Apr. 7, Feature - An update on the Super delegates: the 794 elite members of the Democratic party - governors, members of congress, or local party officials – comprise nearly a quarter of the delegates Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama need to secure the nomination.

Since February 10th, Barack Obama has cut into Hillary Clinton's lead in super delegates, obtaining 219 to Clinton's 246, according to numbers calculated by the Super Delegates Transparency Project. More than 300 super delegates have yet to make up their minds. The race for super delegates is just as intense as the race for voters.

Barack Obama's campaign says the super delegates should side with who over wins the most seated delegates, Hillary Clinton's campaign says super delegates should side with who could best beat John McCain. But Pacifica Radio's Verna Avery Brown spoke with Boston Globe reporter Scott Helman. Helman says many of these super delegates see Clinton at as a liability because of the strong opposition to her in the Republican party.

"He (Obama) has had a fairly rocky period with his controversy over his relationship with his former pastor Jeremiah Wright ... he has faced a resurgent Hillary Clinton after her primary wins in Texas and Ohio, and yet in spite of all that the Super Delegates have been really lining up behind him, much more than they have for her"

"A lot of these folks evidently believe Obama would be stronger a top their ticket than Hillary Clinton would. The reason is that, one, Obama has been more successful in drawing support from Independents and Republicans, and two, Hillary Clinton for better or worse is sort of a favorite target for Republicans and Republican voters. So if she is on the ticket, the argument goes that she will motivate the GOP base in a way that no one else could."

That was Pacifica's Verna Avery Brown speaking with Scott Helman, reporter for the Boston Globe.