ON THE TRAIL

April 25, 2008

Democratic Party officials may urge undecided superdelegates to choose a presidential candidate soon after the primaries end in June, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said yesterday. Reid said he is talking with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean about contacting superdelegates - party officials allowed to vote at the nominating convention - to ask them to decide between Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. "The three of us may write a joint letter," Reid said, reflecting concern by some officials that the lengthy Democratic contest is giving the party's nominee a late start in the general election campaign against presumptive Republican nominee John McCain. Any letter to superdelegates would go out after the last Democratic primary contest on June 3, said Rodell Mollineau, a Reid spokesman.

John McCain visited still-

hurricane-damaged areas of New Orleans yesterday, condemning the Bush administration's handling of the disaster and declaring if it had occurred on his watch, he would have immediately landed at the nearest Air Force base. McCain called the response to Hurricane Katrina "a perfect storm" of mismanagement by federal, state and local governments. Later yesterday, a photo emerged showing McCain being presented with a birthday cake by President George W. Bush upon getting off Air Force One at Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix Aug. 29, 2005, the day Katrina made landfall. Wednesday he was forced on the defensive when he said he opposed a Senate bill seeking equal pay for women because it would lead to more lawsuits. Senate Republicans killed the bill - which would make it easier for women to sue their employers for pay discrimination - Wednesday night.

Barack Obama announced the endorsement of another superdelegate - Rep. David Wu of Oregon yesterday. Obama now has three, and Hillary Clinton has one, since Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary.