“It will be done,” added Reid, smiling serenely.
But while congressional leaders are influential and all, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee–i.e., the organization in charge of this loony process–has the potential to change (or, um, end) the game. And now it appears as if that’s what Howard Dean (the aforementioned DNC boss) wants to do. First, in an interview yesterday with the Associated Press’s Nedra Pickler, Dean–who said he’s worried that “there’ll be some nasty fights if it goes to convention, and people will walk out”–confessed that he has been “talking to a fairly significant number of, by and large, nonaligned people about how we might resolve this.” At the time, he refused to go into detail, but Pickler reported that the plan “likely involves encouraging superdelegates to pick a candidate shortly after the voting ends.”
Scratch that “likely.” Less than 24 hours after chatting with Pickler, Dean today revealed exactly what kind of resolution he has in mind. Asked by CBS’s Harry Smith if he “want[s] the superdelegates to have some sort of vote immediately [after June 3] so that you’ll know months in advance of the convention what the outcome is,” Dean replied, in effect, yes. “Well, I think the superdelegates have already been weighing in,” he said. “I think that there’s 800 of them and 450 of them have already said who they’re for. I’d like the other 350 to say who they’re for at some point between now and the first of July so we don’t have to take this into the convention.”
There you have it, folks: a (loose) July 1 deadline. Dean’s been relatively mum on the subject–and has taken some flack for his silence–but, according to an aide, he’s been having “numerous conversations with over 60 leaders inside and outside of the Democratic Party” behind the scenes and now plans to “encourage the superdelegates to make their choice known once the voters in the remaining states have had their say.” So mark your calendars. It looks like the end’s in sight.
