Bent Corner

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The numbers from yesterday’s West Virgina primary are in and Hillary beat Barack by 41 points. Haven’t these people heard that Tim Russert already declared Barack Obama the Democratic nominee?

We of course don’t really have a Democratic nominee yet. Neither candidate has the required 2,025 delegates needed for the nomination. There are still 5 primaries left to go. There are still a good many people left who haven’t voted yet.

The only thing clear at this point is that neither Hillary or Barack will have the required 2,025 delegates when the remaining primaries are completed. That means the superdelegates — not Tim Russert — at the Democratic National Convention will be deciding which one of these two candidates will be the Democratic nominee.

It’s important to stress the point that these superdelegates wont be deciding till the convention. It doesn’t who they favor now, next week, next month, or even three days before the convention. The only thing that matters is how they will actually vote in August. From Talk Left:

Superdelegates can make up their mind any time before the convention. They can switch, as many have done, from one candidate to another.

My only hope is that in August, these superdelegates look at both candidates and decide which one of the two is truly the most electable. In my opinion, it wont be the one that lost West Virgina by 41 points.

Tags: Barack Obama, Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton, Superdelegates, West Virgina

One of the hardest things concerning the Democratic primaries is cutting through all the hyperbole. So much of what is said in the mainstream news media just doesn’t make sense. Case in point, from ABC News:

While the superdelegates might end the stalemate by picking a nominee, their involvement might also alienate and anger half of the party’s members.

“They both need the superdelegates, she just needs almost all of them,” said James A. Thurber, director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University.

Hillary Clinton needs almost all of the superdelegates to win the nomination? Really? I guess it depends on what the word “almost“ really means.

To receive the Democratic nomination, a candidate must collect a total of 2,025 delegates. The one to reach that number wins the nomination. The total delegate count as of today is as following:

• Barack Obama - 1,491
• Hillary Clinton - 1,333

Out of the remaining states and territories, there are still 393 delegates up for grabs:

• Guam (4)
• Indiana (72)
• North Carolina (115)
• West Virginia (28)
• Kentucky (51)
• Oregon (52)
• Montana (16)
• South Dakota (15)
• Puerto Rico (55)

Obama could go on and win every delegate in every remaining state and territory and still not get enough delegates to reach 2,025.

The truth is both candidates will get a portion of the 393 remaining delegates up for grabs. One will get more then the other, but probably not much more. Both candidates — Hillary and Obama — will need a portion of the 795 superdelegates to get the nomination.

Neither Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama will need almost all of the superdelegates. That’s just silly.

Tags: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, James A. Thurber, Superdelegates

Former Vermont governor, failed presidential candidate, and current Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean has issued an ultimatum of sorts to Democratic superdelegates; he wants them to decide now who they will be voting for at the Democratic National Convention in August.

He wants to lock down the Democratic nominee as soon as possible.

And I thought Doctor Dean was a stickler for keeping to a schedule. He disenfranchised Democrats in both Florida and Michigan because both states dared to hold their primaries before Dean said they could.

He can’t have it both ways. He can’t penalize the voters in Florida and Michigan because they supposedly voted early and then demand that superdelegates do the very same thing by declaring who they plan on voting for in August.

Decision Time, Says Dean [Yahoo]

Tags: Democratic National Convention, Democratic Party, Democrats, Florida, Howard Dean, Idiot, Michigan, Superdelegates

I’m getting tired of hearing that the Democratic race is over and Hillary Clinton needs to drop out. The last time I checked, neither candidate has the necessary 2,024 delegates to secure the nomination. Barack has 1,414 while Hillary has 1,243. Just because one candidate has 171 more delegates then the other doesn’t mean that one with the least should quit.

There are still more elections to be conducted. Democrats in Pennsylvania, Indiana, North Carolina, West Virgina, Kentucky, and Oregon have yet to cast a ballot. Democrats in Guam, Montana, and Puerto Rico have yet to caucus.

Shouldn’t Democrats in these states and territories have a say in who our candidate in the general election will be? There are still 566 delegates up for grabs. Calling for either candidate to quit at this point is just silly. In fact, it is un-American. The reality of the situation is that neither candidate can lock in the needed 2,024 delegates needed before the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Both candidates will need the help of the superdelegates. Neither candidate can win the nomination without the votes of the superdelegates.

