Pocan Won’t Endorse Clinton Or Sanders Before The Primary

Wisconsin Congressman and Democratic superdelegate Mark Pocan said Thursday he’s still deciding whether he’ll support Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders for the Democratic presidential nomination.

“The ‘eye on the prize’ is not having a President Trump or President Cruz, and I’m very, very focused on that,” Pocan said.

Superdelegates are people involved in the Democratic presidential nomination process — typically former elected officials or high-ranking party members — who can support whatever candidate they choose at the party convention, regardless of what voters in their state decide. Wisconsin has 10 superdelegates, six of whom have already announced their allegiance. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Reps. Gwen Moore and Ron Kind, and three prominent Democratic National Committee members from Wisconsin are all backing Hillary Clinton.

Pocan said both Clinton and Bernie Sanders are great candidates, but he won’t pledge his superdelegate vote until after the final presidential primary in June.

“There’s really good things about both candidates,” Pocan said. “I love the aspirational tone and the vision that I think you’re seeing out of Sen. Sanders’ campaign, and I absolutely admire and am unbelievably impressed with the qualifications and the resume of Secretary Clinton.”

Pocan believes his lack of an early endorsement will help him unify the party behind the eventual Democratic nominee.

“I think there’s a real role for some of us who have great respect for both candidates to make sure that we’re bringing everybody back into the fold post-Tuesday in Wisconsin, and post-mid-June for the rest of the country,” he said. “Whoever doesn’t make it through … we want to bring their folks into the fold. I think if we haven’t picked a side, we’re in much better place to do that.”

Pocan is among four superdelegates in Wisconsin who haven’t announced their decision. The others are state Democratic Party Chair Martha Laning, state party Vice Chair David Bowen, and Democratic National Committee member Jason Rae.