Jim Hunt says the superdelegate system worked.

The former North Carolina governor said that the Democratic primary system he helped create as head of a national commission in 1982 turned out the way he expected.

"I think it worked pretty well," he told Dome. "It helped us get a good result and get the primary resolved. Suppose this thing had gone to the convention unresolved. ... I think that would have hurt the party's chances of winning."

Hunt was asked about the reluctant superdelegates, often Blue Dog Democrats from more conservative districts who did not want to be tied too closely to either presidential nominee.

"It's not an excuse that they don't want to be put on the spot," he said. "Politicians have to be put on the spot all the time. That goes with the territory."

One thing he would consider changing: The number of superdelegates. Hunt said his commission recommended a much smaller group of "automatic delegates," but the party has since expanded it.

"The party ought to take another look at whether or not they want to have that many," he said. "That's probably the only thing that I would say is a real question."

U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler is not ready to get on the Barack Obama train.

In a piece in Politico today, a spokesman for the Waynesville Democrat says he hasn't made a decision on what to do now that the Democratic primary is over:

Rep. Heath Shuler, a freshman Democrat from right-leaning North Carolina, has also been too busy to endorse. After Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton carried his district in the North Carolina primary, Shuler said he would cast his superdelegate vote for her at the Democratic convention.

Now that Clinton is out of the race? "We've gone back to his work up there in the House," said Shuler spokesman Andrew Whalen. "We're not really too focused on the presidential [race]."

Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre joined the Obama cause today, pledging his support for the Illinois senator.

Barack Obama secured the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday night with the last primaries, but McIntyre waited a few days for his endorsement, Barb Barrett reports.

Although Hillary Clinton carried McIntyre's southeastern North Carolina district in the May 6 primary, McIntyre had told both candidates he wanted to let the national primary process play itself out before making his choice.

"I will be supporting Sen. Obama," McIntyre said in an interview this afternoon. "It has been a robust exchange of ideas, and it has been a healthy process."

Obama tried several times last weekend to reach the Democratic superdelegate for a last-minute endorsement, but the pair kept missing one another, in part because of a storm that knocked out power in McIntyre's Lumberton home.

More after the jump.

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The superdelegates in North Carolina mostly backed Barack.

Here's a breakdown of the state's 19 superdelegates in the Democratic presidential primary race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Clinton

Gov. Mike Easley
U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler
Susan Burgess, Charlotte Councilwoman

Obama

U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield
U.S. Rep. David Price
U.S. Rep. Mel Watt
U.S. Rep. Brad Miller
Jerry Meek, N.C. Democratic Party chair
Dannie Montgomery, N.C. Democratic Party vice chair
Everett Ward, former Democratic Party director
Joyce Brayboy, public policy lobbyist
Jeanette Council, Cumberland County commissioner
Muriel K. Offerman, Democratic National Committee
David Parker, Statesville attorney
U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge
U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre

Carol Peterson, Buncombe County commissioner
Two delegates to be named at the state convention.

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge will endorse Barack Obama.

Etheridge announced his choice this morning, three days after Obama sewed up the Democratic nomination.

"This has been an historic primary, and now that all of the voters have had their say it is time for the party to come together and support our nominee, Barack Obama," Etheridge said in a statement. "I look forward to working to elect Sen. Obama and all other Democrats in November."

Etheridge, of Lillington, is one of the state’s moderate Democrats, representing the conservative Second District that curls east and south around the Triangle, Barb Barrett reports. He had been lobbied heavily by both leading candidates for their support and met in person with both Obama and Hillary Clinton in recent weeks.

He had been coy about when he would endorse, saying repeatedly when asked that he didn’t know when he would make his decision.

Clinton is expected to suspend her campaign Saturday in Washington.

U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre, of Lumberton, a conservative Democrat, has not yet announced his decision.

The decision leaves Obama with 12 North Carolina superdelegates to Clinton's three.

Susan Burgess, a superdelegate from Charlotte who supports Hillary Clinton, said she wants the senator to run for vice president this year, and told a member of her staff that morning.

"I sense a division in our party that must be breached," Burgess said. "The best way to do that is to run together on the dream ticket."

Burgess said Clinton has tremendous influence among the electorate. "She has more leverage than anyone in America with millions of voters behind her,"' Burgess said.

David Parker has endorsed Barack Obama. 

The Statesville attorney, a Democratic superdelegate long courted by Obama and rival Hillary Clinton, said Obama will not only make North Carolina competitive, but a winner for the Democrats, the Associated Press reports.

"It's time to focus on the finals instead of the regular season," Parker said. "It's time to get about the serious business about electing the next president of the United States."

Parker said he'd like to see Obama select Clinton as a vice presidential candidate.

Meantime, Buncombe County commissioner Carol Peterson, after listening to Clinton's speech from South Dakota in which she declined to concede the race, said she'd like to hold her endorsement until the party can conclude discussions about disputed delegates in Florida and Michigan.

"There are still some things out there, and I feel like everyone needs to be heard," Peterson said. 

Muriel Offerman of Raleigh was one of several superdelegates who endorsed Barack Obama Tuesday night after the final Democratic primary results were calculated.

"I said from the very beginning," Offerman told Dome, "the scheduled primaries needed to take place. I do believe it's time to bring the Democratic Party together."

Offerman, a deputy chairwoman of the state Employment Security Commission, had been heavily lobbied by both Hillary Clinton and Obama, Rob Christensen reports.

"The bottom line," Offerman said, "is we are ready to move on to defeat John McCain and having a real change in Washington."

Previously: The Hamlet Superdelegates

David Parker's gut is about to report.

Parker is the Statesville lawyer who long relished his status as an uncommitted Democratic superdelegate. Back in February, he said, "Frankly, I'm torn both ways. My mind is with Hillary, my heart is with Obama, and I'm waiting for my gut to report."

He says he's going to declare tonight after polls close in Montana at 10 p.m. EDT, Jim Morrill reports. That's the official end of the primary season. So who will he choose?

"You do have a brain, I don't think it's too hard to figure out what an announcement after the polls close would mean," he says.

More uncommitted superdelegates are expected to announce for Barack Obama after the primaries are over. Obama already has nine of North Carolina's superdelegates to Hillary Clinton's three. Parker is one of five uncommitted. When he talks about the fall campaign, it's not hard to figure out who he'll come out for tonight.

"The thing that moves me is electability," he says. "And I firmly believe that when Obama begins to talk about issues of the economy ... his issues and his statements will resonate with the public."