Obama gets boost from House Speaker

Barack Obama’s hopes of winning the Democratic Party’s nomination for US President were boosted by remarks by House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi.

With neither front-runner Mr Obama nor his rival Hillary Clinton looking likely to claim outright victory in the primaries, it looks as though so-called superdelegates – party grandees – will have the casting vote on who will challenge the Republican Party’s nominee-in-waiting John McCain in November’s Presidential election.

Ms Pelosi has effectively boosted Mr Obama by saying it would be wrong for the superdelegates to buck the will of national convention delegates picked in primaries and caucuses.

Mr Obama currently has 142 more delegates than Mrs Clinton and has won more states than his rival.

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

The California Democrat did not mention either Mr Obama or Mrs Clinton by name.

But her remarks seemed to suggest she was prepared to cast her ballot at the convention in favour of the candidate who emerges from the primary season with the most pledged delegates.