Party leaders are attempting to head off any divisions. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told a Nevada radio program last week that "we agree there won't be a fight at the convention." He said, "We're going to urge folks to make a decision quickly," and he specifically said it would come this week.
In terms just as sharp, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the San Francisco Chronicle that she would step in if there was no resolution by the end of June.
Several undecided Maryland superdelegates are keeping their intentions cloaked but revealing some clues.
Van Hollen said he has remained quiet during the primaries because of his position as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
"Now that those contests are coming to an end, I expect to make and announce a decision in the near future," he said in a statement responding to The Sun. "I have consistently said that it would be a mistake for the superdelegates to veto the decision of the elected delegates unless new information emerges that demonstrates that the winner of the elected delegate count could not win in November."
Cardin, too, said he expected to announce his intentions within a few days. In a statement, he said that the long primary season has drawn huge numbers of new voters and that "I share the goal" of Obama and Clinton of "electing a Democratic president in November."
"I see my role as a superdelegate to help ensure that happens," he said.
Hoyer would not commit to a timetable, saying, "There are things happening every day that impact on that decision. Also, I'm interested in what the candidates themselves have to say after the primaries are over."
DNC Vice Chairwoman Susan Turnbull of Montgomery County repeated her stand that because of her post, her decision will only ratify the choice of others.
But Turnbull said she supports the position of Reid and Pelosi, and said she could be ready to disclose her choice this week.
"That's a very strong possibility," she said. "I can read tea leaves as well as everybody else."
Not all superdelegates feel bound by the Reid and Pelosi timetable. Belkis Leong-Hong, chair of the DNC's Asian and Pacific Islander American caucus, said she doesn't know when she's going to make up her mind. She's not an elected official, she said, so warnings from congressional leaders don't affect her.
