Wyo Democratic delegates wait to commit to candidates
MEAD GRUVER Associated Press writer | Posted: Thursday, January 10, 2008 12:00 am
CHEYENNE - Two of them like Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, but two say they haven't made up their minds yet. One says none of the above.
Most of Wyoming's five Democratic superdelegates remain mostly noncommittal about their party's presidential candidates.
A superdelegate is a top state party official who gets an automatic vote at the Democratic National Convention, set for Aug. 25-28 in Denver. In Wyoming, the five are among 18 delegates who will be allocated to candidates in part based on voting at the Democratic county caucuses in March.
Two superdelegates said Wednesday they liked attributes of several Democratic candidates but weren't leaning toward anyone in particular.
"It's too early in the process to be in the mode of one-candidate-take-all. There are a lot of voices to be heard yet and there are a lot of questions to be asked," said Cynthia Nunley, a Lander middle school teacher who has been to three national conventions.
Superdelegate Nancy Drummond, a Sheridan school board member, said Wednesday she liked New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson - who pulled out of the race later in the day - as well as Obama and the "blue-collar attitude" of former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards.
"If you could combine those three and come up with a candidate, that would be awesome in my mind," Drummond said.
The state Democratic chairman, John Millin, caused a stir last month with a Denver Post opinion piece that said a Hillary Rodham Clinton nomination would hurt Democratic candidates in the West by causing more Republicans to turn out to vote.
Millin backs Obama instead.
"He seems to appeal to a much broader segment of our country. Certainly I've heard that from moderate Republicans and independents. They sort of keep open the possibility of voting for Democrats with him at the top of our ticket," said Millin, a Cheyenne ophthalmologist.
State Rep. Pete Jorgensen, D-Jackson, said he also liked Obama, especially his interest in campaign finance reform.
"Nobody ever gives somebody else money for nothing, or very few do," Jorgensen said. "Once you get into being very dependent on that, there is a perhaps unacknowledged, but subtle, 'Remember where you got your money from."'
Obama won the Iowa caucuses last Thursday but took second to Clinton in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary.
The state's best-known Democratic superdelegate, Gov. Dave Freudenthal, said last month that he didn't like any of the candidates - Republican or Democratic. The governor said none of the candidates was talking about issues that mattered to him, like the weak dollar.
Freudenthal even said he wasn't planning to go to the convention. A few days later he said his wife and daughters had talked him into going.
Republicans in Wyoming weighed in early in this year's presidential race by choosing 12 of their 14 national delegates on Saturday. Although few in the national media bothered with the Wyoming Republican county conventions - which fell between the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary - the state's Republicans accomplished their goal of drawing attention.
Four Republican candidates swung through last fall. That was four more than who would normally visit the state so early in primary season, although the national GOP has penalized the state party for going before Feb. 5 by withholding half of the state's Republican delegates. Wyoming normally would have 28 Republican delegates.
Democrats in other states also have jumped to the front of primary season. But Wyoming's Democrats have held back. Their county caucuses are scheduled for March 8.
Voting at the caucuses will determine the allocation of seven delegates during the state Democratic convention in Jackson on May 23-24, according to party spokesman Bill Luckett.
Three other delegates pledged to candidates will be elected at the state convention. The five superdelegates don't have to pledge to a candidate. Of the remaining three, two will be party leaders pledged to candidates and one will be an unpledged delegate chosen by the state party chairman.