BEVERLY — As a longtime activist for the Democratic party, Arthur Powell says he prefers to be in the "back of the room" promoting others.
But last Saturday, Powell acquired a status that will make it difficult for him to remain anonymous. The Massachusetts Democratic State Committee elected the 44-year-old Beverly resident as a superdelegate to the national convention in Denver in August.
Superdelegates are free to support any candidate, making them especially valuable this year in the tight race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
"Superdelegates matter, and I have been selected to be one," Powell said. "Does it really get any better than that?"
Powell has already taken the suspense out of his decision. Unlike superdelegates such as Congressman John Tierney of Salem, who has not committed to either candidate, Powell has been a Clinton supporter for a year.
Powell said it took only 45 minutes after his election at the Democratic State Committee meeting in Dorchester before he got a phone call from the Clinton campaign, which quickly sent out a press release touting his support.
The Clinton campaign asked Powell if he would like a phone call from Chelsea Clinton, who has been calling uncommitted superdelegates on behalf of her mother.
"I assured them she didn't need to call me," Powell said.
Powell won the superdelegate seat over one of the state's top Democrats, state Treasurer Tim Cahill. Powell downplayed the significance of beating Cahill, saying his standing as an active member of the state committee gave him an advantage.
"The fact that a member of the Democratic State Committee ran amongst his peers and was successful over a constitutional officer is really not a headline," he said. "It certainly was not my goal to diminish the treasurer in any way, shape or form."
Powell, who grew up in Beverly, has been involved with the Beverly Democratic City Committee since 1990 and was elected to the state committee in 2002. He is married to the former Shelley Parisella and works in the financial services industry.
Powell also served as a delegate for Sen. John Kerry at the 2004 Democratic convention in Boston, but Kerry's nomination was preordained well before the convention. Powell believes this year's race between Obama and Clinton will also be resolved before the convention, probably by the Fourth of July.
But that doesn't make it any less exciting, he said. Political observers are closely watching superdelegates, with Web sites posting up-to-the-minute counts of who is backing whom.
"Superdelegates," Powell said, "are the topic of the day."
