By Jonathan Allen, CQ Staff

As Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton scramble to woo superdelegates, some Democratic superdelegates say they have little incentive to choose sides early if the presidential nomination fight may not be decided until, or just before, the party’s convention in August.

“The power of the superdelegates at this point is to hold out,” said Rep. Marcy Kaptur , one of several Ohio lawmakers who has yet to make an endorsement with less than three weeks left before the March 4 Buckeye State primary.

“I’m going to hang loose,” said fellow Ohioan Tim Ryan .

Ryan and Kaptur are in good company sitting on the sidelines for a variety of reasons, including the personal political risks and rewards, leverage on an issue or set of issues, and undetermined personal preferences. See a list of unpledged superdelegates as of Jan. 7

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., said Friday that the convention’s choice should not come down to the superdelegates.

“Let’s hope and pray that the enthusiasm that we see in these elections, from that someone will emerge as a winner far enough so that the super delegates won’t matter,” she told reporters. “I don’t think it was ever intended that super delegates would overturn the verdict, the decision of the American people.”

Ironically, some of Pelosi’s closest advisers in the House have chosen sides and endorsed Obama, including George Miller of California, John B. Larson of Connecticut and Xavier Becerra of California. Becerra’s constituents favored Clinton by a margin of more than 2-to-1 in the California primary.

One of the superdelegate fence-sitters, Mississippi Rep. Gene Taylor , said he wants one or both of the senators to support his provision in a House disaster-insurance bill that would establish “multiperil” protection by offering optional wind coverage under the federal flood-insurance program.

“That could sway my decision,” he said. But short of that, he said, “I’ve got absolutely no reason to pick sides now.”

He also added that it wasn’t a question of who is more popular in his Gulf Coast district.

“It may be the other way around,” he said.

Some of the loyalists who orbit John P. Murtha , D-Pa., in the back corner of the Democratic side of the House chamber are holding off until their political godfather taps Obama or Clinton. Murtha pals Paul E. Kanjorski of Pennsylvania and Norm Dicks of Washington committed to Clinton in recent weeks.

But Murtha protege Patrick Murphy, an Iraq war veteran, is an Obama supporter who will be named Pennsylvania chairman in the coming days, according to a source familiar with the Obama campaign’s plans.

Murtha said he and fellow Pennsylvanians Mike Doyle and Robert Brady will vote as a bloc.

“That’s what we’re going to do,” he said.

Brady backed him up and suggested there could be more in that camp.

“Mr. Murtha speaks for a lot of us, including myself,” he said. “If that’s what Mr. Murtha says, then I’m with him.”

Kaptur, who serves on the Defense Appropriations subcommittee with Murtha, said Clinton and Obama should court Murtha personally.

“If I were the candidates, I would be asking him,” she said. “I wouldn’t send emissaries.”

The 796 superdelegates make up a little bit less than 20 percent of the electorate at the convention, and they are not bound to support anyone — even if they have made an endorsement. Clinton leads Obama in superdelegate endorsements. But there may be slippage among some African-American delegates who feel pressure to support Obama because he won in their congressional districts.

The New York Times reported Friday that Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, one of Clinton’s most prominent African-American supporters in Congress, said he might vote for Obama if the nomination is decided at the convention. And Rep. David Scott told the Associated Press that he will vote for Obama, despite having previously endorsed Clinton.

Ryan, of Ohio, who endorsed Connecticut Sen. Christopher J. Dodd before Dodd dropped out, said his primary reason for not backing Obama or Clinton is so he can be seen as impartial when he makes the argument that delegates from Florida and Michigan should not be seated because those states moved up their primaries in violation of a party order.

“I would like to be in a position as an uncommitted superdelegate to be able to say that’s a bad thing,” Ryan said.

Of course, that’s Obama’s position, as Clinton won Florida and was the only major candidate on the ballot in Michigan.