I say let both candidates continue in the race. Neither candidate should just simply drop out and quit to make it easier for their opponent.

Tags: Barack Obama, Delegate Count, Hillary Clinton, Superdelegates

I wondered how things would look right now if the Democrats picked a nominee using the same formula that is used to chose a president. Instead of a candidate winning a proportional amount of delegates, what would it look like when they won a state, they took all of the delegates like they will do in November during the general election?

The results were surprising. It turns out not to be as close as you might think.

Barack Obama has done well in small states with fewer electoral college votes. Additionally, many of the states in Obama’s column traditionally go to the Republican on election day. The so called “red states”.

Hillary Clinton has done much better with larger states that have more electoral college votes. Unlike Obama, many of the states Clinton has done well in are the traditional Democrat states. The so called “blue states”.

Neither candidate at this point can win enough delegates before the Democratic National Convention in Denver. I think if Barack Obama expects the superdelegates to put him over the top this August, he has to demonstrate that he can win a big state. So far, he hasn’t been able to do that. I believe he has to win in Pennsylvania. If Hillary Clinton continues her streak of winning the big states and takes Pennsylvania, I believe the superdelegates will make her the nominee.

Tags: 2008 Presidential Election, Barack Obama, Democratic Party, Hillary Clinton, Proportional Delegates, Superdelegates

Hillary Clinton threatened not to attend any more events sponsored by MSNBC over a comment by one of their news personalities, David Shuster. Of course MSNBC knuckled under and suspended Shuster. Caving into pressure is what they do best.

Shuster said that Chelsea Clinton had been “pimped out” to make calls to superdelegates on behalf of her mother, Senator Hillary Clinton.

Only an idiot would think that Shuster meant that Hillary was sending Chelsea out to perform sexual acts with strange men for money. That is how they chose to react to the comment by Shuster implied that Chelsea was a prostitute.

What Shuster should have said was that Hillary Clinton is getting so despite in her run for the White House that she has enlisted her 27 year old daughter to call Democratic operatives to put pressure on them to cast their superdelegate vote for her mother - no matter what the will of the people may be.

In other words, Hillary is pimping Chelsea out.

The more states and delegates Barack Obama wins, the more Hillary is counting on the superdelegates to give her the election.  Since an overwhelming number of these superdelegates have ties to the Clintons, she sees this as a clear advantage over Obama.

Chelsea is not a 14 year old kid anymore. If she is going to help her mother circumvent the democratic process by locking in the superdelegate majority, she is fair game.

Tags: 2008 Presidential Election, Barack Obama, Chelsea Clinton, David Shuster, Hillary Clinton, Pimping, Superdelegates, White House

Democratic superdelegates are delegates that are not bound to the will of the voters. They fall outside the primary election and caucus system. For 2008, the Democrats will have 796 of these superdelegates attending the 2008 Democratic Convention. They will be casting votes along with the 4,049 regular non-super delegates. The superdelegates are not beholding to anyone. They can cast their vote as they please.

Who are these superdelegates?

• Former Democratic presidents
• Former Democratic vice-presidents
• Democratic governors
• Democratic senators and congressmen
• Democratic Committee muckety mucks

Out of all the groups that make up the superdelegates, it’s the later that bothers me the most. Who are these people?

Some of these superdelegates have already committed their votes to a candidate. For instance, even though nobody here in Maryland has yet to cast a single vote, Governor Martin O’Malley has already made a commitment to cast his superdelegate vote for Hillary Clinton. The same with Sen. Barbara Mikulski. She too has agreed to vote for Clinton.

This doesn’t mean that O’Malley, Mikulski, or any of the other committed superdelegates cannot change their mind. Superdelegates might be super, but they don’t have to keep their word.

What does all this mean? It means that Clinton or Obama could get the most votes going into the convention and still not get the nomination. A candidate coming into the 2008 Democratic convention with fewer regular delegates could make up for their shortage by locking in some of the 796 superdelegate votes.

There is nothing democratic about Democratic superdelegates. It’s about as undemocratic as you can get.

Tags: 2008 Presidental Election, Barack Obama, Barbara Mikulski, Delegates, Hillary Clinton, Martin O\'Malley, Superdelegates