Which candidate can reach the magic number of 2,025? While I still firmly believe that we will have a party nominee by April 22, there is this possibility that we won’t. And if that is the case, it comes down to the elusive superdelegates. I would urge my fellow superdelegates not to get caught up in any of this “momentum-hype” following yesterday’s results. It is the role of the superdelegates to step back and carefully examine the two candidates and determine which one is best positioned to lead the party and the country forward.  I think when they do that, they will come to the same conclusion that I have come to: that Senator Obama is the clear choice to be the Democratic Party nominee.

– Jason Rae, Democratic Superdelegate