Democratic hopefuls court super-delegates
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Arizona's super-delegates
The Arizona Democratic Party has 11 super-delegates who can vote for the candidate of their choice and change their vote up to and during the August convention.
In addition, Arizona has 56 regular delegates who are pledged to candidates based on popular vote statewide and in congressional districts.
Here's a look at the party's Arizona super-delegates and whom they support:
Endorsed Hillary Clinton:
• U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor.
• Janice Brunson of Paradise Valley, a state Democratic Party leader.
• Joe Rios of Kearny, a state Democratic Party leader and former copper miner.
• Carolyn Warner of Phoenix, a state Democratic Party leader and former state superintendent of public instruction.
Endorsed Barack Obama:
• U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva.
• Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano.
Uncommitted:
• U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
• U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell.
• Don Bivens, chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party.
• Two other super-delegates to be chosen at the party's state convention on April 26. A possible choice is Attorney General Terry Goddard, who was a super-delegate in 2004 and has not endorsed so far this year.
5 facts about super-delegates
Who are they?
They are made up of state governors, members of Congress and high-ranking Democratic Party leaders.
How many are there?
They account for about one-fifth of the delegates at the Democratic National Convention.
What's special about them?
They differ from regular delegates because they are unpledged; they can vote for the candidate of their choice.
What's their history?
They date to the early 1980s, when the Democratic Party revamped its delegate process to strengthen the role of party leaders and politicians after previous reforms in the late 1960s were viewed as weakening their strength.
How does one keep track of them?
They are the source of much fascination this year because the Democratic presidential race is so close. Some Internet sites, such as realclearpolitics.com and demconwatch.blogspot.com, track the latest projections.
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The presidential candidates have wooed them over many months with lavish buffets, meet-and-greets and even personal telephone calls.
They are Arizona's 11 super-delegates, part of an elite national group who could play a greater role than ever in selecting the Democratic presidential nominee.
Super-delegates make up about 20 percent of Democratic delegates, and they hold special power because they can vote for the candidate of their choice at the Democratic National Convention.
Regular delegates are pledged to candidates and apportioned according to state primary and caucus votes.
With Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama locked in a tight race, the party's 796 super-delegates could determine the nominee should neither candidate arrive at the convention in late August with a majority of pledged delegates.
That has led to an intense effort by the campaigns to win commitments from super-delegates or change their minds if they've already endorsed.
Arizona's super-delegates are in the middle of the delicate courtship.
U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Tucson, for example, gets calls, e-mails or a personal visit every day from campaign members, senators, former senators and members of Congress supporting Clinton or Obama.
Clinton even called her cellphone on Sunday night. Giffords has not committed herself to a candidate and has set no deadline to do so.
"We're still in February of an election year," she said. "We're still learning about the candidates and their positions on the issues.
"I'm not letting all this attention go to my head."
Perhaps the best-known super-delegates in the state are Gov. Janet Napolitano and the four Democratic members of Congress.
Super-delegates include high-ranking Democratic Party leaders, who this year are an attorney, a retired journalist, a former copper miner and a former state superintendent of public instruction, among others.
All super-delegates are elected in some fashion, either by voters in congressional races or by the state's Democratic Party. That means they have political experience, which is probably why super-delegates tend to be older, mid- to late-career professionals and retirees.
So far, six of the state's 11 super-delegates have committed themselves to candidates. Clinton holds a 4-2 advantage over Obama. Among regular delegates, Clinton leads 27 to 21, with eight to be allotted and likely to be split.
Janice Brunson, a party leader from Paradise Valley, is among the super-delegates supporting Clinton.
The 67-year-old retired journalist met all the presidential candidates early in the race when she and other party leaders attended Democratic committee meetings in Washington, D.C. Each candidate spoke for 10 to 15 minutes and then hosted private receptions with buffets, where Democrats would flow from one room to the next. Clinton had the best food, and Obama's second-best, Brunson said.
Super-delegates also get invited to VIP receptions in Arizona, where they often have their photos taken with the candidates. Brunson posed with former President Bill Clinton two weeks ago when he was here for a stump speech at Arizona State University. She will add his photo to her prized collection of Obama, Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean.
Brunson has met all the 2008 Democratic candidates and chose Hillary Clinton because of the New York senator'sexperience dealing with Republicans. Super-delegates often wait until after the state's highest-ranking elected Democrat, in this case Napolitano, announce an endorsement, but Brunson pledged her support to Clinton in early 2007. Napolitano endorsed Obama last month.
At first, Brunson got calls from Obama staffers asking her to switch. Now, she gets regular calls from the Clinton campaign "just to make sure I'm hanging on," she said.
Super-delegates sometimes change their minds if their candidate stalls in state primaries and caucuses.
Super-delegate and U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Tucson switched from endorsing former Sen. John Edwards to Obama after Edwards lagged in the state primaries.
Grijalva said he prefers to commit himself to a candidate early because he hates the courting dance between candidates and potential supporters. He wants people to know where he stands.
"I don't like to sit around on my hands and play coy," he said.
Other super-delegates wait to pledge their support, wanting to see who gets the popular vote and watching other super-delegates.
U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell, who is uncommitted, has played telephone tag with Clinton and Obama. Both candidates have called his office to seek his support.
He jokingly wonders if he'll get Valentine's candy or flowers from them this week.
Mitchell believes the state primaries ought to decide the nominee, not the super-delegates, which is one reason he hasn't committed.
"I'm still listening," he said.
His decision is complicated by the fact that Clinton won the state's popular vote, but Obama received more votes in Mitchell's Congressional District 5.
Unofficial results show Obama winning 25,523 to Clinton's 24,209 in Mitchell's district, which includes Tempe, Scottsdale, Ahwatukee, and parts of Chandler and Mesa.
Super-delegate Don Bivens, an attorney from Paradise Valley, also has yet to decide.
He said he gets weekly calls from Obama and Clinton staffers and the national media, including the Associated Press and CNN. Various news outlets track the numbers of super-delegates who have picked a candidate.
Bivens is waiting to see how the country speaks and will then assess which candidate is in the best position to win in November, he said.
The Democratic Party could be in a precarious position if it enters the convention without a clear front-runner and the super-delegates side with the candidate who didn't win the popular vote, said Tom DeLuca, a political scientist at Fordham University in New York City.
That scenario could drive many independent voters to expected Republican nominee John McCain.
DeLuca said many super-delegates are holding off until a front-runner emerges.
"People aren't jumping on the train because they're not sure which way the train is going yet," DeLuca said.
Bivens, the super-delegate who is also chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, said he would be surprised if the party entered the convention without a clear sense of a front-runner.
"My instinct," he said, "is that we'll know before the convention. But this election season has been full of surprises."
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