Pullman's Eileen Macoll is Casting her vote for Clinton

FROM THE OLYMPIAN -Eileen Macoll, the Washington Democratic Party’s vice chairwoman, said this morning she is pledging her super-delegate vote to Hillary Clinton. This reverses a trend that saw several state super-delegates including the party chairman Dwight Pelz go with Barack Obama.

Macoll had intended to wait until after Montana and South Dakota Democrats vote Tuesday. But she had a change of heart during Memorial Day, which she said hits hard in small towns like Pullman, where she lives. She also has a military veteran father in hospice.

“I’m convinced that Sen. Clinton is the one that will end this war for us. It was an emotional decision. I think she’s the right one to have as our commander in chief for the next four years,’’ Macoll said in a telephone interview from Seattle, where she was readying to attend an event for U.S. Sen. Patty Murray tonight. “We need a Democrat in the White House and I think she is the electable candidate. We have to end this war.’’

Clinton’s campaign announced Macoll’s decision, quoting her in part as saying: “On the issues that matter most — from establishing universal health care to improving our schools to ending the war in Iraq — she has never backed down and never wavered. Hillary has what it takes to beat John McCain this Fall and win back the White House.”

Washington Democrats meeting in caucuses in February gave Obama 52 pledged delegates to 26 for Clinton. The super-delegate count now adds seven more for Obama, six for Clinton and leaves four unpledged.

The unpledged super-delegates are former U.S. House Speaker Thomas Foley and party officials Ed Cote, Sharon Mast, and David T. McDonald, according to a New York Times’ tracker. Macoll has said in the past that site’s list appeared accurate.

McDonald serves on a national Democratic committee that meets Saturday in Washington, D.C., May 31 to decide what to do about the Michigan and Florida delegations; McDonald has said he won’t take a side publicly until after that committee’s decision.

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