Former Dem leader's advice on vote

A former Democratic Party chairman and backer of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has written to fellow superdelegates urging them to support their preferred candidate, not the one who has more pledged delegates at the end of the nomination process.

Steve Grossman, who chaired the DNC under President Clinton from 1997-1999 and serves as a major Hillary Clinton fundraiser, wrote "superdelegates were not selected by the national party to be either potted plants or rubber stamps.

"Some commentators, observing the current deadlock between Senators Clinton and (Barack) Obama as they vie for the Democratic presidential nomination, have suggested that as superdelegates, our function is to be mindless tabulators of primaries and caucuses won, or popular votes amassed," Grossman wrote.

Obama currently leads Clinton in the delegate count — 1,571-1,462 — and has the edge among pledged delegates — 1,361-1,220. But Clinton leads among the superdelegates — the party officials and elected leaders — 242-210.

"Despite the superdelegates' lifetimes spent working on state, national and international issues, and thinking seriously about the grave challenges and the dangerous adversaries facing our country, these commentators demand that we suspend our independent judgments and jettison our profound responsibilities — to the party and, frankly, to the country itself," he added.

An analysis by The Associated Press has found that neither Clinton nor Obama will be able to reach the 2,025 threshold through pledged delegates alone. That means some 800 unpledged superdelegates may ultimately decide who wins the nomination.

With the race so excruciatingly close, Obama supporters have generally insisted that superdelegates ratify these popular vote total and pledged delegate count.

Clinton and her team have said the superdelegates should make their choice based on who would be a better president and would be best positioned to beat John McCain, the all-but-certain Republican nominee.