Tennessee governor Phil Bredesen told reporters in Nashville Friday that he felt
an obligation to “step out” at the end of the primary season in June so as to
expedite a decision by Democratic super-delegates on committing to a
presidential nominee. Bredesen’s statement came two days after 8th District congressman John
Tanner publicly pledged his support to Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid.
Bredesen had garnered considerable national attention last
month when he floated an idea for a “super-delegate primary” to resolve the
current standoff between the two remaining Democratic contenders for the
presidency, Illinois senator Barack Obama and New York senator Clinton.
On Friday, the governor put it this way: “You know, my
point, my issue there is, there’s 300-odd super-delegates out there at the
moment who are uncommitted. I think hoping that that many cats will round
themselves up into a corral come June is a nice hope, but I’m sure we’ll want to
have a Plan B, and what I’ve been trying to do is talk about the need for a Plan
B, and, if it works out, great, but, if it doesn’t, I think we need to have
some way to bring this thing to a conclusion and not carry on to the
convention.”
Bredesen had been asked to respond to Tanner’s public
avowal of support for Clinton this week in the wake of her 10-point victory
over Obama in the Pennsylvania primary. The 8th District congressman
had previously been uncommitted.
“I certainly feel like I’d like to wait until the primaries
are over,” Bredesen said. “To the extent to which I can exercise some influence
in bringing it to a conclusion, which I’ve certainly been doing more of the
last few weeks than previously, I think it’s very difficult to do that from a
position of a committed super-delegate. So that’s another reason for me to sort
of stay uncommitted at this point. But I certainly think that, come June, I have
an obligation, along with, I hope, other super-delegates to step out and do it.”
Bredesen is widely believed to be tilting toward Senator
Clinton, and he has acknowledged in the past that most of his advisors lean that
way.
Democratic super-delegates complement the delegates pledged
to specific presidential candidates in state primary elections. The
super-delegates, made up of Democratic public officials and other long-standing
party activists, are empowered to use their own discretion in casting votes at
this summer’s forthcoming Democratic convention in Denver. They serve as a sort
of court of last resort in determining a nominee.
