Old pro Harold Ickes joins Clinton camp

ARLINGTON, Utah, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Harold Ickes, an old pro in Democratic politics, has returned to the fray to try to help Hillary Clinton wrest the presidential nomination from Barack Obama.

Ickes, typically a behind-the-scenes player, will be out front this time.

He'll be helping not only in the upcoming crucial primaries in Ohio and Texas but leading the battle for superdelegates, elected officials and party leaders who may determine whether Senator Clinton of New York can beat Senator Obama of Illinois, the New York Times said Thursday.

Ickes, 68, who helped write the delegate selection rules and with intimate knowledge of the Clintons, is asking the current superdelegates to wait until after next week's primaries before doing anything.

"We are very aware of the pressure on delegates and the need to hold them," he said.

And, he wants to offset what he openly describes as the failures of Clinton's political aides and advisers.

"She is better than her campaign," he said.