It's a super faceoff for DNC slot

By David Montero, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published May 2, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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From left: John Hickenlooper, Federico Pena and Andrew Romanoff

Mayor John Hickenlooper and former Mayor Federico Pena will likely face off this month to be named Colorado's one at-large "superdelegate" to the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

The two are the only nominees for the slot, which could have national implications because superdelegates likely will decide the contest between Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama.

Unlike delegates who are pledged to a candidate based on the outcome of their state's primary or caucus, superdelegates are free to vote for whomever they think has the best chance of winning in November.

Pena is a national co-chairman for Obama's presidential bid and Hickenlooper has not committed to either candidate.

A third nominee for the at-large slot, Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, bowed out after saying he believed the mayor of the convention host city should be the at-large superdelegate.

Romanoff is a supporter of Clinton.

"When I found out the mayor was on the ballot, I asked for my name to be withdrawn," Romanoff said.

Colorado Democratic Party Chairwoman Pat Waak said Pena's name was submitted by superdelegates committed to Obama and that Romanoff's name was, in turn, submitted by Clinton backers. It isn't clear who submitted Hickenlooper's name, but the mayor said he did not actively seek the position.

Hickenlooper said he would remain uncommitted if he got the at-large slot because he felt it was important for the mayor of the host city to be neutral.

Since its unlikely Clinton or Obama can garner enough pledged delegates to secure the nomination, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean has called on superdelegates to commit to a candidate after the final primaries June 3.

But Hickenlooper said he didn't think Dean would object to his remaining neutral, especially if neither candidate had secured the 2,024 delegates needed to wrap up the nomination.

"It's an issue of fairness," Hickenlooper said. "That we can demonstrate to both sides that the city is impartial to both candidates, and I think Gov. Dean would respect that."

Hickenlooper did say that if he wasn't in the position of mayor of the host city, he probably could choose between the candidates.

But Pena said it is important to have a publicly committed person in the at-large slot because more uncertainty in the process could lead to a fight at the convention, which is scheduled for Aug. 25-28.

"I think it would be very hurtful to have a brokered convention and, therefore, I believe we need delegates who are committed to one of the two candidates," he said. "I think this is critical."

Waak said about 5,000 delegates at the state convention May 17 in Colorado Springs will vote on whether that at-large position is given to Pena or Hickenlooper.

Waak said she will not take a side for either candidate.

But as an uncommitted superdelegate herself, she knows what is in store for Hickenlooper if he gets the nod - lots and lots of solicitations from both the Clinton and Obama campaigns.

"I told him he'll be experiencing the pain we've all be experiencing up to this point," Waak said with a laugh.

monterod@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5236

Superdelegates in Colorado

So far, the split among the 14 is four for Obama, four for Clinton and six uncommitted. The 15th slot will be the at-large delegate, which Mayor John Hickenlooper and former Denver Mayor Federico Pena are vying for.

COMMITTED TO SEN. BARACK OBAMA

* U.S. Rep. Ed Perl- mutter

* Colorado Democratic Party Vice Chairman Dan Slater

* DNC member Debbie Marquez

* DNC member J.W. Postal

COMMITTED TO SEN. HILLARY CLINTON

* U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette

* DNC member Mannie Rodriguez

* DNC member Ramona Martinez

* DNC member Maria Handley

UNCOMMITTED

* Gov. Bill Ritter

* U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar

* U.S. Rep. John Salazar

* U.S. Rep. Mark Udall

* Former Gov. Roy Romer

* Colorado Democratic Party Chairwoman Pat Waak

• May 2, 2008

  3:46 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  JohnSWren writes:

  All candidates for superdelegate, delegate, dog catcher, or any other elected or appointed office, and anyone and everyone else, are hereby invited to join us this Sunday for the 1st meeting of the all-new (sort of) Denver Speakers Corner.

  Take your turn on the soap box to share your passion for whatever issue or candidate that is near and dear, to tell a joke, to sing a song, or just to tell us how the cow ate the cabbage or got thrown under the bus.

  Sunday (May 4) at 4 p.m., North Pavillion, Denver Civic Center Park, more information about this informal gathering and optional RSVP at http://cocacop.meetup.com/2. New, free, open to all, it should be fun. Join us!

• May 2, 2008

  7:35 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  samsmargolis writes:

  Hmmm. Who to choose? Doesn't seem to be that tough of a choice since one candidate is landing endorsements from terrorists and terrorist organizations and the other is not. Doesn't seem to be that tough of a choice since one candidate has been inculcated into racist/unpatriotic church doctrine for the past twenty years. Doesn't seem to be that tough of a choice since one candidate has a spouse that doesn't care for our country unless her husband is nominated. It'll be interesting to see which of the uncommitted delegates makes the right choice...or earns the title of stupid delegate. So far we have four stupid delegates (Obama supporters), although they do have time to correct their mistake. Question is, will they? "Stupid is as stupid does," after all. Thanks, Ed Perlmutter...er, Forrest Gump.

• May 2, 2008

  2:11 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  redwhiteandBLUE writes:

  All..birds of a feather.

• May 2, 2008

  2:37 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  StraightTalk writes:

  Why do the Dems need superdelegates? Don't they trust the will of the people? I thought the Dems wanted the "people's votes to be counted."

  I checked to see if the GOP had the same thing, and it appears that they do, but to a much lesser extent. The Dems superdelegates represent 19.4% of all Dem delegates. There are 123 non-elected unpledged GOP delegates, which represent 5% of their total.

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