Maine Dems’ superdelegates stand pat for now

AUGUSTA – With the Democratic presidential nomination still undecided after the latest round of primaries, the emphasis shifts to each state’s so-called superdelegates. The few in Maine who endorsed a candidate remained loyal to their choice Wednesday.

Of Maine’s eight superdelegates, two remained committed to Barack Obama, one to Hillary Rodham Clinton, and five remained uncommitted, according to party officials and the superdelegates themselves.

Gov. John Baldacci, the lone Clinton superdelegate, said he continues to support the New York senator.

“Last night’s results show there is still plenty of race left. There’s a lot of time between now and the convention for the nomination to work itself out,” the governor said.

“I have talked to Senator Obama and think he would be a great president, but at this point I am not moving from my support for Senator Clinton. If the race remains unsettled by the time the convention arrives, it will be up to the superdelegates to unite the party behind the strongest candidate to face the Republicans in the fall,” Baldacci added. “The good of the country and the party must come first.”

Superdelegates are select party leaders who attend the national convention but are not chosen in primaries or caucuses. The two who have voiced endorsements for Obama include state party Chairman John Knutson, who did so on the basis of the Illinois senator’s Feb. 10 caucus win in Maine, and Vice Chair Marianne Stevens.

“I am in the Obama column,” Stevens said in an e-mail Wednesday.

State Party Executive Director Arden Manning said two of Maine’s previous superdelegates, George Mitchell and Kenneth Curtis, are now enrolled in other states where they list home addresses. The two are superdelegates due to their previous high national political posts, Mitchell as Senate majority leader and Curtis as national Democratic chairman.

Mitchell is now enrolled with New York’s delegation and Curtis with Florida’s. As of Wednesday, Curtis was not to be seated at the convention because Florida has been stripped of all its delegates to the national convention in August because the state held early primaries in violation of national party rules.

Of Maine’s 24 regular delegates, 15 would go into the Obama column and nine to Clinton’s, based on projections from February’s caucuses.