(If you take no geeky pleasure in tracking delegates after Obama clinched the nomination, then move along.)

There are 856 superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention, who will cast 824.5 votes. Amazingly, 69 of the supers (having 64 votes) still have not stated their intended convention vote, even now that the choice has been conclusively narrowed.

There are 3 vacancies in the DNC, so that’s a legitimate excuse.  Four of the supers are chairpersons who, by virtue of their position, can be let off the hook.  They are DNC Chair Howard Dean, Convention Chair Nancy Pelosi, and RBC Chairs Alexis Herman and James Roosevelt.  

Four congressmen (Reps. Allen Boyd, Tim Mahoney, Jim Marshall and Dan Boren) pointedly said they will NOT endorse Barack Obama.  So that leaves 58 other supers to wallow in wimpiness.

If you know that any of these supers did endorse a candidate, or at one time had declared their support of Obama or Clinton, let the world know in the comments.  Please include a link so that super can have a burst of recognition, however more brief than the influence that he or she could have enjoyed.  

Here forthwith is the entire Wall of Reluctance, listed by state:

While we are waiting for the May fundraising amounts to be released by the Obama campaign, I thought it would be worthwhile to explore one aspect of Obama's decision to forego public financing.

At the end of April, Obama had already raised a staggering $272 million in this campaign (largely through over 1.5 million small donations).

The folks over at The Hill are already speculating that Obama could raise $100 million in June alone and attract 2.5-3 million new donors.

At this pace, Obama could raise and invest as much as 1/2 billion dollars on his campaign.

With these amazing resources, Obama's campaign has begun planning to run ads during the Olympics that would be broadcast on NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, USA Network, Oxygen and Telemundo.

I’m going to tell you something that you already know: America is obsessed with superheroes.  It isn’t a bad thing when on an individual or cultural level Americans are infatuated with the superhuman, but when our country as a whole is caught somewhere between reality and the world of "good guys" and "bad guys", something’s gotta change....because when politics get narrowed down to that level, I’m not so sure we’re always on the "good" side.  

Breaking: 7 DNC leaders endorse Barack Obama.

Since June 7 many superdelegates have switched endorsements, and some uncommitted superdelegates have made choices (or not).  When combined with new add-ons (here), and including Hillary (who after all said, "I endorse"), Obama now has 506.5 503 superdelegate votes.

Arkansas, California, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, West Virginia
Unity, by golly

If it didn't sink in during Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's endorsement of his candidacy this past weekend, it surely must now that the elected officers of the Democratic National Committee - vice chairs Lottie Shackelford, Linda Chavez Thompson, Rep. Mike Honda, Susan W. Turnbull, secretary Alice Germond, treasurer Andrew Tobias and finance chair Philip Murphy - have together officially endorsed Sen. Barack Obama to be the next commander in chief.

What a tool. Rather than congratulating Obama for winning a great race, fairly and graciously, with more elected delegates from those who voted in primaries and caucuses, Mark Penn, in a New York Times op-ed instead credits the superdelegates for pushing Obama over the top, and blames "low-turnout caucuses" (a talking point throughout Clinton's campaign as being "undemocratic" and "unfair"), blames the media, and blames just about anything and anyone but himself, for the loss.

...as Barack Obama gained enough superdelegates to put him over the top. ... But she went from a lead of 120 superdelegates in early February to a deficit of 40 before last Tuesday.

Given her successes in high-turnout primary elections and defeats in low-turnout caucuses, that simple fact may just have had a lot more to do with who won than anyone imagines.

more...

Just a quick diary to express a current thought...

Sure it's a jury-rigged affair, with a mix of different kinds of elections and caucuses involving wildly varying rules, with a schedule that could charitably be called confused, and with a super-delegate system whose efficacy and legitimacy many called into doubt.

Yet somehow, against all odds, the Democratic primary system actually worked.

It allowed time for a large candidate pool to get sorted out and vetted. It allowed time for two front-runners to emerge and introduce themselves nationwide.

It allowed time for the front-runners to be battle tested and in the process grow a new and larger electorate.

What started out to be a glorious week of anticipation regarding the final closure of this long and brutal campaign season turned into a week of non-stop media coverage about Hillary Clinton.  I know several believe that we should focus on gaining the support of disappointed Clinton supporters but this was supposed to be our moment.  We deserved this.  The winner is entitled to a certain amount of celebration.  The country could point to Obama's elevation as the beginning of racial healing in this country but alas, this week has been about the needs and wants of Hillary Clinton.

The Washington Post's article on Maryland DNC Member Heather Mizeur exposes the real problem with Super Delegates. In my opinion, there is simple solution to this problem.

