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Superdelegates Blowing with the Wind

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Barack Obama rolled to easy victories in Wisconsin and Hawaii. While Obama won a majority of the two states' combined 94 delegates, the pledged delegate count remains close.

So the spotlight is on superdelegates. Some are following the money trail to try to divine which way unpledged superdelegates are tilting.

Democratic sage Jesse Unruh famously observed: "Money is the mother's milk of politics." That said, it's not surprising that a study by the Center for Responsive Politics found that Obama and Hillary Clinton have given more than $900,000 in campaign donations to elected officials who are superdelegates, including members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Some CBC members reportedly are having second thoughts and switching their allegiance from Clinton to Obama. If so, I don't think it's because of money. To paraphrase Unruh, the hallmark of a good politician is one who can take your campaign contributions and still vote against you.

Instead, the switch may be due to electability – theirs not Obama's.

Obama has won majority-black districts by wide margins, including three out of the four New York congressional districts represented by CBC members. It may be coincidence that reports of CBC members changing their minds come on the heels of the primary election defeat of eight-term incumbent Rep. Albert Wynn by Donna Edwards, an Obama supporter.

CBC members will face their own primary elections in the coming months. Edwards' victory in Maryland's 4th congressional district is a cautionary tale about what happens when the "vanishing voter" shows up at the polls.

Edwards' candidacy was supported by the Afrosphere, including ColorofChange.org, which is now circulating an online petition that calls on CBC superdelegates to "uphold the will of the voters."

The petition is a thinly veiled threat: "Though voters in most CBC districts overwhelmingly supported Barack Obama, some CBC members are threatening to vote against their constituents, for Senator Clinton. We can make sure this doesn't happen by letting Black leadership know we're watching."

Obama has energized black voters who have turned out in record numbers. If CBC members don't follow the will of their constituents, more may find themselves turned out of office.

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