Congressman, super delegate, and 1960s civil rights leader John Lewis of Atlanta has jumped off the Hillary Clinton cruiser and onto the Barack Obama bandwagon, saying that he wants “to be on the side of the people.” Lewis’ congressional district voted overwhelmingly for Obama in Georgia’s Democratic primary earlier this month.

Obama has also secured the endorsements of North Dakota senator and super delegate Byron Dorgan and former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut.

It seems like you can’t turn on the TV or the radio or read a newspaper or a political blog these days without hearing someone talk about “super delegates” and how they could affect the Democratic presidential nomination process. WORLD’s own Jamie Dean was way ahead of the curve in this discussion, writing a cover story about “The Other Campaign” for the current issue of the magazine. (If you’re not a WORLD subscriber and missed it, it’s available for free over on the magazine site for a few more days, so be sure to check it out.)

In addition to providing a timeline on the history of this Democratic Party peculiarity, Jamie profiled Waring Howe Jr., a super delegate from Charleston, S.C. “From his office on Broad Street, Howe readily tells visitors to Charleston what they should eat (She-Crab soup), what they should see (the historic waterfront), and what they should buy (sweetgrass baskets handmade by locals),” Jamie writes. “The chairman of the Charleston County Democratic Party also tells fellow Democrats which candidate he thinks they should vote for: Sen. Barack Obama.”

How did Waring Howe, Jr., a personal injury attorney running a one-horse practice in South Carolina, become one of the most sought-after men in Democratic politics? By becoming one of an elite group known as the “super delegates.” WORLD’s Jamie Dean reports:

The 796 super delegates comprise about 20 percent of the 4,049 delegates sent to the Democratic nominating convention this summer, and they hold unique power. he majority of convention delegates are elected by state parties and are considered “pledged delegates,” which means they must vote in the nominating convention for the presidential candidate who won their states’ primaries. When a candidate wins a state primary, the delegates he or she picks up are pledged delegates.

But super delegates, or “unpledged delegates,” are considered free agents: They aren’t bound to their states’ choice for a nominee, and they may commit support to any candidate they choose at any time during the primary season.

With state primaries seesawing between Senators Obama and Clinton, people like Howe may hold in their hands the futures of some of the most powerful people in politics.