Just imagine the blogging bonanza this scenario would bring?
the Democratic nomination may come down to whether or not the delegates from Michigan and Florida are seated at the national convention.
According to CNN, right now Hillary’s ahead in the delegate count, 230 to to 152. The winner needs 2,025. But Hillary’s lead is almost entirely already-committed superdelegates, as the contests so far have been all near-ties in terms of delegates: Both she and Obama got 18 out of Iowa, CNN gives Obama one more delegate out of New Hampshire (a sort-of explanation here), they split Nevada 14 each, and Obama won South Carolina’s, 26 to 14.
Looking forward, 370 out of the 441 delegates in California are awarded proportionally. In New York, 151 out of 281 are awarded proportionally, so Obama could walk away with (if current polls are accurate) about 45 delegates from Hillary’s home state. Similarly, she could get about 22 percent of Illinois’ 153 delegates, about 33 delegates.
States on the Democrat side are proportional. And it’s easy to see a lot of 50some percent to 40some percent finishes, with John Edwards perhaps not hitting that 15 percent threshold to collect any delegates. But Edwards still has a decent pile (58 delegates) and should hit the 15 percent threshold in his at least his most friendly states (North Carolina). With Ted Kennedy and Kathleen Sebelius endorsing Obama, Hillary’s edge in superdelegates could and in fact should start balancing out; it’s not like there’s one clear establishment choice and one clear outsider choice anymore.While it’s possible we could see a big sweep on Super Tuesday and beyond, it’s more likely that Hillary will win some, Obama will win some, and because of proportional delegate rules, neither one builds up a big lead in the delegate race.
If both Hillary and Obama are short of the majority necessary, there will be 156 delegates from Michigan and 210 delegates from Florida, most of which will be for Hillary, sitting on the sidelines. The Clintons will fight tooth and nail to get those into the count.
And you can bet that Obama will be fighting just as hard. You think the last few weeks of fighting between the two was pretty entertaining? Hold your horses, it may just get better.
We all know how the Clintons like to use the courts, if Jim Geraghty’s take on it is actually reversed and Obama gets more delegates you just know they will be in the courts the next day. I can just see the courts ruling that Florida and Michigan voters should have their say and they seat their delegates, giving it to Hillary.
Just think about it! The courts taking the nomination away from a black man (well, half black) and giving it to a white women (well, half woman)……
Now thats entertainment!
UPDATE
Senior advisers to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) presidential campaign said Tuesday that the potentially record-breaking turnout in Florida means that the Sunshine State’s voters have shown that their primary should count even though it does not award any delegates.
Clinton is widely expected to win the state handily when the results come in Tuesday night. While no delegates will be awarded for the victory, the senator is planning to hold a rally in the state after the polls close, and her advisers held a conference call in the afternoon explaining “Why Florida Matters.”
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Talk about real disenfranchisement!!
Even more appalling is that no matter what Democrat voters do, in the end, the superdelegates are what matters. And yet they do not get the truth of this. Instead, we get the projectionism against conservatives.
When will the democratic voters wake up?