For the past several weeks Barack Obama has been referred to by most media outlets as the presumptive Democratic candidate, with many of his followers believing that the nomination itself was a forgone conclusion. Obama himself has operated under that same belief as he makes a dramatic shift to the right on most major issues, highlighted most recently by his recent vote on FISA. As I noted at the time, Hillary had originally voted in favor of the bill before later changing her vote after it was assured the bill would pass without her support. I reminded readers that although Obama may appear to be the Democratic nominee in November, nothing is written in stone as of yet, and Hillary may very well pull off a political coup at the convention and gain her parties nomination.

Although it appears unlikely that Hillary Clinton will walk away from the convention as the Democratic nominee, her supporters are demanding she be given a floor vote just the same. Heidi Li Feldman, a Georgetown University law professor told CQ Politics that there is “no way of predicting” the outcome should there be a fair vote, and with Obama’s recent drop in the polls, she may very well be correct.

“If they had a meaningful vote, I have no idea who would win,” Feldman says. “But I know that if Sen. Obama were sure he would win, there wouldn’t be a negotiation” about Clinton’s role at the convention.

So Feldman, who says she has raised about $100,000 for Clinton, has turned her prowess to raising money for advertising demanding a convention vote, and she has teamed with a fellow pro-Clinton blogger, Marc Rubin, to form the Denver Group to lobby the Democratic National Committee, much of the staff of which has already moved from Washington to Chicago to work for Obama.

Feldman says she won’t vote for Obama if Clinton doesn’t get a convention vote. Rubin says he might not. Both say they aren’t worried that their efforts will continue to divide Democrats at a time when they should be uniting to take on Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona. In fact, they argue, many Democrats might stay home if they feel Clinton gets short shrift.

“What they have to do is make it possible for people to say to themselves that there was a fair and correct process,” Feldman says.

Obama’s current lead over Hillary Clinton is not as dramatic as the media would have you believe, with only 123 more “pledged” delegates. Of the 796 superdelegates, 438 have expressed support for Senator Obama, while 256 have backed Senator Clinton. In order for Hillary win the Democratic nomination she would only need to win an additional 222 superdelegates between now and August.

There are some who would argue that a floor vote would only divide the party further, particularly if Hillary were to win the nomination. What the DNC needs to be reminded of however is that the superdelegates have not had their voices heard. The 438 superdelegates currently backing Obama have the opportunity to change their vote at any point between now and the convention, similar to the way an individual who responds to a Gallup poll may change their vote between now and election day.

The Democrats made their own bed when they established the superdelegate system as a means of overriding the popular vote, now they must sleep in it.

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Barack Obama, Election 2008, Features, Hillary Clinton, Politics