Superdelegate Waak breaks ‘Aunt Pearl’ vow, goes for Obama

On the day Barack Obama came to town, Colorado Democratic Chairwoman Pat Waak announced her superdelegate support for the presidential candidate. Just last week Waak maintained her publicly uncommitted status in the presidential race, noting that information wasn’t even something she would share with her 94-year-old Aunt Pearl.


Waak, along with other uncommitted superdelegates in Colorado, have noted that they are in a unique and potentially sensitive position, given that this state is hosting the Democratic National Convention in August. Throwing support behind a candidate while Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are still battling for the nomination would potentially hinder their ability to raise money for the convention, Waak has said.


But in an announcement released Wednesday, Waak reversed her earlier vow and endorsed Obama as the Democratic nominee. In a statement, she cited her reasons:

• Obama won Colorado’s Feb. 5 caucus with more than 60 percent of the vote in a year that brought historic numbers of voters.


• She believes that Obama can beat Republican John McCain in November.


• “Finally,” Waak noted, “I believe that our country needs the type of visionary, uplifting leadership that Senator Obama has shown during this long campaign.”


On Wednesday, Obama was in Thornton, north of Denver, where he held a town hall session to talk about education reform.

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