I've said it before and I'll say it again, "Don't let us hyperventilating media types distract you." We may prattle on about the latest spreads in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, but it doesn't matter all that much, at this point, who wins those primaries--or the contests that follow. This is a race for delegates, not states. And because Democratic delegates are awarded proportionally, there's simply no way for either candidate to reach the magic 2,025 majority--or for Clinton to significantly slash Obama's current 150-plus earned delegate lead--before the end of primary season on June 3.

In other words, only the party's 795 superdelegates can pick a winner--no matter what happens in Pennsylvania and beyond.

Of course, this is old news to you. But it's worth taking a deep breath from time to time and checking on these party poo-bahs. Hence the Stumper's time-honored Superdelegate Watch.

So where does the super-slugfest stand? More firmly in Barack Obama's corner than ever before. Since Feb. 5, Obama has snagged 64 superdelegates, at a pace of a little more than one a day; Clinton has corralled only nine. On March 6, we reported that Obama's total stood at 202. Now, according to the Wall Street Journal, it's up to 217, while Clinton's has stagnated at 250. What's more, the Journal reports that North Carolina's full congressional delegation plans to back Obama after the state's primary on May 6. That means that Obama (counting the Tarheel State supers) is leading Clinton in the overall delegate tally 1,638 to 1,499.

The math is pretty dire for Clinton. At this point, Obama needs 387 delegates to win the nomination. Let's assume that over the next two months, he picks up 283, or half, of the remaining primary delegates--a conservative estimate, considering that many of the states in play (North Carolina, Oregon, Montana, South Dakota) favor him from the outset. That gets the Illinois senator to 1,921--or 104 shy of 2,025. In other words, even if no more superdelegates take sides before the end of regulation in June and the candidates split the remaining primaries, Obama would need to convince only a third (104 of 328) of the uncommitted supers come summer, while Clinton would have to win over a full 75 percent (243 of 328). If past is prelude--remember Obama's 64 to nine margin in February and March--there's simply no way she'll swing it.

The more likely scenario is that the superdelegates--barring a scandal significantly larger than Obama's "pastor problem," which hasn't hurt him at the polls--will keep trickling toward the Illinois senator at something like the current pace. Consider the case of Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who announced this morning on a conference call with reporters that she had become the latest superdelegate to side with Obama. Klobuchar says she isn't voting against Clinton, and doesn't think (like Obama supporter Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont) that the former First Lady should call it quits. "I have so much respect for her, and I think they'd both make great presidents," she said. "Sen. Clinton has every right to continue. The tone of the campaign didn't have anything to do with my decision." But Klobuchar admits that she's secretly favored Obama for months. "For me, after Obama won our caucuses [on Feb. 5], I started to know which way I was headed," she says. "But out of respect for both candidates--I like them both very much--I delayed." Asked "why now?" Klobuchar cited unity. "I recognize that the supporters of both candidates have strong, heartfelt emotions," she said. "But believe that I have an obligation here to help bring our party together. Continuing to stay silent would be, as my 12-year-old daughter likes to say: 'Awkward, mom. Awkward.'"

Like Klobuchar, many of the uncommitted superdelegates have already picked their horses. In fact, as one told the Politico this morning, "There are no undecided superdelegates. Or at least there are very few of them. Most undeclared supers are just that — undeclared." Seeing as Obama has won 32 of the 46 nominating contests to date, it's reasonable to assume that at least a third already lean his way. Meaning that the only remaining question isn't whether there are enough superdelegates left to put the frontrunner over the top. At this point, it's simply a matter of when the continuing "awkwardness" of the Dem-on-Dem battle will convince them to come out of the closet.