For Democrats Only?

[W. Gray]

For those still interested in this quite interesting Democrat primary election season, here are the current statistics,

A Democrat candidate needs 2,025 delegate votes to secure the nomination

Obama has 1,842 (including 257 super delegates)
Clinton has 1,692 (including 271 super delegates)

274 ordinary delegates are left to be chosen at the polls
268 super delegates still need to confess

Remaining primaries,

May 13   West Virginia, 39 delegates
May 20   Kentucky, 60, Oregon, 65
June 1    Puerto Rico, 63
June 3   Montana, 24, South Dakota, 23

Somehow, I am getting an opinion that Democrat leadership might want to scrap this super delegate business.

[Wilma]

I confess.  What makes a super delegate, super?

[frawin]

Waldo, one needs to consider the Michigan and Florida Delegates and their votes. The push is on to reinstate their votes, which I think will benefit Hillary more than Osama, I mean Obama.
Frank

[W. Gray]

A few years ago, the Democrats were having a hard time getting the most important party members to attend the convention.

To make them feel more important and participate more in the process these folks, some 796, were made super delegates. They can only cast their votes at the convention and they can vote for anyone they desire.

Ordinary delegates are supposed to vote for whom they are pledged to. But, if there is no winner on the first ballot at the convention, they can vote for whoever they might want on the second ballot.

Jimmy Carter is one. Nancy Pelosi would be another.

Republicans do not have super delegates.

Florida and Michigan sure are a thorn in the side of the Democrat party. Both state's Democrat party broke the leadership rules and scheduled their primary earlier than they were supposed to. The leadership says that rules cannot be broken without repercussion. Any solution other than not counting them will add more interest to an already interesting race.

[Wilma]

If Florida's and Michigan's votes can't be counted, how about the convention?  Can they vote at the convention or have they just been kicked out of the democratic party entirely?  And if their votes are counted at the convention who can they vote for?

[W. Gray]

Florida and Michigan have already voted their delegates. I believe Hillary won in both states. I think in Michigan, Obama was not even on the ballot.

According to party rules the delegates cannot now vote at the convention.

They have not been kicked out of the party. They just cannot vote at the convention because the Democrat party of both states defied party leadership by holding the primary at the early date when they did.

There might or might not be a change.

Both candidates would have to agree to any effort that would allow those states delegates to vote--which is going to be pretty tough to come by.

Hillary will disagree with any edge to Obama and Obama will disagree with any edge to Hillary.

[Wilma]

Where is the fairness in this?  If Hillary loses the nomination because Florida votes can't be counted, is this really the democratic way?  Isn't every vote important in the United States?  If we are denied the chance to vote for a candidate in the national election just because some good ole boys didn't want a woman running for president, is that the American way?  Every vote should be counted and the person with the most votes should prevail.  If Obama wasn't on the ballot, maybe he wasn't sure he wanted to run until somebody's big money got behind him.

I do not see the fairness, the American way or the democratic way in someone losing an election just because all the votes couldn't be counted.  If I were one of the people whose vote is being disregarded, I would be very disgruntled.  I would switch parties and I would vote the other way at the national election.  So McCain wins the presidency just because Florida and Michigan votes didn't count in the nominating process.

But this has happened before, hasn't it?

[W. Gray]

Any discussion of fairness would have to be taken up with Howard Dean and company.

It is strictly an internal Democrat Party problem related to Democrat party rules for selecting Democrat party delegates and I believe this is the first time this has happened.

In primary voting it is not necessarily the person with the most votes who wins, it is the person that gets the most delegates to vote for him or her at the convention.

Obama decided not to waste his time and money in Michigan because he was following Democrat party rules which specified that the Democrat party in Michigan should not have held their primary as early as they did or else suffer the consequences.

It does make for an interesting primary year.

[Wilma]

Is this why they want Clinton to back down and not be voted on at the convention?  Someone is afraid that she will win?

[W. Gray]

The belief of a lot Democrats is that she has two chances of actually winning, slim and none.

President Carter says she has lost. The New York Post called her "toast."

The momentum is with Obama. Party hopefuls want her to back down and unify the Democrat Party.

Some are predicting a "blood bath" at the convention if Hillary should somehow woo enough super delegates and wrest the nomination away from Obama.

That internal Democrat party bath and the civil unrest (i.e., rioting) that is probably going to happen in the streets around the Denver convention is going to really hog tie the party.

All those planning to riot are Democrats (as they were in 1968) on the left fringe. Even Rosie O'Donnell has threatened to come to Denver and take part.

I hear now that Obama is going to declare victory after the May 20 primaries. He would, by then, have the majority of ordinary delegates but still not enough super delegates to actually seal the nomination.

If this were a baseball game, the score would be 12-7 in favor of Obama.

Hillary is at bat in the bottom of the ninth with a count of three balls and two strikes. There are two outs and nobody on.

Until the next strike she still has a chance of winning.....