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Irene Stein announced Monday that she will be casting her vote for Senator Hillary Clinton when she votes as a superdelegate at the national Democratic Convention in August.  "I will cast my vote for Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention," she said.

Stein's decision is in line with the popular vote in the New York primary.  However Tompkins County was the only county in the state to choose Barak Obama.  "Like all of us, I have been deeply impressed by the quality of our candidates this year," Stein said.  "Like all of us, I will work my heart out for whomever is the nominee."

Stein told the county committee that choosing was the most difficult political decision she has ever made.  She listed six points that led to her decision.  First she said she would support the democratic candidate that she judged best able to defeat Republican Senator John McCain in November's general election.  She said that despite the country's preference for Obama, the New York State Democratic Committee is overwhelmingly behind Clinton.

She spoke of Democrats' disappointment in Clinton's voting in support of the Iraq war, and said that she has received scores of communications asking her to favor one candidate or the other.  Stein noted that the party is just about evenly split between the candidates.

Stein also noted that presidents are not elected by the popular vote.  "I have been following polling data of voters on a state by state basis, and I am seeing a consistent picture of Hillary Clinton's very solid lead over John McCain, while Barack Obama is ahead only narrowly at best," she said.  "She wins in enough swing states, which we have been losing, to solidly and clearly win the election.  I know that polling data is but a snapshot in time, but it is reinforced by exit poll analysis in many of the swing states."

Stein said that superdelegates are chosen before the final candidates are known.  "The one attribute they all share is actual experience in local, statewide or national politics," she said. "They are given the solemn role of using their best judgment as to who will be the best candidate for the Party and the Nation. I believe that having Hillary Clinton as our nominee will give us our best shot at winning the election and reversing the Bush-McCain policies that continue the economic, social, and foreign policies that now afflict our nation."

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