Four Rules That Could Be Decisive

This dispute may be less significant than it seems, because as politicians who will either be on the ballot themselves or deeply engaged in the November campaign, the superdelegates hardly need urging to take note of the primary results and the polls. Those will weigh more heavily on their decision than any other factor -- including personal loyalties and preferences.

The fourth dispute concerns the delegations from Michigan and Florida, which were barred last year by the Democratic National Committee after those states jumped the calendar to move to earlier primary dates.

Neither candidate campaigned in those states, but Clinton left her name on both ballots (as Obama did in Florida). She won both primaries, and now she is urging that their delegates be seated and counted in Denver.

Hart says, and again I agree, that there is no justification for this retroactive change in the rules. The possibility that seating those delegates could alter the outcome of the race makes it even more imperative that the Democratic National Committee and the convention enforce those rules.

That is a mixed verdict -- endorsing Obama's position on caucuses, proportional representation and the Florida-Michigan dispute, and Clinton's stance on the superdelegates.

But Hart's analysis is fair, not dictated by the rival candidates' interests.

davidbroder@washpost.com