Former Gov. Romer tips state's superdelegate tally to Obama

By David Montero, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer's nod was one of three to Obama on Tuesday.

For the past couple of months, former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer found himself drifting toward supporting Sen. Barack Obama's bid for the presidency.

On Tuesday, he made it official and whittled the number of undecided superdelegates from Colorado down to five.

His endorsement of Obama gives the Illinois senator the lead in superdelegates from Colorado for the first time - five to four - and added to his mounting lead in the overall delegate count, 1,874 to 1,698 for Sen. Hillary Clinton, according to the Web site RealClearPolitics.

It will take 2,025 delegates to secure the nomination.

Romer, a longtime Clinton ally and co-chair of President Bill Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign, stressed that he wasn't trying to force Hillary Clinton out of the race.

Although Romer said the race for the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Denver is effectively over, he added that Clinton has earned the right to continue through the end of the primary season.

"I think she obviously needs to finish out her primary run here, but we need to cut her off at the end of May and turn to the general election," said Romer, a former Democratic National Committee chairman. "I'm not calling for her to stop her campaign. She will make that decision on her own time and on her own schedule."

Decision urged by June 3

Romer said there is no reason to delay settling on a nominee beyond June 3, when the last primaries are held in Montana and South Dakota, because "all of the delegate count is going to be on the table at that time."

Romer also called on the uncommitted superdelegates to decide on a candidate by June 3.

But Colorado's uncommitteds - Gov. Bill Ritter, Sen. Ken Salazar, U.S. Reps. John Salazar and Mark Udall, and Colorado Democratic Party chairwoman Pat Waak - were firm in their neutrality despite Romer's announcement.

Waak said she spoke with Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, who was in Denver on Tuesday, and told him she believed she was in a special position as chairwoman of the state hosting the convention Aug. 25-28 and wanted to stay uncommitted as long as possible.

But she said Dean wanted her decision after votes are cast in Montana and South Dakota.

"He's urging me to at least, right after June 3, to make whatever choice I'm going to make public," she said. "So I will take that into consideration after conferring with my governor, Gov. Ritter."

Ritter, however, shared Waak's view that, as the governor of the state hosting the party's convention, he should have some latitude about which camp he should choose. "Gov. Ritter remains uncommitted," said spokesman Evan Dreyer.

Impressed by view on tax

The movement of Romer to the Obama campaign was the third of the day by a superdelegate, the Democratic elected officials and party leaders who are free to vote for the candidate they think can win in November. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-South Bend, Ind., also endorsed Obama.

Romer said one of the keys to his decision to support Obama was his handling of the proposed gas-tax holiday supported by Clinton and Republican presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain.

Obama dismissed the idea of suspending the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day as a political gimmick. Some economists said it could drive up the price of gas by encouraging more consumption.

"He's had some tough things thrown at him, and he's shown that he can be cool and remain calm when he's got tough decisions in front of him," Romer said. "The gas-tax stance - that was the right call. It was a tough call. I was impressed by that."

The remaining uncommitted superdelegates in Colorado are willing to keep watching until the primary season is over.

Eric Wortman, John Salazar's spokesman, said his philosophy on choosing a candidate hasn't changed since the early stages of the primary season nor has it been affected by the recent surge of superdelegates migrating to Obama.

"He's been pretty clear that all the primaries and caucuses should be held - let the voters have their say, and then he'll weigh in as a superdelegate," Wortman said.

Rocky staff writers Kevin Vaughan and Alan Gathright contributed to this report.