REP. NORM DICKS, a Democratic superdelegate thanks to his senior status in the party as well as the House of Representatives, switched his support to Barack Obama on Thursday.
Dicks, D-Belfair, whose 6th Congressional District includes the North Olympic Peninsula, became a superdelegate for Hillary Rodham Clinton in February after he was convinced that his old friend, former Vice President Al Gore, wouldn’t be running for president in 2008.
Dicks and Gore both entered the House of Representatives for the first time in 1976, and have been close since then.
Dicks said he spoke to Clinton on Wednesday night and encouraged her to unify the party by publicly backing Obama.
Clinton told supporters in an e-mail Thursday that she will speak Saturday about how to rally the party behind Obama.
“I see no reason not to join in that effort and express my support for Obama,” Dicks told The Associated Press.
“I want to unify the party, and that’s what Sen. Clinton wants as well.”
