Pelosi weighs in on delegates

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says it would be damaging to the Democratic Party for its leaders to buck the will of national convention delegates chosen in primaries and caucuses, a declaration that gives a boost to Sen. Barack Obama.

“If the votes of the superdelegates overturn what’s happened in the elections, it would be harmful to the Democratic Party,” Pelosi said in an interview taped for broadcast today on ABC’s “This Week.”

The San Francisco Democrat did not mention either Obama or his rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, by name. But her remarks seemed to suggest that she was prepared to cast her ballot at the convention in favor of the candidate who emerges from the primary season with more pledged delegates.

Obama leads Clinton by 142 pledged delegates -- those delegates picked in nomination contests to date, in the Associated Press count.

Barring a string of landslide victories by the New York senator in the remaining states, he will end the primary season with a delegate lead, but short of the 2,025 needed to win the nomination.

That gives the balance of power to superdelegates, prominent Democrats who are automatically entitled to attend the convention because of their status as members of Congress or other leadership positions. Clinton leads Obama for their support in the AP count, 249-213.