Hillary's Tactics Questioned By Key Supporter

(from newsday.com feb 18)

MILWAUKEE - Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel - one of Hillary Clinton's most stalwart African-American defenders - is apparently questioning her reliance on unelected superdelegates to stay competitive with Barack Obama, saying they may not reflect the "will" of Democratic voters.

"It's the people [who are] going to govern who selects our next candidate and not superdelegates," Rangel said last night at a dinner for the New York State Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators conference in Albany. "The people's will is what's going to prevail at the convention and not people who decide what the people's will is," he added.

Superdelegates, who are usually high-ranking party officials, are free to choose any candidate, unlike "pledged" delegates apportioned by primaries and caucuses. Obama's approximately 40-delegate lead overall would be much larger were it not for Clinton's 75-delegate edge among the supers.