superdelegates

Gov. Ted Kulongoski is prepared to switch his support from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama, but only if he can be part of a larger group of prominent Clinton backers to go public, according to Democrats close to the Governor.  Kulongoski has been the target of some intense lobbying in recent days, and has deliberately avoided any effort to stop key Oregon Democratic Party leaders to join the Obama team.  Last week, three Oregon superdelegates announced their support of Obama.

Barack Obama picked up two superdelegate endorsements from Oregon: Democratic State Chair Meredith Wood Smith, and Democratic National Committeewoman Wayne Kinney.  That brings Obama’s Oregon superdelegate total to six, with two for Obama and four undecided.

Obama won 31 of Oregon's pledged delegates in the primary (Clinton took 21) but it looks like the win is also helping his superdelegate count.

Meredith Wood Smith, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Oregon, is the second of Oregon's 12 superdelegates to get on the Obama boat since the primary.

She announced her decision in a column published in today's Oregonian.

She says Obama "demonstrates the leadership needed to get us out of Iraq, restore our economy, begin the tough job of providing health care for all Americans and, most of all, heal the divisions in our nation."