Obama woos Minnesota’s Clinton supers

Sen. Barack Obama is already working to heal the rift in a deeply divided Democratic party after months of contentious campaigning against Sen. Hillary Clinton. As Obama lands in St. Paul tonight to announce his securing of the majority of the party’s delegates, he is already extending an olive branch.

Doug Grow reports that Obama invited three of Minnesota’s three Clinton superdelegates to the event at the Xcel Energy Center: Walter Mondale, Rick Stafford and Jackie Stevenson. Only Stafford accepted.

“We were told that there was no commitment involved in the invitation,” said Stafford, a member of the Democratic National Committee. “They said they were just reaching out. That was important.”

By midday Tuesday, Obama had already picked up 12 new superdelegates at a rate of about two an hour while Clinton had picked up none. Minnesota’s only uncommitted superdelegate, Rep. Collin Peterson, has yet to announce his support for either candidate, but had in the past hinted that he’d be supporting Obama.