Is it me, or is our nominating process for the Democratic presidential candidate a giant clusterfuck? (yes, I just wanted to use the word ‘clusterfuck’).
Remember in 2000, when Gore won the popular vote but lost the election, and all of the outrage that followed? Although I have a feeling we would disagree on a lot of issues, this blogger accurately points out the sheer hypocrisy of it all.
- Clinton won the popular vote in N.H., but Obama and Clinton got the same number of delegates (the CNN count refered to in the blog above was premature, but is updated here)
- Clinton won the popular vote in Nevada, but Obama got more delegates
- Clinton won the popular vote in Florida, but nobody got ANY delegates.
BUT,
Despite the fact that Barack Obama has more pledged delegates than any other candidate (63 to Clinton’s 48), Hillary Clinton has the superdelegates on her side. These mysterious super delegates (see the link for some historical context) are party operatives and elected officials who make up about 20% of all democratic delegates, and can vote for whoever they damn well please, people and primary results be dammed. In the superdelegate battle, it’s Clinton:184, Obama:95.
So what is going on here? Will the Democratic nominee win the popular vote but not win a majority of pledged delegates, only to be saved by the preferences of an elite few. (After all, former President Bill Clinton is a super delegate himself )
I don’t think it should be winner take all (nationally as well as within each state), but a little more transparency would be nice. Certainly we can do better than the clusterfuck that exists today.
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February 4, 2008 at 3:18 pm
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On Monday, February 4, Hillary will answer Americans’ questions in an unprecedented national town hall giving voters in Super Tuesday states the chance to make their voices heard.
The town hall, hosted by former ABC News anchor Carole Simpson, will air on Hallmark Channel [locate your channel] and be streamed online at HillaryClinton.com. Hillary will anchor the town hall in New York, while President Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, and national and local surrogates will serve as hosts at events in the other states. Click here for a list of satellite locations around the country.