With the fight for the Democratic presidential nomination possibly going all the way to the party’s national convention this summer, a brokered convention seems more and more likely. And with a brokered convention, the role of declared and undeclared super delegates becomes even more important.

Over the next several weeks leading up to the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania April 22 and perhaps even until Indiana’s primary May 6, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and their campaigns will be lobbying hard for the support of super delegates who have not publicly pledged support for one of the two candidates.

But who are these super delegates, how were they selected for such special treatment and why can’t just any ordinary Democrat get that gig?

Indiana will have 85 delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver Aug. 25-28. There will be a total of 4,049 delegates from across the country at the convention, including 796 super delegates. The nominee will need half of all delegates, or a total of at least 2,025, to win the presidential nomination.

The rules that determine Indiana’s delegates to the convention and who they are suppose to support are perhaps as simple to understand as it is to understand the technical flight manual for the space shuttle.

But oddly enough, determining the super delegates is one of the easiest parts.

“Super delegates are prescribed by the DNC,” said Jennifer Wagner, the spokeswoman for the Indiana Democratic Party.

Super delegates generally fall into three basic categories: Democratic elected officials in the state, members of the Democratic National Committee and any add-ons chosen by the state party, and the chair and vice chair of the state Democratic Party.

Indiana has one add-on this year.

By that count, Indiana has 12 super delegates, including six members of Congress: U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh and U.S. Reps. Joe Donnelly, Brad Ellsworth, Baron Hill, Peter Visclosky and newly elected Andre Carson. The governor would be a super delegate if he was a Democrat, but he’s not.

State party Chair Dan Parker and Vice Chair Cordelia Lewis-Burks are super delegates, as are DNC members Phoebe Crane, Robert Pastrick and Connie Thurman, and former national party chair Joe Andrew.

Unlike Indiana’s 72 pledged delegates, who are generally bound to support Obama or Clinton based on the outcome of the state’s primary, the super delegates can go to the convention and support whomever they please. Normally, they vote for the frontrunner, but there is no clear frontrunner this year.

“I support Barack Obama,” said Thurman, a union leader who was undecided until several weeks ago. “He called me four times and answered the questions on all the issues I cared about.”

Thurman said no one from the Clinton campaign contacted her until a low-level aide called after she had already publicly pledged for Obama. “I didn’t get a call from Hillary Clinton.”

Super delegates who are in Congress often wait until after the primary to gauge the voters’ support before pledging their own. All five of Indiana’s U.S. House members are undecided. However, Bayh, who serves in the Senate with both Clinton and Obama, is an exception this year.

“He came out early on for Clinton,” said Wagner, who added that Bayh has traveled across the country in support of the former first lady. Bayh also could be prominently seen campaigning with Clinton throughout Indiana last Thursday. He said the contest is tight and urged audiences to give the former first lady a chance.

Also apparently in Clinton’s column are super delegates Crane, Andrew and Pastrick.

In addition to Thurman, Lewis-Burks supports Obama.

Indiana does not have a winner-takes-all primary.

Of Indiana’s 72 pledged delegates to the national convention, 47 will be proportionally determined based on how each candidate does in each of the state’s nine congressional districts during primary voting. The other 25 will be proportionally determined based on statewide voting.

Now try to keep up because this gets a little sticky.

If Clinton gets, say, 60 percent of the vote statewide in the primary and Obama gets 40 percent, Clinton will get 15 of the 25 statewide delegates and Obama will get 10. (That’s a 60 percent/40 percent split.)

But if Obama gets 60 percent of the voters in, say, Andre Carson’s congressional district, he will get 60 percent of the delegates who are attached to that district, which in this case should be three or four. Clinton will get the rest, probably meaning about two.

Dividing up the 72 pledged delegates based on primary voting means the overall Indiana Democratic delegation will reflect the will of the people in the state, Thurman said. “And the nomination should be determined by the will of the people.”

However, there is another technical glitch, Wagner pointed out. The pledged delegates sign some sort of document before they leave for the convention saying whom they will support. However, once they arrive in Denver, even the pledged delegates could change their minds.

“Technically, they are pledged but they could go to the convention and change their vote,” Wagner said. “They are not legally bound.”

The political situation is perhaps as fluid as the White River at flood stage. But none of it will probably matter, according to Thurman, because a clear frontrunner will probably emerge long before then.

“I don’t think there will be a brokered convention. I think we will have a candidate before then. And then we can focus on the fall,” Thurman said.

More from 'Primary Matters' 

David Hoppe’s “Indiana counts (for once)”

Shawndra Miller’s “In favor of Obama”

Laura McPhee’s “In favor of Clinton”

Michael Dabney’s “Establishing a home base”