I really don't understand this, and I consider myself a serious political junkie.  As Hillary began to accumulate primary victories, more and more superdelegates went to Barack.  Why?  Aren't the party insiders (superdelegates) more likely to support the insider (former president's wife)?  What was up with that?  Thanks for the education.  This is a serious question, not snark.

Per the Newark Star-Ledger:

Gov. Jon Corzine today threw his support to Sen. Barack Obama, saying he "absolutely" will fight for the Democrats' nominee as he challenges Sen. John McCain for the White House.

"We're all going to get behind Barack and go full-throttle," he said in an interview televised by MSNBC.

"It's not a walk in the park -- that's why we ought to make sure we're defining the issues" separating Obama and McCain, like the Iraq war, health care and the economy, Corzine said on MSNBC. But he added, "I like my side of the aisle in this race."

DCCC Chair Rep. Chris Van Hollen (MD) for Obama

"Now is the time for all of us to come together. I enthusiastically support Senator Obama. He will be our nominee, and now it's very important that we all unite behind his candidacy. He has energized millions of new voters, and if we can sustain that momentum by coming together, he will be the next president of the United States."

And Nancy Pelosi crowns the Nominee

It's pretty exciting, a great expansion of participation from young people, from women, from minorities, people in minority communities. And now we have a nominee, and that's pretty exciting. The campaign of Sen. Clinton is one that will go down in the history books as a great one for our country, breaking what I call the marble ceiling, what they call the glass ceiling. Glass is easy compared to the ceiling that she broke. And I couldn't be prouder of her eloquence, her knowledge, her judgment, the stamina that it took to have this campaign. And so I salute her and all of her supporters.

There's a statement out this morning fromPelosi, Reid and Dean to all the superdelegates that they have until THIS FRIDAY to make up their minds:

"We have come to the end of an exciting primary and caucus process - the voters have spoken. As the Democratic leaders of the Senate, House of Representatives, the Governors and the Democratic National Committee we commend all of the participants of the 2008 primary process, especially Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, for making this such a transformational election. Because of the enthusiasm our candidates have inspired, our party has brought record numbers of voters to the polls, gained millions of newly registered Democrats and now has advantages in states many thought were difficult to win. We are grateful to the millions of Independents and Republicans who have crossed over to vote for a Democratic candidate for President.

Finally! The floodgates are opened!!! Feel free to use this as an open thread for those additional SDs who speak out tonight.

I know it seems somewhat quixotic to track these superdelegates when the nomination is clinched, but the more superdelegates who speak out now, the less ammunition Clinton will have when she tries to claim that Obama's lead is somehow surmountable on the floor of Denver.

The Field has this report

The other two big threads in the rec list were starting to hammer my browser, so I hope we can move the discussion here.
BoBo2020's mothership here.
davidkc's follow-up here.

Please use those threads to read up on the day's previous delegate gains and endorsements.

Since Bobo's and Davidkc Diaries is getting filled up I am responding to a request to make a new Superdelegate Endorsement Thread. Dear goddess give me strength I am not good with keeping running track of numbers.

UPDATE: Work in Progress Guys, give me a little time here.

SLIGHTLY PEEVED UPDATE #2: This is a list of names! I'm not trying to steal a list of names from someone's diary! I am doing this as a requested favor for a new Open Diary. I give total props to BoBo and Davidkc for coming before me. But I am not re-typing a list just to make it my original list. Yeesh.

UPDATE #3: Your welcome to everyone that said thanks. Didn't mean to sound bitchy. And again props to Bobo and Davidkc and all the other diarist that maintained these diaries today.

UPDATE #4: For Everyone without cable, or that has MSNBC in a different tier, or doesn't own a T.V. here is MSNBC's Live Feed Online.

I hate to say I told you but Maxine Waters flipping may start the flood gates going although I don't think Stephanie Tubbs will.

A letter sent to Black Superdelegatein black districts is below...

On a side note:

 Rev Phleger was punished(verbal) by the Cardinal Archbishop. I guess as a Catholic you can only support a Republican.

Note: I'm the author of a new book, Barack Obama: This Improbable Quest, but I'm not part of the Obama campaign.

The Democratic delegate selection system has received a lot of angry abuse this year. David Sirota claimed on Democracy Now today, "Democracy is really thwarted" by the Democratic party’s selection process because "party elders can thwart the will of the people" through the superdelegates. In calling this an "outdated, antiquated system," Sirota is wrong. The delegate process in the Democratic Party is far superior to the Republican Party one, and it’s proven to be an enormous success in this election.

Be careful what you wish for.  After enduring day after day of superdelegates dripping out for Obama, today is the day we finally get the flood.  It's hard to keep up, but in a good way.  Since BoBo2020's diary was getting long, I thought it was time for a later afternoon/early evening superdelegate Open Thread.