Former Colorado Sen. Gary Hart is predicting that the increasingly bitter race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama won’t be decided until the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Hart, a Democratic strategist campaigning for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, said he is almost certain the battle won’t end until the convention. There are only three ways a floor fight can be avoided, Hart said.

“One is a massive swing of voters one way or the other, which I think is improbable. Second, a massive swing of superdelegates, which I think is equally improbable. Or a resolution of Michigan and Florida, which is improbable,” Hart said. “So if you throw out those possibilities, you see that it is coming to the floor.”

Hart is no fan of the superdelegate process.

Hart blames, in part, superdelegate influence on his failure to win the presidential nomination in 1984 when he ran against former Vice President Walter Mondale. He warns that if superdelegates play politics to the exclusion of the apparent will of the voters, they could hurt the party.

“I went out in the fall (to stump for Mondale),” Hart said. “My voters were like Obama’s. I couldn’t get them to move.

“It’s not as if Obama’s voters will vote for McCain,” Hart said. “They would stay home — particularly if they think the system is rigged. So whatever happens here, it needs to be as transparent as possible.”

Daniel Brogan
Daniel Brogan
Daniel Brogan is the founder, CEO, and Editor-in-Chief of 5280 Publishing, Inc.