The role of superdelegates - party leaders or elected officials chosen as unpledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention - is a much-debated topic both nationally and locally.

In Wyoming, five superdelegates will join 13 regular delegates at the Democratic National Convention Aug. 25-28 in Denver.

But will they vote the will of the people?

"The rules of our party state clearly that they are entitled to be delegates to the national convention and they are not obligated to pledge their support to any candidate, so it's completely up to them," said Bill Luckett, communications coordinator for the Wyoming Democratic Party. "But some may also feel that the vote of the people in their state should influence them."

One superdelegate, state Rep. Pete Jorgensen, D-Jackson, who pledged his vote to Barack Obama in October, said he thinks superdelegates should follow Howard Dean's suggestion that "their role is to exercise their best judgment in the interests of the nation and of the Democratic Party."

Superdelegate Cynthia Nunley said she thinks her role right now is to provide information to people who need it, and that she's not yet concentrating on what she'll do at the national convention.

"I've gotten lots of counsel - people have given me all sorts of ideas about what they feel the role should be, and none of them have been the same," Nunley said. "There's no need to be worrying about it now when we should be concentrating on building the party."

Nancy Drummond, another superdelegate, said she thinks her role is to vote as the delegates of Wyoming lean.

"I do have a favorite, but I'm remaining uncommitted," Drummond said. "If it gets down to the superdelegates as a deciding factor, I want to be sure I represent Wyoming."

Drummond said she expects calls from the candidates, and that she'll be disappointed if they don't make the effort to contact Wyoming's superdelegates. She also said her "respect for the folks in Wyoming" keeps her from pledging.

Superdelegate Gov. Dave Freudenthal said in December that he didn't like any of the candidates, and suggested that he wasn't planning to attend the national convention. He later said family members talked him into going. He had no comment this week.

John Faunce, chairman of the Natrona County Democratic Central Committee, said that because of a close election, superdelegates could cast the deciding votes, and despite the absence of a legally binding commitment to voters, he hopes they listen to Wyoming voters.

"I would like to think that those delegates who have some direction from the votes would go with the popular support, and I think they have some obligation to do that to make the process democratic," he said.