Bredesen suggests superdelegate primary

NASHVILLE — Warning that a summer-long nomination battle between Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama could prove disastrous for Democrats, Gov. Phil Bredesen is calling for a “superdelegate primary” to decide the contest in early June if necessary.

“We are blessed with two fine candidates, but it’s entirely possible that when primary season ends on June 3, we will still lack a clear nominee,” the governor said in a column published in today’s New York Times.

“Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton could each still believe that the nomination could be his or hers at the national convention in Denver in August,” the governor said.

Gov. Bredesen warned if that happens, “we would then face a long summer of brutal and unnecessary warfare. We would face a summer of growing polarization. And we would face a summer of lost opportunities — lost opportunities to heal the wounds of the primaries, to fill the party’s coffers, to offer unified Democratic ideas for America’s challenges.”

Gov. Bredesen said that “if we do nothing, we’ll of course still have a nominee by Labor Day. But if he or she is the nominee of a party that is emotionally exhausted and divided with only two months to go before Election Day, it could be a Pyrrhic victory.”

Gov. Bredesen said the party should schedule a superdelegate primary. “In early June, after the final primaries, the Democratic National Committee should call together our superdelegates in a public caucus,” he wrote.

Superdelegates are the 795 delegates who are seated based on their status as current or former elected officeholders or party officials. As a Democratic governor, Gov. Bredesen is a superdelegate. They are uncommitted and free to support any candidate for the nomination.

A Democratic National Committee spokesman did not return calls immediately. Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Gray Sasser lauded Gov. Bredesen’s suggestion, saying in a statement that the governor is “offering a common-sense solution to a problem that otherwise may not be resolved soon.”

The superdelegates are expected to have to make a choice since neither U.S. Sen. Clinton nor U.S. Sen. Obama appear likely to reach the total 2,024 delegates required to win the nomination.

According to the Associated Press, U.S. Sen. Obama now leads U.S. Sen. Clinton by 1,617 to 1,498 delegates. According to the AP, that masks a large lead among pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses. Sen. Obama leads Sen. Clinton there by 1,404 to 1,249. Sen. Clinton was leading among superdelegates by 249 to 213.

For complete coverage, see tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press.