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Obama snags another Wisconsin superdelegate -- a UW senior

John Nichols  —  5/14/2008 12:33 pm

Barack Obama may have lost West Virginia's primary on Tuesday, but he won an online "contest" that has yielded him a pair of additional delegates to this summer's Democratic National Convention.

And that's got the senator from Illinois personally welcoming a University of Wisconsin student as his latest delegate catch.

Two weeks ago, the president and vice president of College Democrats of America -- both convention superdelegates -- posted a YouTube video that asked young people to tell them to commit either to Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.

"Let me tell you, the responses were overwhelming," said CDA Vice President Awais Khaleel, a UW senior.

Khaleel and CDA President Lauren Wolfe, the former head of the Smith College Democrats in Massachusetts, said they received more than 5,000 e-mails, 1,000 Facebook messages and hundreds of YouTube comments and videos.

"There was one candidate who started out ahead and never looked back," said Khaleel in a new YouTube video posted Wednesday morning.

That candidate was Obama, and both Khaleel and Wolfe say they will vote for the Illinois senator at the convention.

"College students have turned out in record numbers for him in every primary contest," explains Wolfe, who hailed the candidate's stances on college affordability, the war in Iraq and other issues.

"Senator Obama included young people in his growing coalition that is ready to get this country back on track," said Khaleel. "Barack Obama is absolutely the change we can believe in."

He is also the likely Democratic nominee.

Indeed, despite Clinton's big win in West Virginia, Obama will finish the week with a bigger bump in his delegate strength than his rival.

Winning a remarkable 67 percent of West Virginia's Democratic primary vote will secure Clinton 20 additional delegates. Obama's dismal 26 percent gains him just eight additional delegates.

But with the endorsements of Khaleel and Wolfe, Obama has picked up at least a new dozen delegate endorsements since Sunday (11 from superdelegates who had been unpledged and one from a pledged Clinton delegate from Maryland who said he was switching), including those of Hawaii Sen. Dan Akaka, former Colorado Gov. and DNC Chair Roy Romer and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.

Obama welcomed all the new support, but he went out of his way to thank the CDA leaders. "At this defining moment in our nation's history -- a moment when we can finally come together and bring about the change that is so desperately needed in this country -- I am proud to accept the support of the College Democrats of America's president and vice president -- Lauren Wolfe and Awais Khaleel," the senator said Wednesday morning. "The College Democrats represent the future, and their work is critical to a Democratic victory in November. They have worked hard to organize at the grass roots, energize their college campuses, and mobilize students for change. During this primary, young people have proven to be an incredibly powerful force at the polls, and I am grateful for their support. I look forward to working with the College Democrats to continue building our grass-roots movement for change in colleges and universities across the country."

YouTube video from Khaleel and Wolfe:

John Nichols  —  5/14/2008 12:33 pm