Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Delegates from the disputed Florida and Michigan primaries shouldn't decide who wins the party's presidential nomination, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the chair of the Democratic National Convention.

``I don't think that any states that operated outside the rules of the party can be dispositive of who the nominee is,'' Pelosi said in an interview on Bloomberg Television's ``Political Capital with Al Hunt,'' scheduled to be aired today.

Pelosi's stand is a setback for Hillary Clinton, who won those states' uncontested primary elections after the party stripped the states of their delegates. Clinton is pushing to allow the delegates to vote at the Democratic convention in Denver, Colorado, on Aug. 25-28.

Democrats in Florida and Michigan have been told that the delegates can't participate in the nomination process because they held their primaries before the sanctioned date of Feb. 5. Both states are pushing to reverse that decision.

New York Senator Clinton beat Illinois Senator Barack Obama, 46, in the Florida contest Jan. 29 after both didn't campaign there in accordance with the party's decision. Clinton's Jan. 15 victory in Michigan came after her leading rivals withdrew their names from the ballot because of the primary's timing, and she said in a New Hampshire radio interview that Michigan's vote wouldn't count.

Clinton, 60, said not seating the delegates could dampen voter turnout in the November election.

`Two States'

``Both Michigan and Florida should count because these are two states we have to carry,'' Clinton said Feb. 11.

Pelosi said she won't endorse either presidential candidate during the primary season.

``I am totally neutral in the race,'' she said.

Obama won decisive victories this week in presidential primaries in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., following wins in five contests over the weekend. The next elections are Feb. 19 in Hawaii, Obama's childhood home, and Wisconsin.

Pelosi dismissed concerns that uncommitted party officials known as superdelegates would vote against the will of the majority of Democratic voters, and said if they did, that may cause troubles for the party.

``It's not just following the returns; it's also having a respect for what has been said by the people,'' Pelosi said. It would be ``a problem for the party if the verdict would be something different than the public has decided,'' she said.

Clinton, behind Obama in popular votes, has out-organized him in reaching out to superdelegates, who can vote their own way at the convention. According to an Associated Press tally today, she leads him 241 to 164, although estimates vary widely.

Breaking a Deadlock

The superdelegates may hold the key to breaking a deadlock if primary results fail to give Obama or Clinton the 2,025 delegates needed for the nomination.

That number doesn't count the contested 366 delegates in Michigan and Florida. Those delegates could be reinstated if a new caucus or primary were held, and the number needed to secure the nomination would be 2,208, according to thegreenpapers.com, a nonpartisan Web site that tracks delegate counts.

Pelosi said that most of the 796 superdelegates will support the candidate who emerges as the primary electorate's clear favorite.

On policy issues, Pelosi said there is room on the House agenda this year for a vote on a scaled-back immigration measure, if a bipartisan compromise is negotiated that President George W. Bush will help push through both chambers. Last year, legislation supported by Bush combining a guest-worker program, tougher border security and a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 12 million undocumented workers failed in the Senate after Republicans blocked it.

`Cannot Be Ignored'

``This immigration issue cannot be ignored,'' Pelosi said. ``It must be managed. But we can't just talk about it. We have to get something signed into law.''

An immigration measure ``may be possible,'' in an election year, she said. ``But it again will have to be strongly bipartisan, have some element of comprehensiveness.''

Among the proposals that may be considered this year is a bid by Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, to create a five-year pilot project to legalize the immigration status for people who have worked in U.S. agriculture for at least 150 days.

Eric Thomas, a spokesman for Compete America, said the Washington-based coalition of technology companies is pushing for Congress to increase the visa cap for skilled workers and is ``hopeful'' about progress this year.

Climate Change

Pelosi also said it's not clear when the House will vote on setting mandatory limits for greenhouse-gas emissions, noting that a dispute with Bush -- who only wants voluntary worldwide targets -- remains an obstacle.

In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid has promised authors of similar legislation that he will bring their bill up this year.

``It depends on the cooperation that we will get from the White House,'' Pelosi said. ``We have a major disagreement as to the making mandatory of the standards for our involvement with other countries. The president wants it voluntary; we want it mandatory.''

She said she doesn't anticipate the Democratic-led Congress will be able to force major changes in Iraq war policy -- including the withdrawal of U.S. troops -- until a Democratic president takes office. Pelosi said she doesn't anticipate that low approval ratings for Congress will improve until the war ends.

``It's clear we're going to need a Democratic president in order to bring the stability to the Middle East that is necessary, and that must begin with the redeployment of our troops in a responsible, honorable and safe way for our troops out of Iraq,'' Pelosi said.

Pelosi said she is confident Democrats will increase their majority in the House in the November elections, in part because 29 Republicans in the chamber have announced their retirements or resigned. Democrats now control the House with 231 votes, to the Republicans' 198. There are six vacancies.

To contact the reporters on this story: Laura Litvan in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 15, 2008 12:33 EST