Rep. Courtney backs Obama in presidential race
WASHINGTON—Connecticut Rep. Joe Courtney, a Democratic superdelegate, announced his support Wednesday for Sen. Barack Obama to be his party's presidential nominee.
"I do it with a lot of enthusiasm because I think he's run a fabulous campaign," Courtney said.
The freshman congressman announced his decision in a conference call with reporters, saying Obama's lead in pledged delegates and primary votes over New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton helped convince him.
"I believe our party crossed a threshold in pledged delegates that have now lined up behind Senator Obama," Courtney said.
Courtney's decision came in the wake of Obama's victory Tuesday night in the Oregon primary. The congressman had previously said he wanted to wait until all of the primary and caucuses were finished on June 3. But he said he changed his mind when the electoral math appeared to firm up in favor of the Illinois senator.
Obama had a total of 1,961 delegates and needs 2,026 to secure the party nomination. Clinton had 1,779 delegates, according to the latest tally by the AP.
"My feeling as a superdelegate is that the vast majority of Democrats across the country have spoken," Courtney said. "The math is what it is -- and it is time for superdelegates to fulfill their legal and historic role of validating and supporting the choice of the voters."
Courtney compared Obama's pledged delegate lead to the Boston Red Sox enjoying a six-game lead in the baseball standings, with just three games remaining.
"The fact of the matter is, the math is not going to change," Courtney said. "You have to play the games, certainly show up, but at the end of the day the results are not going to significantly change, so that the outcome won't be any different."
Courtney is the ninth Connecticut superdelegate to back Obama. Obama superdelegates include Sen. Christopher Dodd and Reps. John Larson, Rosa DeLauro and Chris Murphy.
Clinton lost to Obama in Connecticut's Feb. 5 Democratic primary, but she won Courtney's eastern Connecticut 2nd District. She has the backing of two Connecticut superdelegates.
The lone remaining undecided superdelegate is state Democratic Party Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo. She reiterated her intention to wait until all the primaries have ended.
"I've always said I was going to wait until they all played out," DiNardo said in a phone interview Wednesday morning.
Superdelegates are the nearly 800 elected and party officials who attend the convention. Unlike regular delegates, assigned to candidates based on the popular vote in each state or congressional district, superdelegates are free to vote however they please.
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(Associated Press Writer Susan Haigh contributed to this report)
