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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton's superdelegate lead over Sen. Barack Obama was narrowed even more Saturday, according to CNN's latest delegate estimate.
Clinton picked up the votes of two more superdelegates and lost one since Friday night.
Rep. Ciro Rodriguez of Texas announced his support for the New York senator.
Arthur Powell was named an add-on superdelegate by the Massachusetts Democratic Party on Saturday and said he would vote for Clinton.
Obama, meanwhile, picked up three superdelegates since Friday night, including Carol Burke and Kevin Rodriquez of the Virgin Islands.
Kevin Rodriquez had backed Clinton but decided to switch his endorsement, citing Obama's ability to unite the Democratic Party and win the White House, according to Obama's campaign.
Kristi Cumming, named an add-on superdelegate by the Utah Democratic Party late Friday night, said she will vote for Obama.
That brings Clinton's superdelegate total to 273 and Obama's to 271.
Superdelegates are Democratic officials who hold the balance of power in determining the party's presidential nominee.
Obama holds a commanding lead in the number of pledged delegates awarded from primaries and caucuses: 1,592 to Clinton's 1,424.
On Friday, the Obama campaign announced the support of seven superdelegates, including a previous Clinton backer.
Hawaii Rep. Mazie Hirono, New Mexico Democratic Party member Laurie Weahkee and South Carolina Democratic Party Vice Chairman Wilber Lee Jeffcoat announced that they are backing the Illinois senator.
California Democratic National Committee member Ed Espinoza also pledged his support to Obama on Friday; Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon told The Oregonian newspaper that he will support Obama's bid.
Oregon voters are in the middle of primary voting, which takes place through the mail.
Rep. Donald Payne, a New Jersey Democrat and an early Clinton supporter, told The (Newark) Star-Ledger that he was switching to Obama.
Another superdelegate, John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said he is backing Obama. His union, which is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, said it represents more than 600,000 workers.
A flood of endorsements from superdelegates could virtually end the Democratic race. Find out where the superdelegates stand »
Neither candidate has the 2,025 total delegates needed for the nomination. Obama has 1,862 total delegates; Clinton has 1,697, according to a CNN survey.
The latest announcements narrow Clinton's lead in superdelegates to single digits. At the year's start, she led by more than 100. Watch as the momentum appears to be in Obama's favor »
There are 217 pledged delegates up for grabs in the remaining contests.
After Clinton's narrow win Tuesday in Indiana and and her double-digit loss in North Carolina, former Sen. George McGovern, the 1972 Democratic presidential nominee, said he had decided to back Obama over the former first lady. McGovern is not a superdelegate.
A Virginia superdelegate -- Jennifer McClellan, a member of the state House of Delegates from Richmond -- moved over to Obama, too.
Nevertheless, the Clinton campaign said it had picked up the support of Rep. Christopher Carney of Pennsylvania.
Clinton is not going down without a fight, making pitches to superdelegates that she is the best candidate to lead a Democratic ticket in November.
Her campaign tried to appeal to elected Democrats in Republican-leaning districts, arguing that Clinton can win more votes there than Obama and thus help their re-election prospects.
In a PowerPoint presentation e-mailed to the nearly 800 superdelegates, the campaign detailed how she had defeated Obama in GOP-leaning congressional districts and had consistently topped him among key voting blocs such as senior citizens and Hispanics. View the PowerPoint presentation
Despite those efforts, the Clinton camp appears to be planning an exit strategy, according to Lawrence O'Donnell, a Huffington Post contributor who cited Clinton insiders.
"They are saying that Hillary will be out of the race by June 15," O'Donnell said Friday on CNN's "American Morning."
"What the senior campaign official has told me is that they will go through the final votes on June 3.
"Remember, Hillary is going to win maybe three of the elections, and Obama is going to win maybe three elections coming out of it," he said, referring to the remaining six contests. Watch what O'Donnell says Clinton insiders are saying behind doors »
O'Donnell said the Clinton campaign would make its case to the superdelegates for about a week after the primaries ended.
"The superdelegates have no chance of moving over to Hillary Clinton in a week," he said. "So for the Clinton campaign to say we will only make the case for a week, and then by June 15, we will have a nominee, that is to say she will drop out."
Meanwhile, former Democratic contender John Edwards said Friday on NBC and MSNBC that Obama is the likely nominee. Edwards is not a superdelegate.
Both the Clinton and Obama campaigns have heavily wooed the former senator from North Carolina since he ended his presidential run in January, but he has not publicly endorsed either candidate.
Edwards said Friday that he worried the continuing campaign could take a toll on the Democratic Party's chances in November.
"I think it's fine for Hillary to keep making the case for her," he said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "But when that shifts to everything that is wrong with [Obama], then we're doing damage instead of being helpful." E-mail to a friend | Mixx it | Share
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