Mel Watt, superdelegate, tips his hand (sort of)

Rep. Mel Watt of North Carolina, former head of the Congressional Black Caucus and a Democratic superdelegate, plans to make a new endorsement in the party's presidential race before his home state's primary on May 6. But, as best we can decipher, he's also amenable to setting aside his personal preference if his constituents go in another direction.

Which probably means that one way or another, he'll end up in Barack Obama's column, given the big chunk of black voters who reside in Watt's district.

Still, as we indicated, the eight-term House member didn't exactly make it crystal clear what he has in mind.

Here's what Watt, who previously backed North Carolina's own John Edwards, recently told the Charlotte Observer (follow along as best you can):

"Sometime between now and May 5, I'm going to endorse somebody and try to lead my constituents in that direction. If they disproportionately vote the other way, then I won't consider my efforts to lead them as a commitment to use my superdelegate vote in that way. I could conceive of trying to lead my constituents one way or another, them rejecting me and using my superdelegate position in exactly the other way."

Perhaps Watt has been breathing the rarefied air of Capitol Hill (and ingesting its rhetoric) a bit too long.

The big question as the Carolina faceoff between Obama and Hillary Clinton approaches remains whether Edwards will decide to embrace one of his former rivals.

--Don Frederick