March 16 (Bloomberg) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the Democratic Party might be hurt if leaders fail to nominate the U.S. presidential candidate preferred by voters in primaries and caucuses.

``If the votes of the superdelegates overturn what happened in the elections, it would be harmful to the Democratic Party,'' Pelosi said in an interview taped two days ago and aired today on ABC's ``This Week'' program.

Superdelegates are party leaders, including members of Congress, who have a vote for the presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention. Pelosi, a California Democrat and the highest-ranking member of the House, is among them. She hasn't endorsed a presidential candidate.

Her comments may be a boost to Illinois Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, who leads the delegate race for the nomination. Obama has 1,617 delegates to 1,498 for Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, including a net gain of nine yesterday from updated tallies in Iowa and California, according to the Associated Press.

It takes 2,025 delegates to win the nomination, excluding Michigan and Florida where delegations have been disqualified because the states violated party rules by holding early primaries. Democratic leaders are discussing ways of seating delegates from both states.

Similar Comments

Pelosi's remarks about the superdelegates echo similar comments she made last month during an appearance on Bloomberg's ``Political Capital with Al Hunt'' when she said it is important the leaders have ``respect for what has been said by the people.''

The next test for Obama and Clinton is April 22 when Pennsylvania holds its primary with 158 delegates at stake. Clinton holds a double-digit lead in the state, according to several polls.

Pelosi also said she thought the primary process would produce a clear winner before the party's national convention in Denver, rendering much of the debate about superdelegates moot.

Pelosi's concerns about a potentially divisive national convention were echoed by Leon Panetta, a former member of Congress who served as chief of staff for former President Bill Clinton.

``If it goes to the floor of the convention and there are a lot of conflicts and disputes and it gets ugly, that is not going to help the party,'' Panetta said on CBS's ``Face the Nation.''

Tense Campaign

Supporters of Clinton and Obama also said that Democrats shouldn't be distracted by comments made by the candidates' supporters in an increasingly tense campaign.

This week, Obama severed his campaign's ties to Jeremiah Wright Jr. after videotapes surfaced in which the Chicago minister said that the U.S. brought the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on itself. Obama sharply condemned Wright's comments and said that he had never heard those kinds of sermons during the 20 years he attended Wright's church.

``What more can you do but condemn the words and condemn the person for saying them,'' said Bill Bradley, a former New Jersey senator and Obama supporter in an appearance on NBC's ``Meet the Press.''

Representative Nita Lowey, a New York Democrat who supports Clinton, said the public should accept Obama's condemnation of Wright's statements and ``move on.''

Also last week, Geraldine Ferraro, the first female vice presidential candidate, gave up her position on Clinton's finance committee after saying that Obama wouldn't have had such a successful presidential run if he weren't black.

``These are specific incidents that don't really help the Democratic party, and you can't always be responsible for the enthusiasm of your supporters,'' Lowey said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Christopher Stern in Washington at cstern3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 16, 2008 14:13 EDT