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Matheson waiting out Demo race
Deseret News (Salt Lake City), May 8, 2008 by Suzanne Struglinski
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, still hasn't made up his mind about which Democratic presidential candidate to support -- even though the party's state chairman sees the race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama winding down.
"I really want to keep my powder dry until this process is done," Matheson, the only one of Utah's so-called superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention in August not committed to a candidate, told the Deseret News Wednesday.
Utah State Democratic Party Chairman Wayne Holland said he believes the nominee could be decided quickly after Obama's strong showing in Tuesday's primaries. Holland is also one of Utah's six superdelegates and is supporting Obama.
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"My sense is we're much closer after last night to getting a clear picture of who the nominee is going to be," Holland said. "I believe we'll start seeing through the next four or five days the movement of more superdelegates in his direction."
Matheson said he has not been contacted yet by either campaign, even after Tuesday's primaries gave Obama a big win in North Carolina and Clinton only a narrow victory in Indiana.
"Neither of the campaigns have been knocking at my door," Matheson said. "I have made it
real clear that I'd like to watch this process play out. I am learning, I think all of us are learning, more about the candidates every day as this campaign rolls through all 50 states."
Obama, a senator from Illinois, has earned more regular delegates from Utah and other states that have held Democratic primaries and causes. But Clinton, a senator from New York, has more superdelegates.
Unlike regular delegates, the party leaders who serve as superdelegates are not tied to election results. This year's close race has given superdelegates a critical role in deciding the nominee.
Two of Utah's six superdelegates are committed to Clinton. Three will back Obama, including a final superdelegate to be named by Holland at Saturday's state Democratic Party Convention.
Holland said Utah isn't hurt by Matheson's indecision and may even be helped by increased party attention to the state because of his uncommitted status. Less than one-third of the 741 superdelegates are uncommitted at this point, according to the New York Times.
And he's got plenty of company in Congress, especially in the House. Calculations by the New York Times show that 66 Democrats in the House and 19 in the Senate are uncommitted superdelegates.
Matheson said nothing specific is holding him back, although he wanted to hear more from both candidates about chiefly Western issues such as nuclear weapons testing and waste disposal.
"It's just different in the West than it is New York or Illinois," he said.
Matheson, who is up for re-election this year, said he is pleased with the enthusiasm the race has generated. He still isn't ready to say he'll be at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August, though.
"I will certainly go if I need to be there," he said. But Matheson has skipped Democratic conventions and cost Utah a delegate vote, including in 2004 in Boston when Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry was nominated.
While Matheson has said he needed the time to campaign, others have suggested he'd rather not spend too much time associating with the national party -- especially in election years.
This year could be different if the race isn't decided by August and Matheson's superdelegate vote is needed. And even if that's not the case, Holland said this year's location, in the more moderate Mountain West, could make the convention more appealing.
"It's a different environment this time," Holland said, particularly compared with the more liberal setting in Boston. "With the convention in the Mountain West, there's a lot more likelihood that more moderate Democrats will get involved."
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