New trouble signs for Sen. Hillary Clinton,s campaign

Amos Ajo
A central strategy in Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign has been to win the bulk of the 796 'superdelegates' - party officials and members of Congress - automatically given votes at the Democratic convention this August in Denver.

She took an early, substantial lead among these pols and activists early on, when she appeared to be the inevitable nominee. For weeks, it helped her stay (deceptively) ahead of Barack Obama in the delegate race.

But there's trouble signs on the horizon. Unlike the at-large delegates awarded through primaries and caucuses, the superdelegates are not pledged to any candidate, which means they can change their mind at any time.

And that's exactly what's starting to happen. Longtime Democratic congressman John Lewis, a leading black lawmaker, this morning announced he's defecting to Obama's camp, joining a handful of others who in recent days have made the switch.

This is precisely what Obama has hoped would happen - that as he gained a lead in pledged delegates, the superdelegates would bow to the democratic will of their constituents and join his campaign.

What Clinton really needs now is to win in Texas and Ohio on March 4, or she could see a sudden rush of defections to Obama long before the two get to the Denver convention.