Pelosi: Voters will determine Dem, not party leaders

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) expressed confidence Wednesday that Democratic primary and caucus voters will settle on a presidential nominee before the Democratic convention in August, with no need for party leaders to weigh in.

{mosads}“The electoral process has to work its way,” Pelosi said in a session with reporters Wednesday morning. “I was never among those who thought this would be resolved by now.”

Superdelegates, she said, should weigh a number of factors, including whether Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) or Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) won whatever district the delegates represent, as well as “their own belief.”

Pelosi, who is to serve as chairwoman of the convention in Denver, has scrupulously maintained neutrality in the race. She also declined to weigh in on whether Clinton or Obama should pick the other as a vice presidential nominee.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), who appeared with Pelosi, said the state-by-state battle for the nomination is good for the party, and no one should “short-circuit” it.

“This is a good process,” he said.