'Super delegate' gathering gets thumbs down

WASHINGTON -- Democratic Party chief Howard Dean said Tuesday that he does not support staging a formal gathering of "super delegates" to pick the party's presidential nominee.

The tight nomination fight between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama may be decided by the nearly 800 super delegates — party insiders and elected officials who are not bound by the primaries or caucuses in their states.

Dean, the Democratic National Committee's chairman, said he hoped uncommitted super delegates would make their choices by July 1 to avert a showdown at the party's Aug. 25-28 convention in Denver. Dean said the views of about 330 super delegates are not yet known. He said he continues to look for ways to resolve the battle once the primary season ends in early June.

Dean said a plan pushed by Democratic Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen for a two-day gathering of super delegates in June won't work. "We can't have a convention of super delegates because it would look like 330 delegates are overriding the wishes of 30 million voters," Dean said in an interview with USA TODAY. He said Bredesen deserved credit for advancing the plan.

Obama leads in pledged delegates earned in primaries and caucuses, according to the latest Associated Press tally. Clinton leads in endorsements from super delegates.

In an interview on ABC's Good Morning America, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said the contest between Clinton and Obama should be allowed to "run its course" but said the party must align "behind one candidate a long time before" the convention "if we hope to win in November."

Pelosi, who is neutral in the race, repeated her view that it would be harmful to the party if super delegates were perceived to overturn the will of voters — but said super delegates have a right to vote as they wish.