The .Plan

Making a hard decision in the context of uncertainty is something that the uber-maximizing Democratic voters apparently cannot do at this point in time.

The question of the superdelegate count will become more and more important in the coming weeks, but what amuses me most about this process is that the superdelegates cannot recognize that their indecision is likely going to cost their party the election as McCain cruises on unmolested.

Dan Ariely describes this phenomenon in his book:

Choosing between two things that are similarly attractive is one of the most difficult decisions we can make. This is a situation not just of keeping options open for too long, but of being indecisive to the point of paying for our decision in the end. Let me use the following story to explain.

A hungry donkey approaches a barn one day looking for hay and discovers two haystacks of identical size at the two opposite ends of the barn. The donkey stands in the middle of the barn between the two haystacks, not knowing which to select. Hours go by, but he still can’t make up his mind. Unable to decide, the donkey eventually dies of starvation.
–Dan Ariely, Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

More about options here and here.