(Note: This diary has been crossed posted at Daily Kos, Taylor Marsh's site in the comments of her latest piece on Jesse Jackson, Jr. and at Hillaryis44.org, in their latest piece called "March to Victory.") ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------

There has been a lot of apparent political pressure put on African-American superdelegates who have been backing Hillary Clinton.

The most notable of these is Civil Rights Movement icon John Lewis, a staunch Clinton supporter up until the past several days.

Representative David Scott, the subject of my title line, is a pertinent example. Here's representative Scott on his defection from Clinton to Obama:

AP: Black Lawmakers Rethink Clinton Support

You've got to represent the wishes of your constituency," Scott said in an interview Wednesday in the Capitol. "My proper position would be to vote the wishes of my constituents."

There are two corollaries to the actions of David Scott, Christine Samuels and John Lewis which could prove disastrous to the nomination hopes of Barack Obama.

1. If other superdelegates decide to do as Scott says he has done, that is, to follow the will of their constituents, Barack Obama can expect to lose the support of such notables as Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, etc. Since Clinton has easily won the larger states which carry more superdelegates, this could very easily seriously hurt Obama's chances at a nomination victory.

2. This is the more crucial of the two dilemmas facing Obama. As the linked article suggests, Jesse Jackson, Jr., who made the following, disgusting remarks about HRC for which he received NO punishment from the Obama Camp (even though he is the national co-chair of Obama's campaign):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNrlSn7nd AA

Jackson, Jr. is again playing the identity politics card, as the linked article shows:

He said Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois had recently asked him "if it comes down to the last day and you're the only superdelegate? ... Do you want to go down in history as the one to prevent a black from winning the White House?

The elephant in the room, however, is that Hillary Clinton stands to be the first FEMALE to win the White House. If female superdelegates are malleable to the same sort of pressure which Jackson, Jr. seems to be applying to black superdelegates, the result could be a mass defection from Barack Obama which could leave the Illinois Senator virtually assured of losing in his bid for the nomination.

I think it is a dangerous game which Team Obama is playing by reintroducing identity politics into the contest in such a fashion. As I wrote about yesterday regarding Obama's cynical ploy to take his name off of the Michigan ballot, I think there is a very real chance that this effort, as well, could spectacularly backfire on the 1st-term senator.

It is difficult to envision female superdelegates wanting to prevent Hillary Clinton -- the woman who stands a hair's breath away from the presidency -- from an historic achievement which would forever break the mythical 'glass ceiling' for all of America's women and girls. Time will tell, but I believe that Senator Clinton is dealing from a far stronger position in this regard than are Jesse Jackson, Jr. and Barack Obama.