Democratic Leaders Lean on Superdelegates

WASHINGTON - Hoping to bring the Democratic presidential nomination fight to an end, party leaders are intensifying their efforts to encourage remaining uncommitted superdelegates to make their choice public by the middle of next week.
In an interview Thursday on a San Francisco talk radio station, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said he had spoken with Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier in the day, and they had agreed to take steps to avoid a contest that extends into the convention in August.

“We all are going to urge our folks next week to make a decision very quickly,” said Mr. Reid, on station KGO. He said he had also spoken with party chairman Howard Dean on Wednesday night.

Mr. Reid’s comments came after Ms. Pelosi told the editorial board of the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday that she would intercede in the contest if it were not concluded by the end of June to bring it to a close.

Both Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Reid have remained publicly neutral in the contest and have said that the primaries should run their course. But with the last contests set for Tuesday, the two top lawmakers are evidently ready to exercise their influence with the approximately 200 members of Congress and the party elite who have yet to make their preference known publicly. Party officials say both Mr. Reid and Ms. Pelosi are also calling uncommitted superdelegates to press them for a resolution.

Traveling in California to promote his new memoir, Mr. Reid also told an audience in Los Angeles that the nominee would be known by Wednesday. He told others that a sufficient number of superdelegates are prepared to put Senator Barack Obama over the top quickly after Tuesday’s voting is finished. Both Mr. Reid and Ms. Pelosi have also said they agree that the delegates from Michigan and Florida should get some voice at the convention as well.
The Congressional leaders have said previously that the contest has been good for the party given the attention to the campaign and the registration of new voters, but Ms. Pelosi said to the newspaper. “We cannot take this fight to the convention.”