Some commentators have been saying this morning that super delegates, under pressure to decide their votes, have taken to the drip-drip method -- coming out one at a time with their support for one candidate or another. Phil Bredesen, governor of Tennessee, put out a plea for a decision the other day, a decision in a separate convention of some kind for super delegates. But by this morning, it began to look as though the decisions may well come one by one.
This morning, Vermont Senator Leahy urged Hillary Clinton to bow out, according to Dan Balz at the Washington Post. Let's not forget Chris Dodd came close to saying the same thing. Another key Vermonter sees it differently and has begun to speak out more publicly. He is urging patience.
Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean has given a series of interviews over the past 24 hours making two points. First, that the candidates and their advisers tone things down. Second, that superdelegates move quickly, once the primaries are over in early June, so that the fight doesn't spill onto the convention floor in Denver.
Dean said he remains confident that the party will know its nominee before the convention opens in late August. But he expressed doubt that anyone will be driven from the race prematurely. "Both these candidates believe that they can win this," he said. "And so I think we're going to be in for a tough primary fight between now and...June 3rd," he added.
Dean was dismissive that a council of party elders should step in and tell one of the candidates to quit. "Look, I've been a candidate. You don't step in and tell a candidate to get out of the race," he said on MSNBC Friday morning. "Nobody does that, and nobody's ever done that."
Well, Leahy has now done that. As an Obama supporter, he does not come to this as a neutral party. The question is whether he will embolden others, whether Obama supporters or neutral Democrats, to come forward and join him.
Looks like we're left with the middle ground of uncertainty. Neither Leahy nor Dean will win this one. More likely, the drip-drip-drip will continue -- though there's betting that Clinton will be out before June..
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