Advertisement
University of Wisconsin-Madison student Awais Khaleel, 23, became the first superdelegate in the country to use the popular Web site to announce his endorsement of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.
Khaleel, a Wisconsin superdelegate, posted the video late Tuesday night and by Wednesday morning it had already been viewed more than 2,900 times. Later on Wednesday another previously undecided Wisconsin superdelegate, state Sen. Lena Taylor, also announced her endorsement of Obama.
Khaleel, a graduating senior, confirmed his support for Obama on Wednesday between final exams in economics and public policy. The video was the second he posted on YouTube along with Lauren Wolfe, president of the College Democrats of America and a would-be superdelegate from Michigan.
“Lauren and I are certainly different types of superdelegates. She and I are both college students. We are both part of the YouTube generation,” Khaleel said. “We thought this would be a great way to communicate to people about who we are.”
Their first video, posted on YouTube on April 28, asked college students to tell them via e-mail and through postings on the social networking site Facebook.com whether to support Obama or New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Khaleel is the only one of the two whose vote actually matters. Because Michigan held its primary outside the time frame set by party rules, Wolfe’s superdelegate vote won’t count.
The pair said they received more than 5,000 e-mails, 1,000 Facebook entries and hundreds of comments posted on YouTube.
“It was pretty overwhelming which candidate they wanted us to move toward,” Khaleel said. “The only appropriate thing was for us to make an endorsement.”
Obama has spoken about issues young people care about, including the war in Iraq, and has involved college students in his campaign, he said.
Khaleel became a superdelegate through his position as vice president of College Democrats of America. After finishing his exams this week, Khaleel said he hopes to get a job on the Obama campaign or with another organization working to elect Democrats.
With Khaleel and Taylor’s support, there are now 11 Wisconsin superdelegates who support Obama. Two are for Clinton and three remain undecided. They are U.S. Sens. Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold, and Feingold staff member Paula Zellner.
Feingold has said he’s “inclined” to support Obama and voted for him in Wisconsin’s Feb. 19 primary in which the Illinois senator defeated Clinton 58 percent to 41 percent.
Taylor, in a statement put out by the campaign, said she decided to support Obama because, “He has re-energized those weary of politics as we have come to know it by demonstrating both character and personal strength. He has connected with a cross-section of Americans, with a desire to do things better then we have done before.”
Superdelegates are elected officials and other prominent Democrats who can vote as they choose, without regard to primaries or caucuses. About 250 have not declared their support.
Obama still does not have the 2,026 delegates needed to clinch the nomination, but he has built a nearly insurmountable lead over Clinton.
