WASHINGTON, March 28 (UPI) -- Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, concerned about the primaries' growing rancor, said he'd like to see superdelegates committed by July 1.
"I think the superdelegates have already been weighing in," Dean said Friday on CBS's "Early Show," estimating about 450 of the roughly 800 super delegates have committed to either Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York or Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. "I'd like the other 350 to say who they're for at some point between now and the first of July so we don't have to take this into the convention.
Dean cited polls indicating a "significant number of supporters" for both candidates would vote for presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona if their candidate isn't nominated.
The two candidates must understand "they have an obligation to our country to unify," Dean said. "Somebody's going to lose this race with 49.8 percent of the vote, and that person has got to pull their supporters in behind the nominee."
"I think that it's important that we understand this is not, again, about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama," he said. "It's about a change for our country."
