By definition, most of them are politicians. That means they are incredibly susceptible to the whims of public opinion.

So don't expect the super delegates to overrule the will of ordinary voters in the ongoing Democratic presidential primary.

The super delegates are going to follow the public more than they 're going to lead.

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama won Wisconsin 's Feb. 19 Democratic primary with 58 percent of votes to U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton 's 41 percent.

That gave 42 delegates to Obama and 32 to Clinton, according to an initial tally. By party rules, those 74 pledged delegates must be delivered to the candidates at the Democratic National Convention based on primary voting.

But an additional 16 super delegates are free to vote any way they choose. Some fear the Democratic race is so close that super delegates could overrule the people by choosing, say, Clinton, even if Obama wins more votes.

Yet the recent behavior of Wisconsin super delegates suggests that won 't happen. They 're falling in line with the public 's pick. And even after Clinton won Ohio and Texas, Obama still enjoys a more than 100-delegate lead overall.

After Obama 's win in Wisconsin, two of our super delegates -- U.S. Reps. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, and Steve Kagen, D-Appleton -- quickly pledged their support to the Illinois senator, based on voting in their districts.

Democratic National Committee member Jason Rae, a Marquette University student and super delegate, gave his support to Obama the day after Wisconsin 's primary, citing Obama 's popularity among Wisconsin college students.

Then super delegate and Wisconsin Democratic Party chairman Joe Wineke announced he would back Obama based on his state win.

Of Wisconsin 's 16 super delegates, half are now for Obama, two are for Clinton and six aren 't saying whom they 'll support, according to an Associated Press survey last week.

My hunch is that the holdouts will wind up supporting whichever candidate wins the popular vote in primaries and caucuses nationally. And don 't be surprised if one of Clinton 's super delegates from Wisconsin -- U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison -- eventually flips.

Would Baldwin really stick with Clinton if it meant her super support would give the New York senator the nomination over the will of the people -- which included a 2-1 margin of support for Obama in Baldwin 's district?

No way.

If that happened, GOP nominee John McCain could deliciously declare in the general election: "Even Democratic voters didn 't favor their party 's nominee, so why should you? "

That won 't happen unless the super delegates are super stupid.

Milfred is editorial page editor for the State Journal; smilfred@madison.com or 608-252-6110.